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"After scolding one's cat one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference."

My 2 are like this. Kimba always tries to push Alaska out of the way at meal times and when this happens, Alaska always just walks away. I've tried feeding them in separate rooms with the doors shut and this seems to help because they don't distract each other. As for how much to feed them, i give mine wet food in the morning and at night, and leave biscuits out all day with plenty of water! They're quite strange actually because at play time Alaska is top cat and at meal times Kimba is top cat! Anyway i'd definately try them in separate rooms, at least then you can monitor exactly what each cat is eating! Good luck

Indiana doesn't push the others out of the way, they all eat when the food is first put down as they have a bowl each. They won't eat all of it straight away they will keep going back to it but Indiana is the fat so he must be eating more during the day by eating what the other two leave.

Trouble is if I feed them seperate they won't eat it all in one go in the morning and as I am not able to get home until 6pm at night they won't get fed again till then and it's a long time for them to go without food. I could feed a small amount in the morning some when I get home and then another lot before bed maybe?

Just not sure what to do for the best, I don't want a fat cat or a under developed kitten (

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"After scolding one's cat one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference."

Gem, the orijen should start to balance out Indiana's weight in time. Koko was verging on being overweight, and he has maintained a healthy weight eventually. Do you feed them wet food too? Maybe supplement them with chicken or fish in the morning and evening to stave off the hunger pangs. This shouldn't contribute to Indiana's weight gain at all.Reduce Indiana's food by a third until his weight settles down again. Feed Dexter on his own in the evening if you can, and give him a kitten pouch with his food. Has dexter been wormed recently? Worms can cause weight loss quite quickly, and it won't hurt to worm him again now to be on the safe side.

Some Bengals do seem to be prone to weight problems. In the evenings, get out a wand toy, and make the kitties run and jump until they are panting! After a a couple of weeks the boys should be walking muscle machines!

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Best Wishes,
Maddy

Dexter is going to be wormed tonight along with the other two, just picked up pills

I really don't want to have to feed them seperately at odd times. I've always liked being able to have food down for them all day.

We don't feed them any wet food as Orijen is a complete food so why feed wet as well? They have a constant fresh supply of water.

Plus the last two times we tried to feed Dexter wet food we tried Whiskers Kitten food and he threw it up the next morning so we tried Felix and the same happened. Which is odd as he was having RC and Whiskers when we first got him.

Definately going to set aside more time during the week for play sessions as I think that will help Indiana a lot he has become quite lazy! Moshi and Dexter are full of energy and play alot but Indiana sleeps and watches more and only really play fights with them from time to time.

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"After scolding one's cat one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference."

More playtime with Indiana will definitely help his weight very quickly

Some people prefer to feed thier cats a little wet food too as feeding solely dry can lead to urinary tract problems later on. It ensures the cat is getting the right amount of water intake. Cats are not natural water drinkers, and they may not be drinking enough if they are eating dry food alone

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Best Wishes,
Maddy

it's nice to give them wet as well as dry, just for a bit of variety. mine have complete biscuits down constantly, meat pouches in the mornings as an extra, & raw in the evenings as an extra.

also, don't measure the amount of dry you put down...fill the bowls up & keep them topped up. if you are allowing the bowls to run empty, indiana is probably telling himself he better eat it quick to stock up for when it's run out. cats naturally eat around 10 small meals a day, so it's more natural for them to have something to graze on at their leisure.

it's very unlikely for him to overeat if there is a constant supply & he doesn't feel the need to compete for the food or eat anyone's leftovers.

also, exercise is a must. good jumping & catching exercises to keep his muscles toned.

I'm in the same situation. Binky and Mikesch are getting too fat and poor skinny Katie has barely a chance to get at the food before they inhale it. If I put more out, they still eat most of it and she always acts starving when I get home. If I left enough food out that they'd leave some for her, I would likely have two very fat cats on my hands. I suspect it's because both of them at some point had to fend for themselves so they got into the mindset of "eat as much as you can while it's there because you never know when there's going to be food again." Mikesch on occasion will overeat to the point of vomiting (so he gets to eat his food twice).

If the fat cat doesn't like to jump but the skinny one does, putting the food up high may be an option. In my case it works for Binky if the food is anywhere higher than three feet off the ground as the old chap doesn't like to jump or climb, but not for Mikesch. I've tried putting Katie's bowl up high in places where I thought none of the others would get to, but Mikesch makes it pretty much everywhere when he's on the prowl (including kitchen cabinets, trash can, bread box, you name it...) and he's sneaky about it, too, trying not to let me notice he's stealing food again.

One suggestion I've read is to have a sensor-controlled enclosed feeding station. E.g. rig a hooded litter box or something similar with one of those cat doors that will only let the cat wearing the right sensor through (collar or microchip-controlled), then place the food into the box and allow your skinny cat in and lock the fat cat out. If I had more time for projects like this, I would try to build one but I keep hoping my fosters are going to be adopted soon and I can put my two greedy "fatsos" on a diet without worrying about someone else going hungry because they ate all the available food.

Gemma hon, I wouldnt worry Dex will be fine, remember Kittens grow in spurts, Harry is a completly different size compared to his siblings & I don't compare him to Shelly as there is no point, just keep doing what your doing he'll fatten up in time.

Jim

Thanks for all the advice. I have started to put a full bowl of Orijen down and ensure it is always full. We are also having scheduled play times for exercise and we have agree that we will feed them Prawns or Chicken on Saturdays and Sundays )

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"After scolding one's cat one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference."

Ok well we have changed the plan slightly and they have dried food down all the time and they have a little Cod, Chicken, Prawns or something each night for tea.

Indiana is starting to look a bit thinner and isn't running to the food bowl the minute it gets put down so I think things are slowly improving.

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"After scolding one's cat one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference."

excellent!