Feeding cats with different needs?

I looked at several websites by veterinarians, and the reviews of free feeding were mixed. Most said it's ok for some, but if the cat is gorging himself, do not free feed. It really does go against the cat's natural hunting-based instinct to gorge until food is available again. And since cats' digestion is apparently triggered by the smell of more food, you can guess the result. Also, and very importantly, bear in mind that kittens will eat two to three times as much food as adult cats because they are growing; we learned this again with our new kitten. For them, free feeding is just fine (unless there is a dog in the house).

According to the ASPCA:

"During the first weeks of life, a kitten’s body weight may double or even triple. This rapid growth will continue, albeit at a decreasing rate, until maturity. Large amounts of energy and nutrients are required in balanced quantities to support this spectacular growth."

...And...

"Most nursing pets are fed via free choice. This method is most appropriate when feeding dry food, which will not spoil if left out. However, some cats will overeat when fed free-choice, which can result in obesity."

For adult cats, Lisa A. Pierson, DVM has this to say about free-feeding:

"For 'resistant-to-change' cats, you will need to use the normal sensation of hunger to help with the transition. For this reason, it is very important to stop free-feeding dry food. This is the first, and very critical, step. You need to establish set mealtimes. They are not going to try anything new if their bowl of junk food is in front of them 24/7.

Cats do not need food available at all times. It really is okay for them to experience a hunger pain! That said, it was very hard for me to listen to my cats begging for food even though I was strong in my conviction that I was heading them in the best direction for optimal health. It truly was a stressful time for me and them - actually, I think it was harder on me! This is where many people fail and just give in and fill up the dry food bowl. There were a few times when I had to call my 'sponsor' and was instructed to "just leave the house if you can't take looking into those eyes!" I left the house. Those pitiful little cries of "I have not had food for two hours" were hard to take. But, lo and behold, they were just fine when I returned. Not one cat had died from hunger.

On the other hand, do not attempt to withhold food for long periods of time (greater than 24 hours) in the hope that your cat will choose the new food. I prefer to try to ‘convince’ them that a high quality canned food really is good for them, rather than to try starving them into it - which does not work anyway. Allowing a cat to go without food - especially an overweight cat - for a long period of time (greater than 48 hours) can be quite dangerous and may result in hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease). "

This is a very common problem, and one I suffer from myself.

Because I free-fed dry food to her as a kitten, and because she's a chow hound, Poppy ballooned to 25 pounds.

What I recommend in your situation is to switch both cats to canned food. It will help the chubby one lose weight, and is far better overall for their health.

You may need to supervise the feedings to make sure that the bully doesn't push the chicken away before it's finished eating.

You could also look into a flower essence called Bully which is supposed to help in these situations.

EDIT: While it is true that allowing cats to eat according to their own schedules might be best, you've seen that it can be problematic. Scheduling feedings is really and truly fine and in your particular case would be an excellent idea.

Hi

The reason that your cat is fat is most likly because you are feeding dry foods in the first place.

Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health

Contrary to what you may have heard, dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.

Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. The problems with it are that they are loaded with carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process. Most of the moisture a cat needs is gotten

out of the food and 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Also, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.

You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all. Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods.Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Please read about cat nutrition.

http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics.html

Well, try two different feeding stations- maybe the heavier cat can't jump up on a counter so you could feed the other cat from there.

Then, you should get a diet formula (R/D feline- from the vet's) and free feed the other cat, as withholding food is just going to make him more neurotic about it.

People also tend to overfeed canned food- a 3 oz can split in half is still a big meal. You can give a quarter can 2 times a day to the heavier cat.

Scheduled feeding really isn't good for cats because of the way thier intestines and digestive tract are designed- because they are meat-eaters their system is designed to move food through quicky, so letting them have access to food at all times is pretty important to thier overall well-being.

A good food without a lot of grains is better to feed than grocery store junk, which makes cats fat.

Nutro's good and they'll eat it- the best food I've found that they'll actually eat is Solid Gold Katzn'Flocken and both of your cats can have it.

Free feeding is best. But, not in situations like this where both cats need a change in their diet. I would try feeding a special times at least temporarily, while you are getting the cats in better condition. Use two separate containers so you can track how much each is eating. Good luck! They may be able to free feed again in the future once the stabilize, but it sounds like one has made himself dominant there.

PS, don't feed some weird special diet that may be lacking in nutrition. Feed a healthy food like Wellness, you will be surprised at how it resolves a variety of health issues.

Instead of feeding him in the bathroom, why not feed him in your room with some toys and noise (Quiet tv or radio maybe)? That way you can leave him in there for about 20-25 minutes while the other cats nibble away, and if they don't eat it, take it away and try again in an hour. Of course, while the food is taken away you can let Mr. Sensitive belly out of your room :)