I've been around cats all my life, but this my first time being a legit cat dad. I just adopted a couple of very sweet 5 year old black cats. They are bonded littermates and go everywhere together, but have their own personalities - especially when it comes to eating. Sister #1, The Chonktopus, is still in the healthy body size range but just barely. She definitely has no problem diving right in at meal time. The other sister, The Grazer, likes to well... graze. She'll eat a little bit when food is set out, but then wanders off and comes back 15 minutes later. The Chonktopus has no problem going over and eating The Grazer's food while this happens. She doesn't eat everything in the two bowls (there's always something for the other kitty to eat when she gets around to it) but she seems to be eating 60-70% of the meals intended for both cats.
I have, of course, heard of Google and have read up on several strategies for solving this but I'm running into some snags that hopefully some more experienced cat owners can give me some tips about.
Problem #1: I have an open floor plan. Other than a door to a small closet (which is filled with stuff) and a door to the bathroom, there are no real rooms in the place. So putting them in different rooms is a bit of a challenge.
Problem #2: Theoretically I can try to solve problem #1 by just putting The Grazer in the bathroom and sitting with her for half an hour until she eats things. But she's strange; when I try to tempt her with a bowl of food it actually spooks her and she runs away. Also she probably still won't eat enough and I'd hate to start teaching her food insecurity.
Problem #3: Yeah, I could put Chonktopus in the bathroom instead (she'll definitely follow the food bowl in there) but The Grazer is "the protector" and she'll want to "rescue" her sister and will focus on that instead of eating.
Problem #4: I could try to get some low-cal dry food and let them free feed, but they have both had full dental extractions so crunching kibble is hard for them.
Thanks in advance for helping out a new cat dad!
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/ejjplc/need_help_with_feeding_strategies/
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