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- Nov 9, 2021
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So it's almost been 2 weeks since we adopted our second cat, April. The introduction to our resident cat Annie was a bit rocky at first but they seem to be getting along much better now with almost zero hostility, and 2 nights ago we let them sleep in the same part of the house together as we get zero sleep when we let either of them sleep in our room with us.
My problem currently is that I don't know how to establish whose food bowl is who's when I give them their meals. April seemed very against wet food until I caught her eating Annie's once, so we've realised she will eat wet food now if there's no dry food out. Similarly with Annie, she'll eat her wet meal unless there's dry food out and then she'll favour the dry. Before April came along, I used to feed Annie dry food throughout the morning/afternoon (1/3 cup) which she would graze and pick on and then feed her a wet meal at bed time which she always ate. Since then the routine has kind of gone out of the window and I'm trying to figure out how to feed them and when.
When I put 2 bowls of wet food out, April will eat hers and then start on Annie's (I'm confident the portion size is enough though, and April eats hers very slowly). When I put 2 bowls of dry food out, April will hardly touch it and I'm worried that when there's 2 bowls of dry food left overnight, that Annie ends up eating a majority of both. I of course can't supervise their meal times every time but I'm worried about this happening and I don't know how to help them realise which food bowl is theirs and which is off limits. I've looked at those microchip bowls but they're way out of my price range.
I also don't know how to figure out their schedules. They both just kind of eat whenever they want, April eats way less dry food than Annie does. I can leave a bowl of dry food out for April and the bowl will hardly be empty by the end of the day, whereas Annie picks at her dry food throughout the day and empties the bowl by the afternoon and if there's a second hardly-touched bowl out, she'll start eating that one too. I did try separating their dry food into different rooms once, and Annie was very good at eating out of only her bowl whereas April never listened when I tried to stop her from eating out of Annie's bowl and instead go to her own.
So yeah, I'm kind of at a loss. I'm happy with the one wet meal a day (they actually drink enough water, but I don't want them on a pure dry food diet) and dry food when it's appropriate, but I'm struggling to help them realise they have their own bowls so one doesn't overeat and the other doesn't go hungry, and I also have no idea when to feed them as they simply eat whenever they want even when I try to put them on scheduled meals.
My problem currently is that I don't know how to establish whose food bowl is who's when I give them their meals. April seemed very against wet food until I caught her eating Annie's once, so we've realised she will eat wet food now if there's no dry food out. Similarly with Annie, she'll eat her wet meal unless there's dry food out and then she'll favour the dry. Before April came along, I used to feed Annie dry food throughout the morning/afternoon (1/3 cup) which she would graze and pick on and then feed her a wet meal at bed time which she always ate. Since then the routine has kind of gone out of the window and I'm trying to figure out how to feed them and when.
When I put 2 bowls of wet food out, April will eat hers and then start on Annie's (I'm confident the portion size is enough though, and April eats hers very slowly). When I put 2 bowls of dry food out, April will hardly touch it and I'm worried that when there's 2 bowls of dry food left overnight, that Annie ends up eating a majority of both. I of course can't supervise their meal times every time but I'm worried about this happening and I don't know how to help them realise which food bowl is theirs and which is off limits. I've looked at those microchip bowls but they're way out of my price range.
I also don't know how to figure out their schedules. They both just kind of eat whenever they want, April eats way less dry food than Annie does. I can leave a bowl of dry food out for April and the bowl will hardly be empty by the end of the day, whereas Annie picks at her dry food throughout the day and empties the bowl by the afternoon and if there's a second hardly-touched bowl out, she'll start eating that one too. I did try separating their dry food into different rooms once, and Annie was very good at eating out of only her bowl whereas April never listened when I tried to stop her from eating out of Annie's bowl and instead go to her own.
So yeah, I'm kind of at a loss. I'm happy with the one wet meal a day (they actually drink enough water, but I don't want them on a pure dry food diet) and dry food when it's appropriate, but I'm struggling to help them realise they have their own bowls so one doesn't overeat and the other doesn't go hungry, and I also have no idea when to feed them as they simply eat whenever they want even when I try to put them on scheduled meals.