Two cats separated when i go back to work

[FiFi36]

Hi there,
I am looking for some advice please? I have two indoor cats with FIV (Willie and Jonesy), we recently found out Jonesy (10yrs old) has chronic kidney disease and is now being fed renal food which has been a nightmare to get him to eat(i can see from another thread on this i'm not alone with this problem). Anyway i am due to go back to working in my office full time and was wondering if it is ok to lock Jonesy in my kitchen while i'm at work. it is a big kitchen with glass double doors and windows for him to look out on, and he'd have his food and water, toys and litter tray in there, tbh since we adopted him last July he tends to stay in the kitchen most of the day anyway, he ventures out to rest of the house in the evening. the reason i want to seperate them is because our other cat willie will eat literally anything and everything in sight. I bought two timed food dispensers but willie would just eat from both and rob jonesys food as well cos Jonesy is picky about when he wants to eat. Our other cat Willie would have access to the rest of the house and he would also have his food, water and litter tray etc. Is there anyone in the same situation that have done this or have come up with other solutions?
Thanks

[Mollycat]

Microchip feeders, and get the two of them microchipped if they are not already. They are pricey, I don't think they have come down much from the £100 I paid each for my two, but now I know how good they are I would gladly pay double that. Not only do they stop each cat getting the other's food, they also keep food fresh and any other pets from getting to it. There is now a "smart" version that sends information to your smart phone if you're into that sort of thing, a ridiculous waste of extra money if you ask me but I'm sure some people love to know how many ounces the cat has eaten without the bother of getting scales out and writing things down.

As far as getting them to eat formula food, yes most of us struggle with most cats though dry is often better received than wet, but there are ways to compromise and still help them if they really won't eat it. And it's much more important to eat something than to eat the "right" thing.

[Alexisandcats]

Hi there,
I am looking for some advice please? I have two indoor cats with FIV (Willie and Jonesy), we recently found out Jonesy (10yrs old) has chronic kidney disease and is now being fed renal food which has been a nightmare to get him to eat(i can see from another thread on this i'm not alone with this problem). Anyway i am due to go back to working in my office full time and was wondering if it is ok to lock Jonesy in my kitchen while i'm at work. it is a big kitchen with glass double doors and windows for him to look out on, and he'd have his food and water, toys and litter tray in there, tbh since we adopted him last July he tends to stay in the kitchen most of the day anyway, he ventures out to rest of the house in the evening. the reason i want to seperate them is because our other cat willie will eat literally anything and everything in sight. I bought two timed food dispensers but willie would just eat from both and rob jonesys food as well cos Jonesy is picky about when he wants to eat. Our other cat Willie would have access to the rest of the house and he would also have his food, water and litter tray etc. Is there anyone in the same situation that have done this or have come up with other solutions?
Thanks

Hello FiFi36,

We have the same problem: two cats with different eating habits and appetites. We used to feed them twice per day making sure each cat is eating from his plate - in the morning and in the evening after work. Yes, they were always a little bit hungry when we saw them in the evening but they both lost weight during that period and our vet told us it was great for them. One of them is suffering from urinary retention.
However, everything changed when we started working from home because of the Covid. It became impossible to ignore their demands, so everything went back to the way it was before.
All I'm saying is maybe you should try feeding them twice per day, without locking your cat Jonesy in the kitchen?