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Catfood management
Mar. 3rd, 2012 01:14 amSo I have four cats in the household. Catt Murdock is a kitten, who should be fed as often and as much as she desires. She will eat anything, but greatly prefers soft wet food with a lower calorie density to kitten crunchies, which have the levels of protein and other nutrients that she needs. She has good food manners, in that the other cats will smack the shit out of her if she tries to eat from their dish when they are around and she knows it.
Minerva is an older lady, around 10 yo, within a reasonable weight range for her age. Think of her as a slightly plumper feline version of the Dowager Countess, for you Downton fans. She does not have a marked preference between crunchies and wet food, and if both are available she will graze as the mood takes her. She usually cleans her plate, or leaves a small amount behind. She'll leave Oona's food alone, but not Catt Murdock's delectable kitten crunchies.
Oona is a dainty young lady about 3, who's got a couple of extra pounds on her, but is a very nervous eater -- she requires her food dish to be away from the other cats, because she will abandon it if they make her nervous. She doesn't think that wet food is actually food, and will try to bury it as if it was poop -- she eats more or less exclusively crunchies. She will never eat from another cat's bowl, either. She's a grazer, in she'll take a few bites of food, get bored, wander off, come back, take a few more bites. I get the feeling that she thinks of Minerva and Solomon's plate-clearing, kibble-inhaling antics as undignified.
Solomon, just a few months younger than his mother, is the real problem. Solomon is a monstrous cat, 18 lbs when he's "slender" (in the same way that Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk was slender). Right now he's dangerously obese at around 25 lbs. He is a sumo of cats -- incredibly strong, incredibly fat. He prefers crunchies to wet food, but will not turn his nose up to wet food if that's what there is. He is a sneaky little jerk who will eat any food from any bowl all the time, as long as I'm not looking.
To help control his weight and prolong his lifespan I want to put Solomon on wet food with a pumpkin filler, which is less calorie dense than crunchies and which he is inclined to eat less of anyway.
Right now I'm feeding Catt Murdock separately from the other cats -- I dare not let them at the calorie-intensive kitten crunchies. This is problematic since I'm not home during the day, so either I lock Catt in the bathroom with an open bowl of food, or she goes hungry during the day since I can't feed her the three or four times her raging kitten metabolism requires.
The other cats are fed together, twice a day. If you've been following along, you know what the problem is: Oona won't eat wet food, she'd rather graze than clean her plate, and she will leave her bowl unguarded. If I put pumpkin-wet food in front of all three cats, Solomon will eat most of his portion, some of his mother's portion, and all of Oona's portion, since Oona won't eat wet at all. Result: Solomon gains weight, Oona is sad and hungry, Minerva laughs, Catt Murdock polishes off any leftovers.
So the alternative is that Minerva and Solomon get wet, Oona gets dry. But then Solomon will ignore his wet food, run off Oona and eat her dry food, then eventually return to his wet food. In the meantime Minerva will have cheerfully devoured half of Solomon's portion, and then return to her own bowl when he returns. Result: Solomon gains weight, Minerva gains weight, Oona is sad and hungry, Catt Murdock polishes off any leftovers.
So then what to do? The only option I see is feeding all the cats separately, but... man, that is a gigantic pain in the ass, and one I'm trying to avoid.
Minerva is an older lady, around 10 yo, within a reasonable weight range for her age. Think of her as a slightly plumper feline version of the Dowager Countess, for you Downton fans. She does not have a marked preference between crunchies and wet food, and if both are available she will graze as the mood takes her. She usually cleans her plate, or leaves a small amount behind. She'll leave Oona's food alone, but not Catt Murdock's delectable kitten crunchies.
Oona is a dainty young lady about 3, who's got a couple of extra pounds on her, but is a very nervous eater -- she requires her food dish to be away from the other cats, because she will abandon it if they make her nervous. She doesn't think that wet food is actually food, and will try to bury it as if it was poop -- she eats more or less exclusively crunchies. She will never eat from another cat's bowl, either. She's a grazer, in she'll take a few bites of food, get bored, wander off, come back, take a few more bites. I get the feeling that she thinks of Minerva and Solomon's plate-clearing, kibble-inhaling antics as undignified.
Solomon, just a few months younger than his mother, is the real problem. Solomon is a monstrous cat, 18 lbs when he's "slender" (in the same way that Lou Ferrigno as the Hulk was slender). Right now he's dangerously obese at around 25 lbs. He is a sumo of cats -- incredibly strong, incredibly fat. He prefers crunchies to wet food, but will not turn his nose up to wet food if that's what there is. He is a sneaky little jerk who will eat any food from any bowl all the time, as long as I'm not looking.
To help control his weight and prolong his lifespan I want to put Solomon on wet food with a pumpkin filler, which is less calorie dense than crunchies and which he is inclined to eat less of anyway.
Right now I'm feeding Catt Murdock separately from the other cats -- I dare not let them at the calorie-intensive kitten crunchies. This is problematic since I'm not home during the day, so either I lock Catt in the bathroom with an open bowl of food, or she goes hungry during the day since I can't feed her the three or four times her raging kitten metabolism requires.
The other cats are fed together, twice a day. If you've been following along, you know what the problem is: Oona won't eat wet food, she'd rather graze than clean her plate, and she will leave her bowl unguarded. If I put pumpkin-wet food in front of all three cats, Solomon will eat most of his portion, some of his mother's portion, and all of Oona's portion, since Oona won't eat wet at all. Result: Solomon gains weight, Oona is sad and hungry, Minerva laughs, Catt Murdock polishes off any leftovers.
So the alternative is that Minerva and Solomon get wet, Oona gets dry. But then Solomon will ignore his wet food, run off Oona and eat her dry food, then eventually return to his wet food. In the meantime Minerva will have cheerfully devoured half of Solomon's portion, and then return to her own bowl when he returns. Result: Solomon gains weight, Minerva gains weight, Oona is sad and hungry, Catt Murdock polishes off any leftovers.
So then what to do? The only option I see is feeding all the cats separately, but... man, that is a gigantic pain in the ass, and one I'm trying to avoid.
