Food, litter box, etc.

[slgroves]

I have 2 cats - one skinny, one 14 lbs. The 14 pounder has some behavior issues - at feeding time, if I'm a bit late and don't feed in little amounts, he gorges & vomits. If I feed canned food, he poops on the floor instead of the litter box ( still pees in the litter box.) We've tried free feeding - sometimes the poop issue, sometimes not. So right now, he's on dry food only and still trying the free feeding in hopes it'll even out and he will stop overeating. It does solve the vomiting problem, but he's eating double the amount he was throughout the day. I'd really like to get him used to the free feeding so we can leave the cats for a couple of days without a pet sitter, but I'm concerned about the possibility of diabetes on only dry food, but don't want to return to the outside the litter box problem. I had a 19 lb cat who ended up diabetic. Suggestions for food and type of feeding that will solve all my problems and give me 2 happy healthy cats?

[Kay]

I have a cat who vomits up bile if he goes too long without food, and if I'm away I get round the problem by using digitally timed feeders

he's also intolerant to most proprietary wet cat foods and so I feed cooked meats (he won't eat it raw) a mix of liver, kidney, mince and heart in addition to dry - because there's no wastage it works out quite a bit cheaper than pouches

[lilynmitz]

I would suggest having a word with your vet about nutrition, if you've already had one very overweight cat and a risk of another going the same way (other than the skinny cat), it may be the type of food you're feeding them that's part of the problem. I know some cats do tend to be binge eaters, often due to past history when food was scarce, but if you're feeding them the right food, free feeding need not lead to obesity. It sounds like both cats need this, one to build his weight up, and the other to prevent gorging and vomiting, so vet advice on getting the right feeding regime and nutritional balance would be a good idea.