Food issue - electromagnetic doors - ideas

[marko]

Hi everyone,

Food issue here. Nuda (6 year old female sphynx) is a pig and will always eat everything in sight.

Twiggy ( 12 year old female sphynx) was a nibbler...but now she can't nibble...because of piggy sister. This is completely throwing off the way she likes to eat.

I'm thinking of a product like this....that would allow twiggy to enter a box that I would put together...but not Nuda.

https://www.amazon.ca/Cat-Mate-Elect...ct_top?ie=UTF8

Anyone have any experience, suggestions or other ideas to add?
Many thx in advance!!

[Winston]

Marko have you tried to change Twiggys eating behaviour.. Some say that if you free feed and you want a more scheduled approach where the cat eats when you put the food down it can be done.

Cats learn quickly if you put the dish down, give it 20 minutes (seperate rooms of course) and pick up the dish, that after a couple of days Twiggy will learn to eat the food when placed down for her because she will figure out the dish is not going to be there.

Here is what we have done with my moms cat Brady (rip baby boy) but he was a pig...he drove my mom nuts and of course she felt bad and would give him extra...enough for the vets to say he needs to loose wait LOL
The vet asked my mom if she picked up the dish after eating or left it, she told him she would leave it until she fed him again...Psychologically he kept seeing the food dish there and expected to eat. Vet said feed him, lift up the dish and put it away until next feeding time.

Long story short within in a couple of weeks he stopped driving her crazy.....and he lost some weight lol

P.S I am not sure if you will be able to convince Twiggy to go through the door to eat...also what about the color thing if its up on the top of her head and not directly in the direction she needs to allow it to open...just a couple things that came to mind

He just couldnt stand seeing the food bowl empty LOL

Feeding 2 different types of kitties can be a challenge at times.

[marko]

Thanks so much Winston - this one is my bad.......ahh most of the backstory was missed.

They get fed 3 times a day each. usually wet food.

But before Nuda came, we used to leave a bowl out for Twiggy and she would nibble her kibble at will all day/night long. She always stayed at a perfect 7ish pounds.

But since nuda came and she can't have her nibbles....now her eating habits have totally changed and she gorges. and now she is gaining weight.

we want to bring back the kibble nibble

[hazelrunpack]

Although it wouldn't allow her the pleasure of leisurely snacking, could you just reduce the amount of wet food available to Twiggy to get her back down to her svelte 7ish pounds? As JD is getting older, I've had to decrease the amount of food he gets. (He weighs in at about 7ish pounds, too )

[Reg]

Hi Marko:

I was just thinking about the box you are thinking about building. I assume it's a closed-in container made out of wood or something of that nature. It might be an issue with Twiggy due to the fact that she will not be able to see around. With cats being both prey and predator, they are always on the lookout especially in the multi-cat household, for the chance of being attacked. If this is a closed in container it could be an issue with her using it.


Have you considered the possibility of using a wire dog crate? Twiggy would be able to see all around while she was in it. If it was working to your satisfaction you would be able to make a door out of plexiglass that would hold the four-way passage door in it.

Maybe there's a room that you wouldn't mind her using. If that's the case maybe a good cheap cheap door could be hung with the four-way pet door in it. The only problem is that maybe Twiggy might want to keep it for permanent residence. Just a few ideas. But I do think, if it was me, I would be trying to circumvent the problem with food ideas first.

In order to keep my animals weight managed each meal is weighed to fit the individual's cats needs. In this way I am able to control their weight, and supplements when they get them. When feeding raw like I do, the amount of food put out is a lot smaller than if using cans or dried food. I have found that good controlled measuring means a lot to weight control.

By the way, I only feed kitties twice a day - morning and evening - and this doesn't seem to bother them at all. And they are all senior cats - 2 are 10 and one is 9 years. The only time we ever fed them more than twice a day was when they were kittens.

Hope this gives you some food for thought.

[marko]

appreciate all the advice.

With regard to food though....Twiggy's weight was perfect before Nuda came. She was fed thrice daily for 6 years and had access to kibble all day long. She never ever finished the kibble in one sitting... she would nibble on 15-20 kibbles, 3-5 times a day and still maintained Perfect weight.

(Sphinxes, from what I've learned over the years are often fed more often because they get cold so easily..) (Not sure this has anything to do with it...but just as an FYI, Twiggy is toothless)

The issue is now. The issue is the fact that not having her nibbles... THAT is what is causing her stress and is changing her food eating behaviour. That is what is causing her to gorge and gain a bit of weight.

Given that the way Twiggy was eating worked 100% for her, Doesn't it make sense to try to emulate the old situation....versus all these new ideas? She's gonna be 13 soon.