My cat eats food from my other cats bowls?

Question

I have 3 cats, one of them is about 1 and a half and is extremely fat. I have a bowl with his food out for him, and bowls for the other 2. When we first got him, he knew which food was his but now he eats from both bowls. Is there a way I can make him thinner without starving the other cats and train him to use his bowl?

Answer 1

If your cat is gaining weight, it could be aggressive behavior. A behavior modification program is in order. Begin by meal-feeding your cats two or three times each day. Put any remaining food away after each feeding. Feed in separate rooms and look on the package for the appropriate daily amount of food to feed to each individual cat. Your veterinarian can also advise you as to the amounts to feed under such a program and, hopefully, over a period of time, your aggressive cat will accept this regimen and become less aggressive toward the other cats.

Answer 2

Feed them all a high quality canned and then you don't have to worry about who eats what. The thin cats will maintain and the fat cat will slowly drop the pounds.

Please understand that, there is NO such thing as dry "diet" food for cats. Dry foods are filled with carbs that make your cat fat. You can't make a dry food without carbs, so there are no dry diet foods.

Cats were never meant to eat dry food, also known as cereals or kibble. We, humans, make them eat it for convenience to us. It has nothing to do with them or their nutritional needs. It's completely species inappropriate.

All small domestic cats descended from desert cats. In the wild, desert cats derive their entire liquid intake from their prey. They do not have a thirst mechanism because they don't need it when eating a species appropriate diet. They get all they need from what they eat. Additionally water was usually not available to them in their desert climate. So they do not often drink water. Regular ol' house cats have descended from those same wild desert cats.

So in a home environment, your kitty does not get the moisture it needs from dry food and it’s almost always in a constant state of dehydration. Water fountains are encouraged to TRY to get your cat to drink more and your kitty may even enjoy it, but it will never meet its water intake needs drinking from a bowl.

Deadly feline illnesses such as diabetes, kidney failure, obesity, allergies, Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), bladder stones, kidney stones,  urinary tract blockages and Urinary Tract Infections (FLUTD), with and without deadly crystals run rampant these days. Cats are not taking in enough water to stave them off. Proper water intake through a species appropriate diet alone can prevent most of these conditions.

Overall,  wet is all around better for any cats diet, be it canned or Raw and they should never be fed dry cereal kibble if we wish to most closely match their wild nutritional and dietary needs. Kibble meets our needs… not our cats.

The proper amount to feed per cat/per day should be about 5.5 ounces of wet (high quality grain free canned or Raw Meat/Bones/Organ) food.

The calories in that amount of food are sufficient for most "normal" sized cats. Of course a highly energetic cat will need more food to keep it healthy, and a lazy cat will need less food to keep it from getting obese. But 5.5 ounces of wet food per day is a good place to start.

Here is a fantastic site that will help you help your cat lose weight!

www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.htm

Answer 3

Good luck training him to stick to his own bowl.  He's obviously what I call a hog, while the others are what I call nibblers.  Always a great combo!

If there's a way you can supervise feedings, or put the other two bowls in a place where the "owners" can get to them but Fatty cannot, that might work.  

Better yet, rather than free feeding, start offering meals at set times with set amounts - only what will be eaten in one sitting.  Then there are no leftovers to be hoovered.

Answer 4

You'll have to supervise them when they eat.  Otherwise, the dominant cat will push the other two out of the way and eat their food.  Or feed the fat one in a separate room behind a closed door, so that the other 2 can eat in peace.

Answer 5

you know there feeding times so feed the other 2 first then the fat one also cut its meal down so it will loose weight but get the proper stuff as it wont get the best vitimins etc

Answer 6

I have two cats, who eat from either side of one dish.  One is fat and one thin.  The only thing I finally could do was feed the thin cat 2 times a day, and the fat one once.  I will close the thin one in a room by himself until he is finished.   The fat one has lost a noticeable amount of weight since Ive done that.

You probably wont be able to train him to use his own bowl.  Cats are controlled by the most basic of urges.  If hes hungry, h**l eat food from whatever bowl is there.

Answer 7

I have the same problem.  I feed them separately in separate rooms, then remove the leftovers.  Or, I leave the thin cat in a room with plenty of food, for a few hours at a time.

It really doesn't help that much, though, unless I keep the fat cat seriously confined.  She hunts for her own food, and she doesn't share it either!  The thin cat will share her catch with the fat cat and the dogs.  

Basically, I figure if she hunts enough to stay fat, who am I to hassle her about it?  I don't overfeed her.