For those of you who have slow eaters in a multi-cat household, how do you deal with it?
Tofu is a grazer and his food needs to be left out for hours while he slowly works at it, coming and going. I don't overfeed him; he just eats a very tiny amount each time. This has been fine with me since none of the other pets can get to his food, but now I'm considering adding a second cat into my home, and I foresee this being a problem.
Will he learn to eat faster and more at one time once he realizes that he has competition? Will seeing another cat eat his/her food with enthusiasm encourage him to eat his portion faster as well? Not sure if they watch and learn from others of their own kind.
It would be impossible to separate the two cats until he finishes since that would mean almost the whole day (he gets 3 meals daily, so food is out almost the entire day. I have tried to cut back to 2 meals, but he just doesn't eat enough to maintain weight.)
Any tips or suggestions greatly appreciated, thanks!
Tofu is a grazer and his food needs to be left out for hours while he slowly works at it, coming and going. I don't overfeed him; he just eats a very tiny amount each time. This has been fine with me since none of the other pets can get to his food, but now I'm considering adding a second cat into my home, and I foresee this being a problem.
Will he learn to eat faster and more at one time once he realizes that he has competition? Will seeing another cat eat his/her food with enthusiasm encourage him to eat his portion faster as well? Not sure if they watch and learn from others of their own kind.
It would be impossible to separate the two cats until he finishes since that would mean almost the whole day (he gets 3 meals daily, so food is out almost the entire day. I have tried to cut back to 2 meals, but he just doesn't eat enough to maintain weight.)
Any tips or suggestions greatly appreciated, thanks!