I have a 3 year old female cat and recently got a 10 month old male kitten to keep her company. After the normal introduction period, I released the kitten and apart from a little hissing and growling on the female's part, there has been no actual fighting. The kitten obviously wants to play with the older cat, but she usually wants to be left alone. But when I put out food, the female seems to block the kitten's access to the wet food. I have two bowls and place them several feet apart, but the female will eat a little from one and then go to the other one when the kitten approaches. He's been eating plenty of dry food, but how do I get it so he will not be prevented by the older cat from eating the higher quality food?
Food Aggression
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Some simple things you can do.
1.) Feed them in seperate rooms behind closed doors, and don't let either one out until they have each ate their full, and then throw away any left overs.
2.) Hand feed them, sit on the floor with them, using a little spoon, feed some wet food from your hand, give some to the new kitten first, and THEN your older cat, always do it in this order. If the female scarfs down her food and tries to steal the kittens food from the spoon, put your hand up towards her face and say "Stay". From this, with consistancy, she will learn patience. If you give treats to them some times, make sure you give the kitten the first treat. Some cats will always give up when pushed away from their bowl of food, others learn to stick their ground.
1.) Feed them in seperate rooms behind closed doors, and don't let either one out until they have each ate their full, and then throw away any left overs.
2.) Hand feed them, sit on the floor with them, using a little spoon, feed some wet food from your hand, give some to the new kitten first, and THEN your older cat, always do it in this order. If the female scarfs down her food and tries to steal the kittens food from the spoon, put your hand up towards her face and say "Stay". From this, with consistancy, she will learn patience. If you give treats to them some times, make sure you give the kitten the first treat. Some cats will always give up when pushed away from their bowl of food, others learn to stick their ground.
Even during the adjustment period when I had him tucked away in a separate room, he always seemed to prefer dry food, often eating the wet food when the dry food was gone. Could he maybe just not be interested in the wet food with plenty of dry food at his disposal?
It is possible, some cats like wet better then dry, or vice versa, it may be that he doesn't like the brand of food you are feeding, or it may be that your cat is simply not used to this new type of food yet.
As long as he is displaying good eating habits, he is healthy, and reguarly checked out by a vet I would not worry to much, his personal taste is something which you can easily work with. It's simple, don't let him eat, what food you don't want him eating.
As long as he is displaying good eating habits, he is healthy, and reguarly checked out by a vet I would not worry to much, his personal taste is something which you can easily work with. It's simple, don't let him eat, what food you don't want him eating.
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