Guest Blogger: Susan Gottfried

The hard part of having multiple cats who are on multiple diets is keeping the proper noses in the proper food bowls. 

I had done this before, with my Devon Rex rescue cats. Chanterelle had been on a restricted diet; Cooper wasn’t. The solution proved to be easy, as Chanterelle had a hip injury and would no longer jump onto my kitchen counters. So I’d leave a container of Cooper’s favorite food open on the counter, and a bowl of Chanterelle’s prescription diet at their traditional feeding station. 

No such luck with Geronimo. Or Milo and Lucy. 

Milo and Geronimo

So I began by feeding Milo and Lucy on my island, and Geronimo on the counter. This works—so long as the kids and I remember to put the food away when the cats are done with it. After all, the medical staff at Animal Friends warned me when I brought Geronimo home that they had to work to convince Geronimo to eat his prescription food. He is a well-behaved, easy going cat … who may be convinced that he needs to eat his prescription food, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love whatever I’m feeding Milo and Lucy. If their bowl isn’t placed safely on top of the refrigerator, he’ll happily chow down.

The one thing I didn’t expect was that my sweet Lucy would love Geronimo’s prescription food. That she would jump up onto the counter and wolf down whatever she could, even the half-bitten crumbs Geronimo leaves behind. 

In fact, she likes it so much that sometimes, she’ll go to great lengths to get to it. Apparently, she missed the memo that prescription food is icky.

Now the sad news about this prescription food dance we’re doing over here: it’s working, but not fast enough. Geronimo is scheduled for surgery to remove his bladder stones on April 4. Let’s hope it all goes well; he’s not about to be a foster failure yet and spend the rest of his days with us, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t wormed his way firmly into our hearts over here. 

Editor’s Note: We’re happy to report that Geronimo did well in his surgery and is at home recovering.  A big thank you to the veterinarians who took great care of Geronimo!