It may come as no surprise to anyone that I have two cats, seeing as I tell everyone and their mother about them. (I even drove them across the entire country [1] when I moved. They're still in the forgiving-me process.) I also love telling everyone about how fat my cats are, especially Sherlock. I say it jokingly, but my vets have actually told me he could stand to lose about a pound. He's definitely a tall cat, but he does weigh 18 pounds, and my current vet said if he reaches 19 pounds, he could be in serious trouble. However, my concern has always been that if I cut back on his food, what's to say he won't eat the same amount and prevent Watson from eating enough? He's much more aggressive than she is, so if he wants to eat all the food, Watson will stand back and let him. I posed these questions to Royal Canin [2] vet Dr. Catherine Lenox and asked her for guidance, and these are the tips she gave me.

• Get a weight-loss plan from your vet. First thing's first — talk through a plan of action with your vet. Make sure your vet knows what's currently happening at home with food, water, and activity. Also creating an eating schedule is a good idea, as it will train your cats when the food will be available, which gets them used to eating at specific times. Work together to come up with a manageable plan that everyone will be able to stick to, but make sure to monitor weight very closely so it's not coming off too quickly.
• Make your cat work for the food. Dr. Lenox suggests hiding small amounts of food around the house, "allowing them to search for the food and move around a little more." It promotes exercise and is a fun little game for you all to play!
• Feed cats separately. In my case, I have two cats but only one who needs to diet. Dr. Lenox suggested I feed one cat in one room and one in another room so that their meals are kept completely away from each other. This way Sherlock won't have access to Watson's food, ensuring she is still getting enough.
• Try a microchip feeder. Another way to control which cat is eating and when is to use a microchip feeder [3]. You can program them to allow one cat to eat but not another. Amazing, right?

I'm in the process of putting all these things into action and anticipating some backlash from my kitties. Sherlock may not love it at first, but once he's a bit slimmer and trimmer, I imagine he won't mind!