We have 3 indoor only cats. They are all outgoing and get along relatively well despite one of the three being added to the house at age 8. The other two grew up together. None are hiders. All three hang out with us wherever we are. They sleep in the living room due to a mild cat allergy my wife has recently picked up that drives us to keeping our bedroom door closed.
Cid - calm grey/white 12 year old male. Neutered as young as vet recommended. He has always been closer to me. Got him as a 6 week old from a friend whose cat had a litter. Unassailable calmness. Plays often. Greets me when I come home from work. When self-feeding, he eats to satisfy and stops. Thin but healthy weight.
Ronald Reagan - calm black 12 year old male. Arrived at shelter neutered. Rescued him from a kill shelter when he was 8 years old. Very skiddish initially and we think his previous owners either abused or neglected him. Has come out of his shell and plays. Rarely seeks affection but truly enjoys affection. Never runs from us. Apparently was never self-fed and he is a stress eater. When we introduced him to the house with 2 other 8yo males, he was bullied for about 18 months. That has abated. Being a stress eater, his weight ballooned and he got Diabetes. We have switched his food to a high protein diet and his Diabetes was cured after 2 months of insulin shots. Healthy.
Vincent - mildly stressed 12 year old brown tabby male. Feral cat we found when he was about 3-4 weeks old. Cid is about 4 weeks older than Vincent. Neutered as young as vet recommended. Plays often. Very attached to my wife, but not in an unhealthy way. Cid and Vincent are like brothers. Very close relationship. Vincent has never had an issue with Reagan except when they both want to sit in the same spot next to my wife. No fighting. Self-fed without issue until recently. As we changed feeding routines (see below) to deal with Reagan's diabetes, Vincent gained weight due to his concern we were not going to feed him. Has always eaten too much as evidenced in his daily vomits consisting of food. These have ended since we changed the feeding process. He's always been bigger, but never obese.
The problem:
With Reagan's diabetes, we have had to change the way we feed our cats. We cannot leave high quality dry food out for them to eat when they desire. We have to give Reagan and Vincent high protein wet food, now. The vet recommended 2 cans per day per cat. We still feed Cid dry food in our bedroom. We let him in when he asks and he is content. Other cats are not allowed in bedroom because Vincent is the cat my wife is most allergic to and Reagan cannot have dry food. Reagan and Vincent beg for food. Reagan begs about an hour before dinner time. Vincent begs every single time we are walking in the house. We have supplemented Vincent's food with dry food to try and increase his satisfaction. He meows wildly for food even after we've just fed him if we are in the kitchen.
Recently, Vincent began pooping in the living room roughly 3 times per week. He perceives that his pooping will cause us to come to the living room and make multiple trips to the kitchen in the process of cleaning it up. Vincent associates our presence in the kitchen with him getting food. Vincent knows it is wrong, as he leaves the room (unusual behavior) when he thinks we will discover his poop present. Then, he goes to the kitchen to beg for food.
Any ideas on how to make Vincent happy while keeping both him and Reagan healthy?
We love and play with our cats often. We take them to the vet often. We have a sufficient number of clean litter boxes (4...# of cats plus 1) according to the vet. No health issues with any currently, as we take them to the vet frequently.
Thanks for your help!
Dave
Cid - calm grey/white 12 year old male. Neutered as young as vet recommended. He has always been closer to me. Got him as a 6 week old from a friend whose cat had a litter. Unassailable calmness. Plays often. Greets me when I come home from work. When self-feeding, he eats to satisfy and stops. Thin but healthy weight.
Ronald Reagan - calm black 12 year old male. Arrived at shelter neutered. Rescued him from a kill shelter when he was 8 years old. Very skiddish initially and we think his previous owners either abused or neglected him. Has come out of his shell and plays. Rarely seeks affection but truly enjoys affection. Never runs from us. Apparently was never self-fed and he is a stress eater. When we introduced him to the house with 2 other 8yo males, he was bullied for about 18 months. That has abated. Being a stress eater, his weight ballooned and he got Diabetes. We have switched his food to a high protein diet and his Diabetes was cured after 2 months of insulin shots. Healthy.
Vincent - mildly stressed 12 year old brown tabby male. Feral cat we found when he was about 3-4 weeks old. Cid is about 4 weeks older than Vincent. Neutered as young as vet recommended. Plays often. Very attached to my wife, but not in an unhealthy way. Cid and Vincent are like brothers. Very close relationship. Vincent has never had an issue with Reagan except when they both want to sit in the same spot next to my wife. No fighting. Self-fed without issue until recently. As we changed feeding routines (see below) to deal with Reagan's diabetes, Vincent gained weight due to his concern we were not going to feed him. Has always eaten too much as evidenced in his daily vomits consisting of food. These have ended since we changed the feeding process. He's always been bigger, but never obese.
The problem:
With Reagan's diabetes, we have had to change the way we feed our cats. We cannot leave high quality dry food out for them to eat when they desire. We have to give Reagan and Vincent high protein wet food, now. The vet recommended 2 cans per day per cat. We still feed Cid dry food in our bedroom. We let him in when he asks and he is content. Other cats are not allowed in bedroom because Vincent is the cat my wife is most allergic to and Reagan cannot have dry food. Reagan and Vincent beg for food. Reagan begs about an hour before dinner time. Vincent begs every single time we are walking in the house. We have supplemented Vincent's food with dry food to try and increase his satisfaction. He meows wildly for food even after we've just fed him if we are in the kitchen.
Recently, Vincent began pooping in the living room roughly 3 times per week. He perceives that his pooping will cause us to come to the living room and make multiple trips to the kitchen in the process of cleaning it up. Vincent associates our presence in the kitchen with him getting food. Vincent knows it is wrong, as he leaves the room (unusual behavior) when he thinks we will discover his poop present. Then, he goes to the kitchen to beg for food.
Any ideas on how to make Vincent happy while keeping both him and Reagan healthy?
We love and play with our cats often. We take them to the vet often. We have a sufficient number of clean litter boxes (4...# of cats plus 1) according to the vet. No health issues with any currently, as we take them to the vet frequently.
Thanks for your help!
Dave
