Late Morning Dilemma

[ArtNJ]

My cat Pippy will inevitably eat too fast and throw up if we don't feed her by say 8:30 am. Occasionally, we fail at this on the weekends. Today we weren't up till 9:30 and knew she would throw up. And she did. I guess when sleep in we should put her in a room and give her a tiny portion? Its hard to even know how much that should be since she is much smaller than the other cat and they normally eat together. And bigger issue, she really doesn't like being confined to a room or separated from the other cat. So it seems like it will be a whole thing. But buying a timed feeder just for the occasional weekend seems like a lot of fuss too.

Its not too common we sleep in. Is it wrong to . . . just let her do her thing and, yes, throw up?

 

[iPappy]

On mornings you sleep in, could you feed her half her meal, wait a few minutes, then feed her the other half? Or maybe a small meal right before bedtime the night before would help.

 

[susanm9006]

I wonder whether you could use an auto feeder to give her a small snack in early morning. I have a two portion auto feeder that has a spot for an ice pack to keep foods cool and seems to do a good job of keeping the portions airtight so they don’t dry out. It has two simple timers you can set and then a door pops up when the timer is up.

 

[ArtNJ]

On mornings you sleep in, could you feed her half her meal, wait a few minutes, then feed her the other half? Or maybe a small meal right before bedtime the night before would help.

They actually get basically 1/5 to 1/4 of their food right before bed. I'm a little reluctant to go beyond that because I think the bigger cat is capable of getting fat, although he isn't currently. The vomiter doesn't eat unless she is actually hungry, which makes it tricky.

 

[Hellenww]

Try flattening it on a paper plate to slower her down. Besides it being spread out, the plate slides on the floor so she'll have to follow it.

 

[ArtNJ]

Try flattening it on a paper plate to slower her down. Besides it being spread out, the plate slides on the floor so she'll have to follow it.

Oh, that is one I didn't think of. Maybe even go a step further and get a puzzle/slow feeder? It might not actually work, but its certainly the least disruptive option and worth a shot. Thanks Hellen!

 

[iPappy]

Oh, that is one I didn't think of. Maybe even go a step further and get a puzzle/slow feeder? It might not actually work, but its certainly the least disruptive option and worth a shot. Thanks Hellen!

I do like a lot of the slow feeders. They work and slow them down without making it frustrating for them.
I'm not sure if your cats eat any wet food, but a lick-mat might be something else that would slow her down as well.

 

[Kris107]

I'll second the lick mat idea.

 

[ArtNJ]

Looking at the slow feeders on amazon . . . they looked so stupid, like they wouldn't work much. I got a cute & solid one for a reasonable price, but was skeptical about the meaningful slowdown part. Its only 7 am here so she likely was never throwing up today, but decided to test it. After puzzlement, she has been knocking crunchies out with her paw one at a time. So yes, it is greatly slowing her down even if it doesn't look like it necessarily would.

 

[ArtNJ]

Pippy threw up this am despite the slow feeder bowl. Its early, but they do not like the current flavor of cans much so are eating a bit less and she was likely hungrier than normal. Its still a cute bowl... Wife thinks lick mat sounds too gross, and I'm not super keen either.
On the plus side, my larger cat "cleaned up" the whole thing.