Controlling food intake with two cats?

[4c4good]

This is tricky.

Cat 1 is 2, female, and would only eat dried food when I adopted her. She is getting rather too large even though I am monitoring her portions rathe than free feeding. She has the figure of a wombat - though a very very beautiful one, of course.

Then I adopted cat 2, who is about 12 months - another real character, very vocal and demanding, who has a tremendous, voracious appetite (he's been wormed). He prefers wet food and likes three moderate meals a day.

Great! I thought. But she is now eating her dried AND whatever wet food he leaves, however temporarily.

So I have switched both to wet food, having read bad things about dried during researches on the web last night. Today she eats her food and - sneaks in for his leftovers...

I'm at work during the day. Cat 2 is a bit of a hooligan and also visits neighbour houses to hoover up. There is a wimpy boy cat up the road whose food he nicks - also has been known to pick bacon from quiches left cooling on the side.

So I want to make sure he has enough food at home, whilst first cat slims down.

What to do?

[frillyflower]

I don't have an answer but I can say we have the same problem. Our "little" (i.e. younger) cat is now like a rugby ball and eats anything going. I tried feeding them at specific times and taking both bowls away as soon as they stopped eating. I tried diet food from the vet. Little cat is still massive.

[SparklyCloud]

I would get them both on a really decent, high quality food. Mine eat this :

here

no cereal/fillers, just really good meat. You feed less ofit than other tinned food because it is fullof high quality protein they need less.

I get it delivered, free if order is over £29. I also ordered the Smilla and the Bozita . All 3 really good foods.
Mine prefer the Animonda and i can see why, its different to most cat food.

I would feed them a tin a day between them to start off, half of this in the morning, half at tea time. Stand with them while they eat it. Then an extra little meal at bedtime for the boy (lock her out so shedoes not get jealous).

I have to do this with mine as one is a bigger cat and needs to eat more.

Doing it this way you do not leave food down in the day at all, and they will soon learn when meal times are and to eat it all in a couple of minutes while you wait.

[kreecherlivesupstairs]

My two boys have eukanuba or hills science diet dried. It struck me a couple of days ago, that the reason grey head is so fat compared to the ginger boy was he eats most of the food.
I got two bowls and give them the same. Ginge loses interest quickly, but grey hoovers up what he doesn't eat.
I started to take Ginger's bowl away when he walked away and give it back to them at tea time.

[SparklyCloud]

Kreecher, thats the way to do it. I believe food can only be kept down in a single cat household.
In multi-cat households like ours, they soon learn to eat at mealtimes and any food left will be removed til next meal time.

[4c4good]

That's great advice thank you all. Will look into that food on the website posted as well. It looks good stuff.