Cat problem

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Ok, after thinking about this a lot and not finding an easy solution I ask here, because there are a lot of cat friends here.

I have 2 cats at home, Apollo (male) and Boomer (female).
They are purely indoor cats.

The problem is they have completely opposite eating habits.

Apollo is eating ust a tiny little bit a time all over the day. He only sticks to a bigger amount if I "threaten" to remove the bowl.
If there is no food in sight he makes his demands very clear, at times rather aggressively.
Boomer on the other hand is eating every time I put fresh food in the bowl and emtys it.

So when I give food to Apollo he just eats a tiny amount and leaves teh rest for later, though Boomer swoops in and kills the rest.

Now, since they are indoor cats Boomer is gaining weight very easily.
more than I can combat her weightgain with games and stuff.

Diet food only results in both of them being even more hungry, I have tried that.

Are there any kind of food recommendations?
So that Apollo might change his habits a bit more toward real meals that get him over the day so I can control feeding times better?

Also, does anyne having experiences with sport gear for indoor cats? like treadmills and stuff? Seen some videos on youtube where some cats actually enjoyed running on them. So that might also be a solution.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

You could try putting Apollo's food in a different room and carrying him in there so he knows to eat from that bowl. It might take a while for him to get used to it, though.

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

You could try putting Apollo's food in a different room and carrying him in there so he knows to eat from that bowl. It might take a while for him to get used to it, though.

Ah, I forgot to mention that I don't really have seperate rooms. my apartment is very open. Only seperate room is the bathroom really.

 

[Relayer1]

I think you're going to have to use the bathroom then. You need to feed them separately too keep Boomers away from Apollo's food. You may even need to hand feed Apollo.

I'm no expert though, you could check out Jackson Galaxy's site for advice ;

http://jacksongalaxy.com

 

[trekkiedane]

I have no good advice on the subject at hand.

I am just happy that my (neutralized female) Füb is self-controlling (whatsitcalled?) when it comes to food; not all cats (especially neutralized ones) can do that.

 

[Spot's Meow]

I would get one of those food dishes that automatically drops food at specific intervals/times. This way both cats will be waiting for it to drop (they learn quickly what time it happens!) and will both have an opportunity to eat, but then there is none left in the bowl for Boomer to pig out on. They both might be begging for food at first when their bowl is empty, but once they realize when it drops they will meow at the food bowl instead.

Perhaps this won't work for your cats, but it couldn't hurt to try.

 

[trekkiedane]

A friend has two cats, when one of them developed a weight problem she (luckily) found two different types of food, where the cats each detest the food of the other -perhaps a little experimentation along those lines could fix your problem!?!??

 

[Kestra]

My cat was eating too much so I got a little inexpensive plastic ball that he has to roll around until pieces drop out. It's slowed down his eating and I wonder if it might work to do this for both your cats. The heavier one may not go after both food balls because he will be eating slowly and be more full, and may not want to expend the energy to go after the other cat's food piece by piece.