Free feeding MY cats

[Kim in SD]

This might seem like a stupid question.
I have always had dry cat food available for my cats. I do not feed them canned on a regular basis, once in awhile they'll get a can for a treat. I dont give them people food. But now I have a problem. My black and white cat is getting fat. Well he is FAT, he's getting obese. If he were my only cat this wouldn't be a problem, just cut his food intake or buy a diet dry cat food. But.... My other cat is a siamese, he looks ethopian. I refer to him as my "flat cat" he's two dimension when he lays down. (He looks like a photo laying on the floor) He's actually normal weight for a siamese. But he picks at his food all day, bite here bite there.
How do I put one one a diet and not the other?

[Chicken]

I have a similar situation with one fat cat & two kittens here at the shop. My vet suggested to put the fat cat away 2-3 times a day, in a seperate room, and allow the two kittens to eat as much as they want during those times. In the seperate room, you measure out the food the fat cat is allowed to eat.

I've also heard that switching the fattie to a strictly canned diet can help them lose weight as often times it's all the carbs and fillers in dry food which bulks them up.

[Luvkitties]

How in the world did I miss this post!!!! We have one average cat, named Disney. He munches a little here and little there. Then there is Sir Purr, he enjoys the all day buffet!!! He was a rescue kitty that we adopted a year ago and I think that one of the reason he eats so much is probably b/c he was a stray that had to search for food. Plus like my sister says, "He can't help it necessarily, he's pear shaped!" LOL

We are going in for a check up in the next couple of weeks and I am sure that the vet is going to put him on Weight Watchers--with me!!

[HoundLover]

ah yes we have this problem too...at my fiance's house! 4 cats 2 diffrent foods and they all belong to diffrent people! okay...2 owners 4 cats 2 diffrent foods i should say. 3 are my fiances 1 is his dads girlfriends cat. well.....HER cat likes (and i guess was used to) the all day buffet that she did when living at her apartment. well guess what...IT DONT WORK THAT WAY NO MORE! my fiance's ONE cat...is obese. getting neck rolls. its gross. hes fat. and its disgusting. he weighs 16 lbs last time he was at the vet and i wouldnt be surprised if he weighed more now. now the other two cats are fine...yes they have pouchs but they dont sit there and eat ALL three cats food..then when the girlfriend dumps a container ful of food for HER cat upstairs...he will lay there and eat all THAT food also! now...his three get fed 2x a day a certain amount a day. but she just dumps food in the bowl as much as 3 or 4 x a day! a WHOLE cupful (id say the container is about 3 or 4 inchs high) into the bowl...and walks away. here comes abbott (the fatty)...oooooooooh food! munch munch munch...walks away....comes back...HEY FOODS STILL THERE! gotta eat it! munch munch munch...walks away. HEY dads feeding us downstairs!! goes downstairs and then will eat a little bit of food...and walk away. now I generally pick the food UP after about 20 mins to a half hr of being down if no one is eating it. my fiance just leaves it there on the floor...or he will pick it up and they come crying for food 2 or 3 hrs later because they werent intrested in it earlier because they ALL snacked on the all day buffet upstairs. now my solution is this.
depending on how many cats you have...buy the correct amount of crates.
everyone gets fed at the same time. in their own crate. this allows you to monitor WHOS eat WHAT amount of food in WHAT amount of time. now if you have 2 cats that eat a little throughout the day...then the times you notice they want food the most (say around 8 then 12 then 4 then 8 again...whatever times they are...id just feed everyone.) and another thing...just give the one cat alittle bit of food at a time. maybe spread it out over the course of the whole day so as not to throw off the other cats schedules? this is what im going to do with my fiance's cats when we get a place. 3 cats, 3 crates. everyone goes into a crate with their bowl of food...and doors are shut. whatever they dont eat gets put back and thats that. thats the only way i can think of to keep one cat out of the other cats food.
HTH
Hound