Cat needs to diet (but we have 2 cats)

Abbafan1972

My cat Mia went to the vets yesterday for her boosters and the vet commented that she's not overweight but a bit "on the chunky side".

He advised me to cut down her food, but I didn't really get chance to discuss it in detail. I have 2 cats, so not sure how I can cut down the food intake as there's always 2 bowls of food?

Does anyone have any advice for me?

Thanks in advance.

lostinrates

Feed them both the diet ''quota'' and top up the slimmer cats ration by putting it alone in a room with extra once or twice a day Annoyingly fiddley but possible.

Kimberley

Can't you feed them in different rooms?

Beckyy

Do you free feed (leave bowls out) or have set meal times? I would really advise having set meals, leaving the food down for 10 minutes then removing the bowl. They'll soon adjust to meal times, and that way you can monitor who's eating what.

Maybe encourage more exercise indoors too, new toys... a couple of balls, you can get a laser pen cheaply off eBay and get them to chase it around!

zaksmum

When I needed to cut down on one of my dogs' food I got the "light" version for the heavier dog and the standard for the other. I give them Hills Science Plan so it's easy to get the light version.

My dogs wolf their food as soon as I put it down for them so I could keep an eye on them...it's eaten in 10 seconds! The heavier dog soon lost the weight she needed to.

rising_from_the_ashes

Hi, I have the same problem...

My wee cat is a bit of a podge - she's a pretty normal sized domestic cat and is the feline equivalent of a Labrador (she eats anything)!

My big cat looks anoerexic - he's absolutely enourmous, a very fussy eater (and prolific mouser).

I'm finding it really hard to try to get weight off her .... I need to leave food down as he needs to put on weight but obviously can't stop her eating it.

Like Zaksmum says, it's a lot easier with dogs as they usually eat their meals in seconds!

Beckyy's advice is very good - if your cats will be OK with this. Mine hate each other and fight a lot so I have to leave food down so they can try to get it at separate times as them being in the same room (or even same floor in the house) is a no-no.

I'd say that if your other cat is of a good weight, then you could probably get away with switching them both to a diet food - you should then be able to supplement your other cat's intake if needed.
Good luck

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

My skinny cat gets fed on top of the freezer, that way fatboy can't rob her and she has somewhere for 2nd breakfast, lunch and treats.