I had posted several weeks about our new little kitty family member. After some adjustment and a few confrontations I am pleased to announce that resident cat, resident dog, and new kitty are getting along pretty well. It's so funny to see a 65 lb boy dog be man-handled by a 1 lb female kitty though. He used to leave the room whenever she walked in because she would arch her back and hiss at him. He now stays in the room, but keeps his distance--LOL. The cat and kitten have "kitty wars" predictably every evening aroung 8 and then every morning---on my bed ---at 6 am. They love to wrestle together.

Anyway, here's my problem. My cat is a Himalayan male. Himalayans are long-haired cats, so hairballs can be a real problem and male cats are very prone to UTIs, which can be fatal in cats. So...Keebler is on an Iams food for hairballs and urinary tract health. The kitten, Oreo, is on Iams kitten chow. The quandry is that they each like the other's food better than their own. My 12 y/o cat is eating kitten chow and my 3 m/o kitty is eating adult chow. I keep dry food available at all times (and up on a counter so the dog can't get to it), but they keep eating the wrong food. I have to take the kitten to the vet next week for shots, but I was wondering if any of the cat-loving moms had any suggestions for how to get the cats to eat only their own food?

By Karen~moderator on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 08:07 pm:

Pam, I have a friend who is going through almost exactly the same thing - she has an older cat, and has a new kitten. What she's done for now is to mix kitten food with cat food and put it in 2 bowls. Her kitten is about 4 months old. That's the only thing I can offer, but I'd be interested to hear what your vet says.

By Amy~moderator on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 08:10 pm:

Karen's advice sounds good. I bet the vet would also have some good suggestions. Also wanted to comment on the kitty wars. I have two kittens, and kitty wars are constant here. They are always wrestling and chasing one another, but hugging and snuggling is common too. I love cats!

By Pamt on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 08:33 pm:

Thanks for the suggestions so far and keep them coming! Karen, I had thought about mixing the food too. I'll probably do that until I talk to the vet. Amy, my cats haven't quite snuggled together yet (although they did leave my walk-in closet together calmly so they may have been sleeping), but they do seem to enjoy each other. I would love to catch them grooming each other or snuggling.

By Amy~moderator on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 08:46 pm:

Pam - I think once they have a little more time together they will start snuggling. And it is so adorable. Sorry that I have no suggestions - I like Karen's idea - and I wish you the best of luck with your kittens. Oh and too cute about your dog keeping his distance.

By Trina~moderator on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 09:03 pm:

We had similar problems when we brought new kittens into our house 2 summers ago. Stripey (may she rest in peace ) was elderly and on a special diet due to a history of FUS and the kittens needed kitten chow. It was easy to put all 3 of our mature cats on the same diet but throwing the kittens into the mix made things difficult. Our vet. told us to feed them separately in different rooms. YA, right! LOL! Much easier said then done. We ended up feeding the kittens their kitten chow in a separate room with the door closed and didn't worry too much if they ate the mature cat food later on. That way at least our elder cats didn't fatten up or get sick from eating the kitten chow.

Glad to hear your furry friends are getting along!

By Ginny~moderator on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 10:44 pm:

Definitely ask the vet, since your older cat is on a special diet for specific medical reasons, and your kitten needs a kitten diet for nutritional reasons. I think Trina's method is probably the most likely to have some success, especially since it is the older cat who has the medical problems. But, you may need to pick up all food during the day and not leave the older cat's food down until the kitten has eaten at least one daily feeding of kitten chow.

By Boxzgrl on Saturday, July 10, 2004 - 11:27 pm:

In all reality, it may be a good thing to keep a cat on a diet to help prevent UTIs. Your kitten needs kitten foor right now but in the future it won't hurt to feed them both the same diet. I agree with the above posts mentioning mixing the foods. Good luck!