A BIG DISCLAIMER: We moved on July 26, and spent the 5 weeks prior to moving away from the house most evenings doing renovations. I fully expected this to be a difficult time with the cats as they received far less attention from us during those 5 weeks than usual, and obviously the move is upsetting on its own. So everything is within that context and keep that in mind. Even so, it doesn't explain everything, as these behaviors have been going on for years. We have tried Feliway and it was a huge waste of $60. Didn't even make a dent.
Food aggression -
Background of diet -- we feed high end canned food, $2/can usually, maybe a $1.69 occasionally. I try to make it high protein and low in carbs. Wellness, Wellness Core, Nature's Balance, umm... something with the word "Vigor" in its name, and maybe a few others brands here and there, but those are the main diet. I try to make sure the first 3-4 ingredients of any food are meat, and we also do not feed any products with fish. I based this diet on research in this forum, mostly. I'm open to feedback! They do get dry food if we go overnight somewhere, we just put out a bunch of it into several different containers. Sometimes there is some left when we get back, sometimes not. That's maybe once a month or so that they get to pig out on dry food like that. Otherwise they are canned food only.
So, according to the vet records, on March 17, 2014, Simon weighed 17 lbs, Garfunkel 14, and Joni 12. I am REALLY not sure these weights are accurate, but, whatever, the point is they were all overweight. We moved to 95+% wet food diet described above, 2 cans split between the three of them twice a day. So, about 2/3 of a 5.5 oz can per day, or 3.7 oz per cat per day. Not a lot of food. I tried to calculate the calories at the time, and it seemed to make sense, but now I realize I wasn't feeding enough. I am 100% content to blame the food aggression on this.
At our recent vet visit, after 18 months, Simon weighs 10 lbs, Garfunkel 9 lbs 3 oz, and Joni 8 lbs 4 oz. Pretty impressive weight loss. I'm still not 100% certain these weights are accurate--whether the initial ones were wrong or these ones are... I just don't believe Simon lost 7 pounds, and I'm not sure he's only 10 pounds, but, again, not THAT important. They are not underweight, but I got the green light to feed more given their extreme aggression and hunger.
I am now feeding Joni 6oz canned food (1 3 oz can twice a day) and the boys 5.5 oz canned food (1 5.5 oz can split between the two of them twice a day). This was the most practical solution to avoid having to reheat partial cans, etc. I think Joni is probably eating too much especially as she's the smallest, but she is BY FAR the most food aggressive of all of them so I'm hoping the extra food mollifies her fear of hunger a little bit. She was awful, meal times were SO stressful. She would spit, growl, fight, bite, to get the bowls (prior to the move, and the first week or so after the move, we were feeding all three in the same place) and she would SCARF her entire bowl down, I mean I'm talking half of it gone in literally 8-10 seconds and the whole thing finished in 30 seconds. She would make this awful scarfing/inhaling sound while she ate, like a pig rooting.
What I have done so far is to increase the food as indicated above, as well as feeding Joni in a separate room. In the new house we have a semi-Jack/Jill bathroom attached to our bedroom - basically it's a half bath with two doors, one to the hallway and one to our bedroom. I put her in the bedroom and close the main bedroom door, the door to the bathroom, and the other bathroom door. I then put the boys' food in the bowls and feed them in the kitchen, then put her food in her bowl and carry it to her by going in through the hallway, closing that door (so she can't run out), then opening the door to the bedroom where she is. (Hard to visualize but it's basically blocking her off from running out into the kitchen to get the boys' food.) Once the boys are done, Patrick picks up their bowls and then when Joni is done, I pick up her bowl and let her out.
There were some wrinkles in this plan at first, but overall it seems to be working. She is mostly cooperative about going into the room when it comes time for feeding, although she cries. Her eating has slowed down A LOT and although she scarfs and makes that noise for the first few seconds, it now takes her 2-3 minutes to eat her food. She does, however, continue to lick her bowl over and over and over until I pick it up, even if it's totally clean. That still seems obsessive to me. Overall, I am really pleased. This is also a system that can work with one person, which was one of our biggest sticking points because we have different schedules and aren't always both at home at feeding times. Before, Patrick would have to stand guard and push the cats off the counter because they were constantly jumping up while I was making the food. Now, with Joni out of the mix, the boys stay on the floor, so I can make the food on my own without Patrick there.
My questions are this:
Food aggression -
Background of diet -- we feed high end canned food, $2/can usually, maybe a $1.69 occasionally. I try to make it high protein and low in carbs. Wellness, Wellness Core, Nature's Balance, umm... something with the word "Vigor" in its name, and maybe a few others brands here and there, but those are the main diet. I try to make sure the first 3-4 ingredients of any food are meat, and we also do not feed any products with fish. I based this diet on research in this forum, mostly. I'm open to feedback! They do get dry food if we go overnight somewhere, we just put out a bunch of it into several different containers. Sometimes there is some left when we get back, sometimes not. That's maybe once a month or so that they get to pig out on dry food like that. Otherwise they are canned food only.
So, according to the vet records, on March 17, 2014, Simon weighed 17 lbs, Garfunkel 14, and Joni 12. I am REALLY not sure these weights are accurate, but, whatever, the point is they were all overweight. We moved to 95+% wet food diet described above, 2 cans split between the three of them twice a day. So, about 2/3 of a 5.5 oz can per day, or 3.7 oz per cat per day. Not a lot of food. I tried to calculate the calories at the time, and it seemed to make sense, but now I realize I wasn't feeding enough. I am 100% content to blame the food aggression on this.
At our recent vet visit, after 18 months, Simon weighs 10 lbs, Garfunkel 9 lbs 3 oz, and Joni 8 lbs 4 oz. Pretty impressive weight loss. I'm still not 100% certain these weights are accurate--whether the initial ones were wrong or these ones are... I just don't believe Simon lost 7 pounds, and I'm not sure he's only 10 pounds, but, again, not THAT important. They are not underweight, but I got the green light to feed more given their extreme aggression and hunger.
I am now feeding Joni 6oz canned food (1 3 oz can twice a day) and the boys 5.5 oz canned food (1 5.5 oz can split between the two of them twice a day). This was the most practical solution to avoid having to reheat partial cans, etc. I think Joni is probably eating too much especially as she's the smallest, but she is BY FAR the most food aggressive of all of them so I'm hoping the extra food mollifies her fear of hunger a little bit. She was awful, meal times were SO stressful. She would spit, growl, fight, bite, to get the bowls (prior to the move, and the first week or so after the move, we were feeding all three in the same place) and she would SCARF her entire bowl down, I mean I'm talking half of it gone in literally 8-10 seconds and the whole thing finished in 30 seconds. She would make this awful scarfing/inhaling sound while she ate, like a pig rooting.
What I have done so far is to increase the food as indicated above, as well as feeding Joni in a separate room. In the new house we have a semi-Jack/Jill bathroom attached to our bedroom - basically it's a half bath with two doors, one to the hallway and one to our bedroom. I put her in the bedroom and close the main bedroom door, the door to the bathroom, and the other bathroom door. I then put the boys' food in the bowls and feed them in the kitchen, then put her food in her bowl and carry it to her by going in through the hallway, closing that door (so she can't run out), then opening the door to the bedroom where she is. (Hard to visualize but it's basically blocking her off from running out into the kitchen to get the boys' food.) Once the boys are done, Patrick picks up their bowls and then when Joni is done, I pick up her bowl and let her out.
There were some wrinkles in this plan at first, but overall it seems to be working. She is mostly cooperative about going into the room when it comes time for feeding, although she cries. Her eating has slowed down A LOT and although she scarfs and makes that noise for the first few seconds, it now takes her 2-3 minutes to eat her food. She does, however, continue to lick her bowl over and over and over until I pick it up, even if it's totally clean. That still seems obsessive to me. Overall, I am really pleased. This is also a system that can work with one person, which was one of our biggest sticking points because we have different schedules and aren't always both at home at feeding times. Before, Patrick would have to stand guard and push the cats off the counter because they were constantly jumping up while I was making the food. Now, with Joni out of the mix, the boys stay on the floor, so I can make the food on my own without Patrick there.
My questions are this:
- Is Joni eating too much? If so, what is a practical way to decrease the amount she eats, and how long should I let her eat the higher amount to reassure her that she won't be hungry?
- Are the boys eating too little?
- Continuing the 2nd question, the vet (for the boys' appt, different from the one we saw with Joni) recommended giving the boys a full can (per cat) each day, plus a smaller lunch or supplementing with treats. We can't do the lunch thing due to schedule, and treating my cats is a horrible experience because Joni will eat every single treat in sight, lol. There is no such thing as one treat at a time, I have to take a handful and lay it down in a line so that each boy can at least have a few before Joni takes them all. With that in mind... what is the most practical way to supplement the boys' diet WITHOUT supplementing Joni's?
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