Not sure if Lickorish is eating enough

1138 Views 4 Replies 3 Participants Last post by CJinCA, May 23, 2012

CJinCA

Discussion Starter · May 22, 2012

Lickorish has become finneky lately, but mostly for the evening meal. In the morning, I usually don't have any problem getting her to eat, although she usually wants some attention before she starts eating. She doesn't always eat all of it (half of a 5.5oz can), but usually at least half. Now, usually when I feed them breakfast, hubby is still in bed. If hubby is around, she's more nervous and I have to feed her under the table or somewhere she feels 'safe'. Some days she's more nervous than others. She's not really scared of him, but him walking around makes her nervous.

Evening meal, I just can't get her to start eating, esp if hubby is around. They each get half of a 5.5 oz can or a 3oz can each. Problem is, when she doesn't eat, Squeek thinks that Lickorish's food is fair game for her to eat, so I'm afraid Squeek is getting too much and Lickorish not enough. I have seen LIckorish some back later in the evening looking for food only to find an empty bowl since squeek gobbled up all the food.

Last night we tried an experiment, I only each of them half of a 3oz can. Lickorish didn't eat and Squeek gobbled up both. Later on, I gave more food, and tried my best to keep Squeek away. I think after we left the room, LIckorish came and ate some, but then Squeek go to it too.

Not sure what to try now. It would be difficult to separate them during meal time, esp if Lickorish is going to take her time eating. Any suggestions are appreciated.

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dweamgoil

· #2 · May 22, 2012 (Edited)

Put Lickorish in a nice quiet room with the door closed at mealtimes. You can stay with her if you like. I would leave the food down for about a half hour, and leave after 5 or 6 minutes of petting to reassure her. If she's still not done when I got back, I'd take the food up, and either put it away for the next meal or throw it out. I would definitely keep it away from the other cat. Not all cats can eat together in the same room even with supervision.

I have 4 cats and they have to be separated at mealtimes. 2 go at a time; 1 in the kitchen and the other in the bathroom and then they switch. They are so used to it now; it's like clockwork.

You should check Lickorish's body condition. Can you see her ribs? If so, then she is definitely underweight. You can also view:

http://vet.osu.edu/vmc/body-condition-scoring-chart

for more info.

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CJinCA

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 22, 2012

Thanks dweamgoil. Her body condition is fine. She is still a little overweight. I just don't get how she can not eat and still be fine. We had a full blood panel and urine analysis done in late March and everything looked good. Her weight was actually up at that point, but it had only been a short time then since she had begun to ignore her (evening) food. I also see her drinking a lot, even though we feed wet food, but the vet says she's fine.

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cinderflower

· #4 · May 23, 2012

i think any time you have more than one cat, you're going to notice differences in eating speed.

i have a slower eater, a picky eater, and then one who eats anything and everything. i've had to accept the fact that i can't allow cross-eating and i don't just stand there and glare at them while they eat (gee wouldn't that be an encouraging?) (well if they weren't animals and i could rely on them only to eat their own food. trust me, i'd be more than happy to put the food out and forget about it.) but i do go back at 5 minute intervals for about 15 minutes, just to keep an eye on who's eating what.

at least she has a little room to lose, but i'd definitely start removing her food when the other one finishes eating and starts looking for other things to devour. then the slow one can always have it later. i actually have to measure their food. i guess i'll have to until i'm able to eyeball it. i know this sounds like a big pain, but if you have some little containers, you know like from take-out or yogurt or hummus, measure the amount each cat is supposed to get. it feels lousy to empty one and have a cat asking for more but that's the only way i could do it.

i was feeding when the vet called me back today and unfortunately, houdini turned his nose up at his food and baci was more than happy to eat both servings before i could intervene. i can see now that i have a definite food problem in the making. baci just luuuuves the switch to 100% canned (i've heard some cats don't like it but not in this house) and he will eat and eat and eat. i've been trying to figure out exactly how much is the right amount for him to get because he does this thing where he sits right next to me, with his face inches away from mine, and i purposely ignore him because i know what he wants. (it would be one thing if it were dinner-time and i forgot, but he just does it all the time now.) then when i do look at him, his eyes are big question marks and he opens his mouth and no sound comes out! lol it's pathetic.

it's annoying, but it definitely takes some supervision. you might have to lock one in the bathroom for meals at first. whichever one would be least traumatized i guess. i'd hate to do that but sometimes you have to do stuff you don't want to.

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CJinCA

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 23, 2012

you might have to lock one in the bathroom for meals at first. whichever one would be least traumatized i guess.

tried to get lickorish to go into another room for her food, but she just sat under the dining table. I put the food under the table and she did eat about half of it. maybe it'll be easier to get Squeek to go into a room, except she needs a placemat - she's very messy and has to pick everything up out of the bowl and drop it on the floor once before she eats it

houdini turned his nose up at his food and baci was more than happy to eat both servings before i could intervene.

Squeek will leave her own bowl with food in it to go eat Lickorish's food if Lick walks away. She also begs for food at the table while the humans are eating, as if she's a starving kitty who hasn't eaten for ages, while she still has food in her bowl. Lickorish never begs at the table, but she sure makes certain that I wake up to give them breakfast in the morning, even if she's not going to eat it.

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