Nikita's Issue With Her Food.

[Nature9000]

So I wasn't sure which section to put this in, but overall it seems more behavioral than health or nutrition, though it could be all three. Here's the rub, I've been having this frustrating issue with Nikita for some time now. She won't eat on any particular scheduled time it seems!

I have them on wholehearted, and like clockwork, Prince will and has always wanted his food first thing in the morning and then at night. He eats fast and long, always has. I can put the full daily amount that it says on the bag, he'll eat half of it in one sitting, half of it in the next, no problems.

Nikita on the other hand is a more "delicate" eater, I call her. She eats, she WILL eat, so it doesn't seem to be a problem with her not eating; but it's on her own time. Much of the time, she will get down and eat at the same time Prince does, she eats a bit slower (If anyone has friends that when you get together, one always seems to inhale their food while the other meticulously cuts every little piece into a tiny tidbit, it's similar to that) and Nikita doesn't eat much. When she finishes her meal, she paws the ground like she's in the wild, trying to store her food, then walks away (And Prince is still eating)

Some days, she simply eats a tiny bit, comes back for it a little while later (I try to leave food out for around thirty minutes like someone at pet supermarket said they did for their pet), and other times she straight up doesn't eat until a later time. It's frustrating, because I'm forced to keep an eye on the food so that Prince doesn't end up eating it all (because he will, and he will gain weight that I am trying to keep off him)

She's like a royal pain in the butt, lol, and Prince is the one with the "royal" name. I kind of suspect that maybe in the past, her foster parent or even a prior owner just left food out for her all day, but I don't know. The foster lady had her on Purina one, but like I said, Nikita will eat Wholehearted just fine, it's a matter of her not wanting to eat on a particular schedule

 

[ArtNJ]

I have an 8 pound 2 1/2 year old that doesn't stress about food unless genuinely hungry and a 12 pound older cat that has the normal food stress so I can relate. But what my vet said, what your vet would probably say, is that the more slender cat is the healthy one, and that most cats are overweight.

So why should you stress? Adjust the amount of food you put down, and pick it up after the 30 minutes. The slender will eat what she eats, and probably be healthier than the better eater. Maybe you can add a private feeding at a convenient time, but just one, no need to go too crazy about it.

Anyway, not an expert on feeding stuff, that is just my approach.

 

[Nature9000]

Yeah that's what I do, I leave it down for about 30 minutes, feeding them twice a day. Prince has no trouble eating, but I don't want Nikita to wind up missing a meal and going hungry; but I suspect it is as you say, that she eats when she is legitimately hungry. I think the same is true of Prince, because he's on schedule, so that's the strange part of it.

 

[rubysmama]

Can you leave kibble down for her to kibble on during the day? Or would Prince eat it?

My Ruby was food obsessed when I first adopted her. I think as a former stray she had the never knowing when she'd be fed again fear. Eventually she became a nibbler, and now she grazes all day long, including overnight.

 

[maggiedemi]

Can you put her in the bedroom for an hour with her food? That's what I do with Maggie.

 

[Gizmobius]

I don't know if this is possible for you but what I had to do with my two is adjust the portions at each meal time that would allow me to feed them both at the same time while also feeding them the appropriate meal sizes for each cat. I have a big boy who's a healthy 13lbs but he can get up to 14 and beyond easily, while my 9lb female is at the perfect weight and has consistently kept it. Basically, with some trial and error, I figured out how much to feed each of them at each of their 3 meal times (plus one snack between lunch and dinner) so they're still eating at the same time but just eating different size meals.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

...
Nikita on the other hand is a more "delicate" eater, I call her. She eats, she WILL eat, so it doesn't seem to be a problem with her not eating; but it's on her own time. Much of the time, she will get down and eat at the same time Prince does, she eats a bit slower ... When she finishes her meal, she paws the ground like she's in the wild, trying to store her food, then walks away ... Some days, she simply eats a tiny bit, comes back for it a little while later .., and other times she straight up doesn't eat until a later time. ...

I don't think you should worry too much about overfeeding them when they are still pretty young (both approximately a year - give or take). Kittens and young cats do well with more food rather than less while they are growing, and some cats are still growing past 18-24 months! I kept my slender cat on a good amount of calories per day till she was about 2 yrs old, then I cut back -- although I am aware that many cat owners decrease food amounts, and also the timing of meals per day, at about 6-10 months.

In any case, it very well could be that Nikita just doesn't like the food very much. Kitties are notoriously picky eaters and, even though Prince is loving the food, sometimes a cat will be hesitant (although HUNGRY) at the food dish and also paw at the ground around the food dish when they do not like the food very much.

 

[Nature9000]

The only door I have is my bathroom door, so I can't really move one into there by themselves. Nikita does eat her food, and paws the ground after she's done eating it, so while I agree with pickiness I don't think she has a problem with the food. I don't really want to have both of them on different foods either, because that would be a bigger expense to buy two different brands of food all the time, i think...