Photo by Astrid Gast ( Shutterstock)It is difficult to put a cat on a diet. It's hard to watch your cat eat. It can be difficult to manage a second cat that has different dietary needs.AdvertisementRecently, I've found myself in this situation: Cement, my cat, has gained a few pounds over the past year. He went from a cement-esque 17-pound weight to a massive 21-pound-plus, likely because he only eats smaller cats food. Cement needs to be changed before he develops health problems or our smaller cat finds a better home.What do you do if your cat is looking a bit too thick?Establish strict meal timesYou can structure your cat's food intake by separating their meals or having them eat in different rooms. This will keep the other cat out of the dining area. One cat might eat in their bedroom while the other cat may eat in their home office. Your home might be smaller so you could have two cats eat at the same time. However, they can use the same room. Keep the door shut while the cat eats, and let the other one go outside. It is important to keep the cats apart so they don't eat each other's food.You can have problems getting your cats to change to a new schedule if you stick to a set feeding time. It will be difficult for them to adjust if they have been eating all day. You can ease the shock by giving them smaller meals, gradually decreasing the number of times they eat each day, while keeping the meal-times longer.It is important to keep your cat's digestive health in mind when you switch to a diet food. Start by adding a small amount of the new food to their regular food each day. This will help keep your litter box clean.Puzzle feeders can be used to distract themPuzzle feeders are toys that can be loaded with dry food and used to distract your cat from being hungry. The cat must solve the puzzle to get to the food. If your cat does not give you the death stare because they are treated like a rat in the maze, it can help them to adjust to their new feeding schedule and deal well with boredom.AdvertisementPlace food in a place where only one cat can reach itYou may find it difficult to get your cats to eat the same meals as you do. Jon, my friend, placed the smaller cat's food on top of his fridge so that he couldn't reach it. Pet feeders can be set up to only allow a certain pet to open based on their microchip. This is a great way to keep your pet's food separate and not have to use scheduled meals.AdvertisementThis is a great way to make sure your cats don't try other foods if one of your cats has a specific dietary requirement. There is nothing you can do about a hungry cat waking you up at 2 AM. This is a problem that you will have to solve on your own.
