How To Manage Feeding Time In A Multiple-Pet Household

Pet parents know that feeding time in a multi-cat and/or multi-dog household can be a circus. Making sure each pet gets her proper allowance requires time and a lot of patience. Even if you measure out the correct allowance for each pet, how do you ensure they actually eat it? Once the food is in the bowl it is fair game for all!

From sensitive tummies, young age, old age, obesity and medication, there are plenty of reasons why your pets might need to eat an individual diet. But what happens when you have multiple cats or dogs who are all raiding each other’s food bowls, eating more than they should, bullying other pets at mealtime and dining on food not meant for them? Unfortunately, this can lead to weight gain, weight loss (when some poor pets aren’t getting their fair share), and even illness if a dog or cat is ingesting medication not meant for them.

Some Reasons Why You Might Need To Feed individually

There are multiple reasons for why you might find that you need to feed your pets individually at some stage, either for the short term or as a permanent solution.                  

• One pet is particularly pushy, and takes food from another after they have eaten their own meal
• One pet eats significantly more than the others, leading to possible weight problems in the initial cat and the others possibly not getting enough food
•  Cats trying to eat dog food and vice versa
•  You need to monitor your pet’s food intake precisely and know how much exactly one particular pet is eating, and of what
•  You need to feed a special diet to one pet, such as a prescription diet or low calorie diet that is important to that pet’s well-being
•  You need to place medication for one pet in their food, and be able to tell for sure that they have eaten it and also ensure that a different pet doesn’t eat it instead

Solutions

1. Everybody eats the same thing.
Occasionally, if one of your pets needs a special diet, you can simplify things by having everyone eat the same thing. This of course will depend on whether or not your veterinarian thinks this strategy is medically sound. That will depend on the features of the diet and the life stage and health status of each pet. It usually applies to all-dog or all-cat households, since cats can’t be fed dog food (it just doesn’t meet their nutrient needs). Check with your veterinarian first to see if this is an option in your home. While it may be the easiest way, this strategy may not be in your pets’ best interest or it may not be the most cost-effective option.

2. Physical barriers can be effective.
For households with dogs and cats, an obvious part of the solution may be to feed the cats in an area that the dog can’t access. Feeding a feline behind a cat-sized door or in an elevated feeding location often works for this. However, having a cat-sized dog or a cat that can’t access an elevated location can make this strategy problematic.

3. Don’t free-feed.
Having a dry diet available to pets at all times (“free-feeding”) is a convenient way to feed cats or dogs in same species multi-pet households. However, free-feeding makes it nearly impossible to feed different diets to different pets unless you are able to completely contain them in some way. First, free-fed pets have a tendency to eat too much and become overweight, which poses a number of health problems and ultimately negates the convenience factor of free-feeding. Secondly, unless you’re only free-feeding a single pet and keeping track of the amount fed (also inconvenient), it’s not possible to know how much the pet eats. That’s fine as long as all goes well, but a change in appetite can provide information about your pet’s health status, and not being able to tell your veterinarian about your pet’s food intake means he is missing important information about your pet’s health. Third, if a diet change needs to be made, knowing the current intake makes that process go more smoothly.

4. Start with a plan.
Whenever you need to feed multiple pets, make sure you have the necessary tools and procedures in place. Obtain additional food bowls as needed. Decide who will be fed what diet, how much he’ll get and where he’ll eat. Pets fed in the same room will need supervision, and pets that finish their meals faster should leave the area until everyone is done eating. It can be helpful to have a “dog room” and a “cat room” for feeding or to feed in shifts.

5. Teach your pets what to expect.
Make a routine for feeding and include some obvious signals for the start (think dinner bell) and end (think picking up food bowls) of feeding time. Be consistent about timing.

6. Involve your veterinarian.
Your vet can give you estimates of how much each pet should be fed. Keep track of how much each pet eats and whether they gain, maintain or lose weight on that amount of food. Like humans, each pet’s exact calorie requirements can vary from estimates, so it’s important to adjust the amounts fed as needed. This is a good opportunity to check in with your veterinarian about all of your pets’ dietary needs and make any necessary dietary changes. Keep in mind that sometimes pets will eat less during a diet transition phase. This is usually not cause for alarm. If you notice this, discuss it with your veterinarian. Being able to describe exactly how much your pet is eating will help your veterinarian to decide if your plan needs to change. If your pet absolutely refuses to eat the diet, your veterinarian can also advise you on what to do.

Feeding cats and dogs separately

If you are have problems with a cat and a dog trying to snack on each other’s food, try the different level approach, which is feeding your dog at floor level and your cat out of their reach. A reasonable degree of training of the dog may be required for this, and it will not work if your dog is determined to get into your cat’s food, even if it is placed supposedly out of their reach. Supervising your dog while they are eating can keep your cat from eating dog food (assuming your dog finishes her meal in one go and you remove any uneaten food promptly) but keeping a dog away from cat food can be harder, as cat food is often left out for your cat to graze on throughout the day. Consider fitting a cat flap to one of your internal doors, to provide a room or area that only your cat can access, thereby ensuring that whatever leaves your cat’s food bowl has definitely been eaten by your cat.

Feeding multiple dogs separately

Feeding more than one dog a different diet to the others, or keeping all of your dogs to their own bowl can be much easier than trying to get the same result with cats. Dogs tend to eat relatively quickly, and also, can generally be supervised when eating, and trained and instructed to leave things alone when told. If you find that one of your dogs is overly pushy with the others or you need to make sure that each dog eats exactly what is in their own bowl and no one else’s, try feeding your dogs in different rooms, to allow the slower dog or dogs to eat their meal without interruption. You might also consider setting up a row of hooks along the wall if your dogs must be fed side by side, and putting each dog on a lead while they eat, ensuring that they cannot reach the other dogs or bowls. If your problem arises from dominant behavior in one dog pushing another dog off their food, however, this solution may not prove effective, as the dominant dog may still be able to intimidate the other dog or dogs even if they cannot physically reach them.

Feeding multiple cats separately

Feeding two or more cats and ensuring that they each eat only their designated foodstuffs and don’t graze on the bowl provided for one of the others can be challenging. Cats are notoriously not amenable to training, and also, it is generally recommended to feed cats little and often rather than in big individual meals, which means that food is often left down throughout the day. Because of this, telling who has eaten what, which cat ate a pill or other medication placed in the food, or who is getting the benefit of a special diet can be a challenge.

If you have a fairly large house that your cats have split up into territories, with areas that one cat calls their own and the other does not go, you may be able to manage this by feeding each cat in their own space, providing that you are confident in your abilities to monitor your cat’s behavior. Remember, however, that a cat that is hungry or doesn’t like their food (if they are eating a special diet that is less tasty than the food the other cat has, for instance) will often go to great lengths to find food that they want to eat.

The norms of your household’s feeding structure may change as one cat goes in search of something else. You may be able to address this by placing a series of access-controlled cat flaps on some of your internal doors, such as microchip-activated cat flaps or infra-red key cat flaps. By doing this, you can block off a room or rooms and allow only one cat to get into it, and feed each cat in a separate room so that you can be certain who has eaten what is there, and that the cat has not been able to get into food from anywhere else in the house.

An alternative to this method of feeding multiple cats separately if you don’t have a large home and multiple rooms that you can block off, is to buy or construct a series of crates or boxes into which you can install an access-controlled cat flap a mentioned above. You can then feed each cat in their own box that they can come and go from as they please. The boxes or crates don’t have to be huge, although rather larger than a standard cat carrier is recommended, as cats don’t like to feel trapped, especially when eating. As with anything else, there are limitations to doing this. A cat that is not able to access the closed off area by means of a selectively locked cat flap might still be able to gain access if they follow the other cat in while the door is open, or entice the other cat close enough to the door to trigger the unlocking mechanism.

*There are several high tech solutions that work to solve the multi-pet feeding problem.  Microchip pet feeders and various types of selective pet feeders may be the answer to your problems.  They both work by a reader in the feeder unit that reads either a microchip or a collar piece/tag that is worn or embedded in (as in the microchip) in that particular pet.

SELECTIVE PET FEEDERS

This particular selective feeder, The WonderBowl, uses infrared technology to detect when your pet is near the food bowl. When the pet wearing the unique tag is in range, the lid will open, granting access only to the pet you choose.

Wireless Whiskers® AutoDiet™ Feeder

Wireless Whiskers® can be set up as a separate feeding station for each food type and allow or lock out specific pets as you wish. Each feeder allows you to independent set allowances for up to 8 pets.

Also, this Wireless Whiskers electronic Feeder is designed intelligently to help you track and monitor the diet of your pets. There’s a system in place that will inform you if they are not eating correctly, and this unit can be programmed to deliver meals once, 4 times or 24 meal intervals.

Microchip Pet Feeder

Mealtimes can be much less stressful by using a microchip activated feeder like the SureFeed Microchip Pet Feeder. This clever feeder recognizes a pet’s unique microchip number or RFID collar tag, so it will only open for them, and no other pet in the house. When the authorized pet approaches the feeder the lid slides open automatically to reveal the food, closing again when the pet has finished. This is an excellent solution if you have a fussy eater who likes to graze throughout the day. You can now leave food out without fear of your other pets eating it.

In this particular feeder, each bowl features an integrated seal that helps keep your pet’s food fresher for longer – keeping your house free of unwanted pet food smells and flies. It is suitable for both dogs and cats and you can use this feeder with wet and dry food. You can even personalize each pet’s feeder with different color bowls and mats.