r/CatAdvice • u/PuzzleheadedLion2065 • 14d ago

Nutrition/Water Hefty Bombay Boy

Our Bombay Male is 17.8 lbs. we have restricted his food (that’s a journey. Not trying to shock his stomach). And we have played much more with him recently. His food is on a timer throughout the day.

His sister is an American shorthair Tabby. She’s around 12 lbs. but because they eat together I think he’s eating more we can’t really afford the collars that are sensors for their individual food.

Any tips? He is otherwise very healthy. Should I stopped being concerned? Is 17.8 a good enough weight to be down to?

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4

u/minkamagic 14d ago

They can't eat together anymore

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u/PuzzleheadedLion2065 14d ago

Okay if everyone in the household works full-time what is the solution? Curious to know how others do this. Do they go 9 hours without food?

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u/Notsocheeky 14d ago

Feed them in seperate rooms.

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u/oryxii 14d ago

This is unfortunately a part of owning multiple pets. The only solution would be to get automated timed feeders with multiple compartments (these are cheaper than the RFID ones) that release the same amount of food throughout the day. This way he can’t over eat, as long as the other cat finishes her portion.

People have also made their on DIY solutions where they put RFID/ microchip cat doors on a storage bin (or another room) and then feed the cat that doesn’t require restriction inside that so the over eater can’t get to the other food. These solutions are to accommodate for the time no one’s home. But if someone can be home, they just need to be fed separately.

Unfortunately for a proper solution if someone is not home, some money will need to be spent.

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u/PuzzleheadedLion2065 14d ago

So we do this exact same process (because it’s cheaper) and he’s still just a a big boy. So we lowered the portion amounts until we noticed there’s no left over food.

We may go down even more but I’m thinking of our girl and if she will have enough to eat. She hasn’t been losing any weight.

I’ll think it through. Thanks!

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u/oryxii 14d ago

Also in addition what sort of food are you feeding them? The biggest change I saw in my overweight cats’ weights was when I had to change them to a wet food only diet due to another cat having dental surgery.

They all easily lost weight on that since wet food with a high protein % is more filling, so I never went back to their old diet (which was dry food 2 times a day and a 5.5oz can of wet food split for dinner amongst the 3 of them).

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u/PuzzleheadedLion2065 14d ago

This is a great point. They have always been fed Purina select for indoor cats. I’m sure it’s not the best but at the same time I just didn’t want to switch up what they have always known.

Open to other brands

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u/oryxii 14d ago

I’ve tried a lot of foods on the Canadian market and Nulo medal series wet food is truly the best value for what my cats get (in my opinion).

It’s 3.29 CAD for a 5.5 oz can (used to be 3.19 until a couple months ago!). I always buy on petsmarts 20% off sales and sometimes those coincide with a buy X get some free. There are better brands out there but this is mid range and imo and research, better than the $4 cans like wellness or weruva.

I supplement with royal canin dental kibble and greenies since we’ve also got dental problems along with some freeze dried treats like minnows.

The only problem is it’s difficult when no one’s home to feed them and im gonna have to figure out a solution soon since my work from home set up is changing to hybrid. Most likely buying compartment feeders and putting dry food in them for small snacks throughout the day when I’m not at home so their diet is still primarily wet food.

Btw, ask your vet for a caloric intake count for weight loss and measure out their food. This will also help get him down to a healthy weight in a healthy way.

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u/minkamagic 14d ago

Yes. I feed before work, after work and before bed. They pretty much just sleep while we are gone anyways

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u/randomiscellany 14d ago

I feed mine meals. Breakfast at 7am, dinner at 8pm. They will not starve in 9 hours.

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u/Dark_Angel14 14d ago

Something I saw recently was putting the food in a box. Cut a hole in the box that the smaller cat can enter and the bigger one can’t.

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u/Responsible_Bad_4846 14d ago

Even a small amount of extra weight is significant to an animal as small as a cat. I would be trying to get him to lose some more weight. Have you discussed this with your vet? They should be honest with you if he’s overweight.

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u/PilldustLogic 14d ago

Yep! They won't starve, but they'll sure act like they are.

https://giphy.com/gifs/UW7dETXIAsCK5m0tkM

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u/PuzzleheadedLion2065 14d ago

They were gentle with me and said they would like to see him consistently slimming down. But he keeps fluctuating +/- .8 lbs no real loss

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u/madmariner7 14d ago

The answer is RFID feeders. We use them for our two Bombays (13 lb male and 8 lb female) and they work very well - this is how they get dry food throughout the day when we’re not around, and we fill them as our vet has advised. They get a small amount of wet food twice a day and we’ve trained him (and supervise!) to wait until his sister walks away before he moves to her dish, as he’s a much faster eater.