I had no idea how difficult it would be to cut Yella to one meal per day as our vet recommended.
I should have known better. After all, if it was going to be easy, I would have done it already.
Yella is not happy and is pulling out all the stops to convince me to not follow through.
Here are just some of the tactics he has employed to wear me down:
- From the moment I wake up, he starts meowing at me to get my ass in gear and get downstairs to feed him.
- He wolfs down his food, then tries to sneak and eat his brother’s food. Graybie is complicit and will walk away and allow Yella to take over his bowl. Because Graybie wants to eat close to his brother, I have to stand close and supervise meal time.
- For the rest of the day, whenever I walk by the kitchen, Yella comes and meows to be fed. I have to tell him no, which is hard because he’s just so darned persistent!
I have been engaging in active play with him and all the kitties, and Yella has taken a more active role. He’s also begun playing more often with the self-play toys.
It certainly helps that less feeding means less dish washing, less buying of food, and less litter box scooping.
I believe that my inability to confront his weight problem before has more to do with my depression than with his con-artist ways. I’m glad I’m able to resist giving into him. It will get easier as we go along, especially as he continues to feel better.
Hang in there, Yella!
Dogpaddling Through Life 
Do YOU like dieting? Well, neither do our cats and dogs. Bonnie loses all her charm and grace on a limited meal ticket and one of our cats eventually refused to talk to us at all. Ultimately, we gave up on Spanky, but we have managed to at least SLIGHTLY trim down Bonnie. Slightly. I think they feel since we get to eat when we want, whey can’t THEY? They have a point.
That is the hardest part of it all- me eating in front of Yella. But I keep asking myself how much of that is Yella being upset and how much of it is me projecting my guilt onto him?
They’re just like us with the dieting. Many stories this end but never mind that. Hard not to cave into the whining.
It is, but I have to be strong for him!
BOTH of you hang in there!
We’re hanging! 😀
Ha, ha! You hang in there, too!
Glad to hear he’s getting better.
Poor guy, wouldn’t it be better to split his portion over the course of the day?
Pets can be so demanding at times, can’t they?!
They sure can!
I feel with you Yella… a diet is hard to stand… we send lots of weim-power and pawsitive thoughts to you ;O)
You are doing well! Poor Yella 😉 We have a huge cat and it is a never ending battle to try to control the situation. All the rest are on diet food now too. They look great but him, not so!
It will be worth it 💜
Yes! I know! I know! Don’t you find yourself saying these words a lot? I know I used too. Now my new fur-baby only eats dry food. So much easier….I’m sure I’ll introduce some wet into her diet but after she has settled in. Stick with it. Cheers,H
Well done, both of you, Yella and Jen. We know it’s difficult, but hang in there!