How do you teach cats to eat out of their own food bowls?

dgrissmer asked:

I have 1 kitten who is 3 months old and one adult cat who is 5 years old. Since both cats need different kinds of food (kitten food which has nutrients found in a mother’s milk, and adult formula that has nutrients designed for older cats), I have two separate food bowls. One for the kitten and one for the older cat. The older cat steals food from the kittens bowl which is making her overweight, and the younger one is stealing food from the older cat’s food bowl. I’ve tried mixing some kitten food in with the adult food, but that hasn’t worked. I’ve tried putting the bowls in differnt spots in the house which also hasn’t worked. What would you suggest? Thanks.

Cat and Mouse

6 thoughts on “How do you teach cats to eat out of their own food bowls?”

  1. Very Funny Ninja Cat in Breast

    You can fed them in separate rooms until your kitten is 5-6 months old. At that age it is perfectly ok for her to eat the same food as the older cat , as 99% of kittens don’t need to be on kitten food till 1yr no matter what the bag says.

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  2. Frontline Flea & Tick

    Put one in a room with his/her food and shut the door. Your older cat is just trying to be the boss and will probably continue to do this even after the kitten has grown up. My dominate cat hates to see the dog eat and will stare at her which makes her nervous .

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  3. Funny Cats and Dogs Pictures

    Hi you can try feeding the cats in different rooms of the house. I know it’s hard when my kittnes were small their mother would eat their food and leave hers i would also mix them together but that’s how the mother got a little fat lol now that the kittens are over a year old they are all on the same food. So feed the kitten in one rom or your house and the older cat in the other room and try to make it a consistant time of day my cats al know they eat in the morning and at 4 or so in the afternoon. hope this helps!

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  4. Save up to 25% at 1800PetMeds – America’s Largest Pet Pharmacy

    Well, you don’t need to feed them different foods. Kitten food doesn’t contain any nutrients that adult food doesn’t, and vice versa.

    “Kitten” food is little more than a marketing ploy by cat food mfrs. It makes you think it’s necessary to feed kittens “kitten” food – but it’s not. Kittens and adults need the same nutrients. Kittens need slighly more which can typically be accomplished by feeding them more. Which you should do because they require a ton more calories than adults.

    If you feed them both a good quality canned food, both will thrive.

    From my blog:
    This site has provided some info:.

    Energy Requirements for Kittens and Adult Cats
    Age kcal/lb body wt
    Kittens: 10 weeks 113
    20 weeks 59
    30 weeks 45
    40 weeks 36
    Adult Cats: Inactive 18
    Active 20-30
    Pregnant 45
    Lactating* 56–145

    So it appears that kittens need many more calories than adults. So why not just feed them more?

    This site has another table showing the minimum protein allowances for cats v. kittens. It boils down to kittens needing 4% more protein than adults. There were other items in there, but it didn’t vary widely at all. Kittens need the same amount of fat. They need a little more calcium, phosphorous and magnesium.

    So in essence, it appears that so long as the food is adequately high in protein, your kitten will get what it needs – regardless of marketing hype.

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  5. I only have 1 cat but there are other cats that try to eat her food,
    I feed her 2 a day, once at around 7:30 and once at about 9-10 at night.
    sometimes she lets the other cats eat her food and then I have to feed her more than usual at night.
    but she is the joy of my life!!!
    I love Lilac(my cat)!
    she followed me home from school one day and ever since she is our cat.

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