We have two cats. Lamborghini has just been diagnosed very hyperthyroid, and possibly diabetic. He's a 12 year old male cat with one previous episode of urinary tract sludge, a few years ago. Ferrari is a 12 year old female, with severe environmental allergy who has been getting steroid shots about once a month to help with that for oh, maybe the last year(?), as nothing else worked and she was not only wheezing and snoring but licking her fur off and creating raw spots on her skin. Likely she is going to the vet to get thoroughly checked out this week, as pretty sure it's her who is still attacking my beautiful bathroom floor instead of using the litterbox.
We have two dogs, Bo is an 8 year old Chinook type male, 52 pounds, 21 inches tall at the shoulder, and a polite gentleman of a dog. Luna is a 3 year old Mountain Cur, 33 pounds, 17 inches tall at the shoulder, and a real lunatic, wild-child, pack-type dog, tho sweet and loving as can be, hyper, crazy, full energy full throttle all the time (we've only had her a year, and she's calmed down a lot to reach this stage!), who can squeeze through a cat door because of her slender build, run like a greyhound, and can just positively fly when she jumps because of her build, muscles, and energy level.
We need to get the cats on a wet food diet, Lamborghini most definitely because he is in danger of full blown diabetes, and Ferrari because she's likely to end up that way also with all the steroids, and because feeding two cats two different diets won't work anyway. Up until now they've always had dry food available 24/7, and just nibbled whenever they felt like it. No obesity problems from doing that.
I built a "food cage" out of wire shelving to keep the cat food inaccessible to the dogs. Mostly works, Luna can shove herself in if she really wants to, but we have taught her that it's not worth it, and mostly she agrees.
But canned food is a whole different story! Cats have always gotten a small spoonful when dogs are fed, to keep them quiet, but they'd finish it before the dogs were done with their routine, so it was no problem to feed them in corners of the kitchen. To let Lamborghini eat a larger amount, we are now standing there as a human barrier between cat and drooling dogs. And to give him food more than twice a day, the dogs are going absolutely nuts as soon as the food comes out of the fridge or the can is cracked open, but I can't feed the dogs extra for lunch and bedtime, or I will end up with very rolypoly dogs. And not really thrilled with standing there for 15 minutes as a human shield while cat is working his way through a larger serving of wet food (Lambors is still just about 12 pounds even with having lost so much muscle weight, so he should be eating at least 4 cans of Fancy Feast a day!!!) and having to scold the dogs and order them Back!! the whole time.
Dogs love ice cubes, so leaving Lambors' food out in frozen form to thaw during the day isn't going to work unless I figure out how to keep it completely from the dogs.
I can modify the food cage to make the pathway in less direct, so that Luna couldn't get around the corner I'd create to get to the food, but that will make this thing bigger than we have room for, without rearranging the furniture somehow. Really going to get in the way.
Luna can jump as high as my head, from a dead standstill. Luna won't jump up on a countertop if we're there, don't think I'd trust her if I wasn't and there was cat food on it. Luna can squeeze through a cat door. Lamborghini had sudden back leg weakness from his day at the vet's, and only now, 4 days later, is walking correctly but still only short distances at a time and not jumping up on the furniture very well, more like digging in with claws to climb up, so a plan that requires him to be a competent jumper or climber is not so good (plus, he's always been a big klutz. The kind who goes racing through the house, misjudges a doorway or corner, and slams into the wall instead.)
Does anyone have any ideas I may not have thought of yet for making it less stressful for all involved, me too, to give the cats more wet food meals and/or more eating time, with two dogs desperate to get at that food?
We have two dogs, Bo is an 8 year old Chinook type male, 52 pounds, 21 inches tall at the shoulder, and a polite gentleman of a dog. Luna is a 3 year old Mountain Cur, 33 pounds, 17 inches tall at the shoulder, and a real lunatic, wild-child, pack-type dog, tho sweet and loving as can be, hyper, crazy, full energy full throttle all the time (we've only had her a year, and she's calmed down a lot to reach this stage!), who can squeeze through a cat door because of her slender build, run like a greyhound, and can just positively fly when she jumps because of her build, muscles, and energy level.
We need to get the cats on a wet food diet, Lamborghini most definitely because he is in danger of full blown diabetes, and Ferrari because she's likely to end up that way also with all the steroids, and because feeding two cats two different diets won't work anyway. Up until now they've always had dry food available 24/7, and just nibbled whenever they felt like it. No obesity problems from doing that.
I built a "food cage" out of wire shelving to keep the cat food inaccessible to the dogs. Mostly works, Luna can shove herself in if she really wants to, but we have taught her that it's not worth it, and mostly she agrees.
But canned food is a whole different story! Cats have always gotten a small spoonful when dogs are fed, to keep them quiet, but they'd finish it before the dogs were done with their routine, so it was no problem to feed them in corners of the kitchen. To let Lamborghini eat a larger amount, we are now standing there as a human barrier between cat and drooling dogs. And to give him food more than twice a day, the dogs are going absolutely nuts as soon as the food comes out of the fridge or the can is cracked open, but I can't feed the dogs extra for lunch and bedtime, or I will end up with very rolypoly dogs. And not really thrilled with standing there for 15 minutes as a human shield while cat is working his way through a larger serving of wet food (Lambors is still just about 12 pounds even with having lost so much muscle weight, so he should be eating at least 4 cans of Fancy Feast a day!!!) and having to scold the dogs and order them Back!! the whole time.
Dogs love ice cubes, so leaving Lambors' food out in frozen form to thaw during the day isn't going to work unless I figure out how to keep it completely from the dogs.
I can modify the food cage to make the pathway in less direct, so that Luna couldn't get around the corner I'd create to get to the food, but that will make this thing bigger than we have room for, without rearranging the furniture somehow. Really going to get in the way.
Luna can jump as high as my head, from a dead standstill. Luna won't jump up on a countertop if we're there, don't think I'd trust her if I wasn't and there was cat food on it. Luna can squeeze through a cat door. Lamborghini had sudden back leg weakness from his day at the vet's, and only now, 4 days later, is walking correctly but still only short distances at a time and not jumping up on the furniture very well, more like digging in with claws to climb up, so a plan that requires him to be a competent jumper or climber is not so good (plus, he's always been a big klutz. The kind who goes racing through the house, misjudges a doorway or corner, and slams into the wall instead.)
Does anyone have any ideas I may not have thought of yet for making it less stressful for all involved, me too, to give the cats more wet food meals and/or more eating time, with two dogs desperate to get at that food?
