how to resolve conflicting eating habits

[unseeliechylde]

Good luck with it! Our Riley is also a fan of the kitchen wall-units, it's his refuge when Skye tires him out, poor old man that he is! Is there something about cats called "Riley" being string-bean athletic types? BTW, love the name "spare cat" Sooo cute!

[snarf]

aha! a cunning plan, theres a breakfast bar type thing that lucifers got a bed on, spare cats tried to get up there once but failed comically (and landed in the bin  ) shell work out how to get there eventually but out of sight out of mind may work. failing that, lucifer, little monkey, can get on top of the wall cabinets in the kitchen, ill need a ladder but it can go up there!

Thank you peeps!

[Tiggy's Mum]

I have similar issues with the boys, Lukey is probably spare cat in this scenario and would eat until he pops.  Riley is more of a picker and despite being bigger (longer) than Lukey he is much leaner - more of a string bean physique wheras Lukey has a bodybuilder-esque physique.

What I do is feed them together and if then if Riley doesn't eat all his straight away I put his on the kitchen worksurface as piglet Lukey hasn't worked out how to get up there.  He can either hop up there himself to get it later or, if I'm home then I put it back down next time he goes over to the food area.  I know it's not ideal hygiene wise but there's always Dettol spray and I completely failed at the 'not being allowed on the worksurfaces' rule as he ignores me when I tell him to get down   

Is there anywhere that spare cat hasn't mastered getting up/in/on that Lucifer could have all his tea or maybe just the bit he leaves could be left for him to have later?

[unseeliechylde]

I can sympathise completely - I have a similar situation right now - my resident 18 month old boy is huge, but lanky, and he isn't much of a "foodie": he eats two small pouches of wet food a day, with occaisionally a handful of dry food in a treat ball. Skye, our new girl, is only 5 months but eats like a horse - ok, she's growing, but she eats more than Riley did at her age, and she'll grab anything going.
I've taken to feeding Riley on top of his cat tree in the front room, while Skye is fed at the same time, but on the floor in the kitchen. When Riley has finished "picking" at his food, I cover it with a small side-plate, and remove it whenever he goes to nibble some more. It's a hassle, but as they get fed while I am in (brekfast-time before work, and dinner after I am home with treat ball available during the day), it's not too bad. It seems to work - by seperating their feeding areas, they are going to different locations to eat when hungry, and if Skye goes for Riley's food, she can'y get to it, so will hopefully learn that it's not even worth checking.
Good luck with it - I know it can be a real pain, but it should help, and hopefully your new fluffy will learn with time to calm down on the guzzling, since food is regular, consistent and predictable. It can be difficlut to keep their weight under control if you have a "foodie" (like Skye - some cats, like people, seem to enjoy eating even if they aren't hungry). Our ones are indoor cats, so we have to be pretty strict - it's not like they are out all day climbing trees or hunting to run it off!

[snarf]

bit of a weird title but couldnt think how to word...

i took in lucifer in march this year, hes a very low maintenence cat, very easy going. i put down  tin of catfood a day, in 2 meals. and typically hell only eat about 2/3s and he eats it bit by bit, having a few mouthfuls and coming back every half hour or so. hes quite a small cat but the vet says his build is fine and from diagrams on the web hes seems to be in the ideal bracket- no problems there basically.
but now there is spare cat- she inhales food as soon as it touches the bowl, mostly clearing as much as i put down. shes eating less than she was her first few weeks here but she still eats alot. a whole tin + a little dry + whatever she can steal from lucifer. and is always begging for more. shes a more solid build anyway and a bigger cat but shes in danger of getting porky.
now theyre getting on, how do i best go about ensuring they both get the right amount to eat (not spare cat getting fat and lucifer half starved) is lucifer likely to catch on and eat more in one go when he works out she'll have it if he doesnt? is spare cat likely to calm down when she can trust there will always be food? or do you get binge eating cats?