cat eats others food

We have 3 cats. Two of them will not let the third finish her own food. As a result she is underweight and they are overweight. What do we do?

RESPONSE

This is a very common problem in multiple cat households! We too have a couple of little pigs that try to intimidate others away from their food. There are two way of handling this issue and we use both of them:
The preferred method is to feed the timid cat near us and we "stand guard" keeping the others away until she has had her fill. We also try to keep the others from staring at her to try and intimidate her away. The timid one gets fed up on a counter and we prevent the others from jumping up there and staring by standing in their way. The piggy ones eventually learn that they can not eat the other cat's food as long as we are standing there and just wait.
The other method is to feed the piggy ones in a separate room and not let them out until the timid one has finished eating. This works better if the piggy ones are especially determined or we can't stand guard the entire time. Eventually, the piggy ones run to their room for meals and the timid one eats better because she can eat in peace! We prefer that they all eat together but sometimes you have to find a compromise.
Try one or both of these methods and see how it goes. You can also try giving the timid one extra food/snacks when the others are sleeping or otherwise occupied and see if she will take more food that way.
Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Donna
House Full Cats Mom