bold kitten, hungry cat

on_my_oe

We have a new feline in the house, and he's stealing the cat's food.

The cat has always had 'free grazing' - biscuits always available, other food served twice daily. She seems to snack six times a day rather than eating a full meal.

The arrival of the kitten is causing issues as he is stealing her food. We have tried increasing his food and giving him almost the same food (different biscuits), but he is still helping himself. They're fed in two different rooms, but we can't block off access to the kitten without blocking off access to the cat - any suggestions?

Victor

Cat will get hungry and will eat at meal times.

Overheal

hard to read which cat/kitten is talked about in your statement.

Either way, I would feed them each at the same time in different rooms closed off from each other for a short while. maybe do it less often (eg. twice per day) to encourage both to eat when it is time to eat, lest their food be gone later.

mymo

Cats are grazers, I have had this problem many times over the years, sick cat special food, kitten, older cat specific food, they all eat each other's food.
Kittens and older (elderly) cats need small meals often, 4 or more a day depending on age.
With a kitten and adult cat, once the kitten passes about 3 months I just leave them steal other cats food and keep it topped up, a good quality adult cat food won't do any harm, not ideal for growing kitten, but once it's getting a couple of meals of kitten food, leave him off stealing the cats food, won't be long before they are on same food.
My last addition refused kitten food from 4 months, she's now the biggest cat in the house, and she was a feral kitten.

Another option is to mix the two foods in a bowl and let them both share, I've tried this but one older cat just picked out and ate the kitten food!