Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Seventeen courses of feast ... and famine


So the Fatpuss had a weigh-in at the vet last night.

After the kicking and screaming stopped - he does so love the vet - we plonked him on the scales, and guess what?

He is right on target! He's meant to lose 70 grams a week, and that's exactly what he's done.

It hasn't been easy. He starved himself for the first week, clearly reasoning that if he just stuck it out, eventually we'd give in and go back to feeding him. He mourned, and smooched, and flirted, and stomped off in a fury. He tried everything.

But ha, it didn't work. It may have killed me to watch him, knowing how desperate he was, but I held my resolve.

And around Day 8, the penny finally dropped, and he started eating the new diet chompies.

Podder is quite pleased with the diet chompies as well, so he's tucking into them regularly. But the Grimth ... now that's a different story.

He doesn't like chompies, so he won't eat them. Which means he doesn't eat a thing during the time we're at work, he hangs out for dinner time when we get home. At which point he virtually inhales his food, and then seconds later, sicks it back up again because he's shocked his poor hungry tummy.

We had about 10 days of this. Gorging and vomiting, gorging and vomiting.There was a very bulimic tinge about the house during those days. He began losing weight, because he couldn't keep any nutrition down. And this was meant to be the diet for the Fathead, not the baby!

So now we've managed to train him. He gets a ten-cent-piece sized blob of food to begin with, and he has to wait ten minutes before he gets another one. And so on, until about an hour and a half later, he's finally eaten (and kept down) a reasonable amount.

He's not happy about it. He's taken up residence on a dining chair, and he perches there scowling at me until I rattle the food container. If only he'd eat the chompies!

So we've got one cat who wants to eat ALL day but is only allowed to eat twice a day. And one cat who only wants to eat TWICE a day, but has to be given it in a seventeen course meal.

Cripes! The effort I go to for the furry babies. Thank goodness the Podder is easily pleased.

3 comments:

Taccolina said...

Maybe the Grimth is an aesthete. Try white linen tablecloths? He's already getting silver service!

Cathy {tinniegirl} said...

Memories!!! So glad we only had 2 to deal with and get adjusted.

Anonymous said...

Hehe, I am following this story with amusement, sympathy and enjoyment. Let's hope he keeps up that weightloss, poor guy!