How do you teach cats to eat out of their own food bowls?
I have 1 kitten who is 3 months old and one adult cat who is 5 years old. Since both cats need different kinds of food (kitten food which has nutrients found in a mother's milk, and adult formula that has nutrients designed for older cats), I have two separate food bowls. One for the kitten and one for the older cat. The older cat steals food from the kittens bowl which is making her overweight, and the younger one is stealing food from the older cat's food bowl. I've tried mixing some kitten food in with the adult food, but that hasn't worked. I've tried putting the bowls in differnt spots in the house which also hasn't worked. What would you suggest? Thanks.
Well, you don't need to feed them different foods. Kitten food doesn't contain any nutrients that adult food doesn't, and vice versa.
"Kitten" food is little more than a marketing ploy by cat food mfrs. It makes you think it's necessary to feed kittens "kitten" food - but it's not. Kittens and adults need the same nutrients. Kittens need slighly more which can typically be accomplished by feeding them more. Which you should do because they require a ton more calories than adults.
If you feed them both a good quality canned food, both will thrive.
From my blog:
This site has provided some info: http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm.
Energy Requirements for Kittens and Adult Cats
Age kcal/lb body wt
Kittens: 10 weeks 113
20 weeks 59
30 weeks 45
40 weeks 36
Adult Cats: Inactive 18
Active 20-30
Pregnant 45
Lactating* 56–145
So it appears that kittens need many more calories than adults. So why not just feed them more?
This site has another table showing the minimum protein allowances for cats v. kittens. It boils down to kittens needing 4% more protein than adults. There were other items in there, but it didn't vary widely at all. Kittens need the same amount of fat. They need a little more calcium, phosphorous and magnesium.
So in essence, it appears that so long as the food is adequately high in protein, your kitten will get what it needs - regardless of marketing hype.