How much and how often do you feed your cats?

berries781

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we've been doing once a day and about 2/3 cup, but i'm not sure if this is the best way or not. what do you do? do you even control how much they eat? do you just keep their bowl filled? or do you keep a measured amount in there?
 

pennicat

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I free feed the dry food (meaning I always try to have some in their dish), but do the wet food in a controled portion at night (this is their snack and DH and I actually have to spell the word "snack" or they think they are getting their wet food if they hear us say the word!!)

I've known people who didn't free feed, but unless your cat has a problem controlling their own intake, I really think this is the best way. A good friend tried to put one of her cats on a diet by controlling the amount of food, and not leaving any out after meal time. The one who did not need to lose weight was fine, but the one who did, started getting really agressive (and this was by no means an agressive cat - she was more of a timid couch potatoe). She didn't know what was causing the agressive behaviour so her vet referred her to a pet psychologist. After some consultations, the specialist suggested that it was the controlled feeding that was causing the agression. She said that since a cat's instinct is to just go kill something when they want to eat (if they don't already have a carcass their working on), they really always have food just a short hunt away. By restricting Aurora's food supply, my friend was altering this ability to get food whenever it was needed/wanted. Sure enough, as soon as she started free feeding again, the agressive beheviour subsided. She just had to live with the fact that Aurora was going to be a bit overweight (it later turned out she had a thyroid problem, which was treated). Since she lived to the age of 18, I don't think it was a problem!
 

mooficat

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Not sure what a 'cup' measurement is - being European and all


I have 3 that are grazers so I only feed small amounts 2-3 times a day, as it is now summer they dont eat as much. I also have two seniors and they eat a lot less.

Teddy is the only one that eats twice a day and about one quarter of the large tins
not sure what that would be in ounces ?
 

kitytize

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4 of my cats are free fed dry and get canned one to three times a day. The canned is usually an ounce per cat. My obese cat is on canned only I feed her 2 ounces three times a day.
 

laureen227

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i free-feed dry - put about 1/2 cup per dish out every morning. they never eat it all - the ferals get the leftovers the following morning. then, in the evenings, Cable & Chip split a can of wet, usually topped with some homemade glop & a bit of gravy off the 9Lives i feed to the ferals in the evening. Firefox is getting a mixture of wet, formula & meat baby food right now, with kibble alongside... she's not eating much of the kibble, but it's there just in case.
 
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berries781

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we don't do wet food. we were told by our vet that they don't need that. true? what's the reasoning behind feeding the wet food?
 

ping

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We do 1 1/2 oz wet 2 times a day. And dry in between that equals 1/2 cup or a little over.
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by berries781

we don't do wet food. we were told they don't need that. true? what's the reasoning behind feeding the wet food?
wet is much closer to their natural diet, & provides moisture as well. many cats are not big drinkers, so it's another way for you to keep them hydrated.
 

ping

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Originally Posted by berries781

we don't do wet food. we were told they don't need that. true? what's the reasoning behind feeding the wet food?
http://www.littlebigcat.com/?action=...needcannedfood
thats a great article.

Others here can give better reasons than I can behind why to feed wet food. I do so because he really likes it and because it increases his water intake everyday because cats do not have a high thirst drive.
 

paulena

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I free-feed dry, and they are given wet food, about 5.5 ounces 2x daily. (if they will eat it). The wet-food keeps them hydrated beings they don't drink very much water!!
 

vanillasugar

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Originally Posted by Paulena

I free-feed dry, and they are given wet food, about 5.5 ounces 2x daily. (if they will eat it). The wet-food keeps them hydrated beings they don't drink very much water!!
Wow that seems like a LOT of food to me... when I fed my cats wet food, they got 6oz a day. Period. No dry at all either. But maybe your cats just are twice the size of mine! lol (Nya's a pretty tiny cat).

Mine get about 3oz of raw food a day, split into two meals (if I remember in the morning, otherwise it's just one meal)

Edit: I actually don't know if that number is right or not... i hate doing math and I don't usually measure their food in oz
They get 1/4 lb of food each, per day.
 

kuntrykitty

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Zoe is just 10 weeks old, FYI, thought I'd mention that while posting.
I free-feed pretty much; I think the only reason a cat would eat too much food, is because it doesn't get enough nutrition and so it's body is telling it to eat more so it can acquire the sufficient nutrients it needs. But I do keep track of what she eats, I'd like to know. So she eats 1/3 of a cup of Nutro Natural Choice Indoor Kitten per day. At night, she gets about 1 oz of wet. As she grows older, she will of course eat more and we will have to re-arrange her meal schedule, of course.
 

ping

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I notice she said they. So I assume she has more than pne cat that she splits the 5.5 oz can between.
 

aussie_dog

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With my girls, I feed RAW, the Pets Go Raw brand (the chicken formula). It comes in packs of 6 medallions (0.25lbs). All 3 of the girls get fed twice a day (breakfast and supper) and each meal they get half a medallion, which means they get one medallion a day.
 

roimata

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Our cats share 1 can of cat food in the morning (they both get half), and they share a can at night....and our dog gets 1 can in the morning and 1 can at night. And they have dry food available 24/7.
 

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Twitch & Lily-1/2-3/4 cup dry free fed & wet 2x a day, as much as they'll eat
Damita-1/8 cup dry, as much wet as she'll eat & I force feed her daily because she doesn't eat enough on her own
Dory, Ophelia & Molly-split 2 cups dry free fed & 2-3 oz a wet each daily
 

maxy24

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both my cats get 1/4 cup dry Felidae twice a day. They get the same amount because Willie is small but active and growing and Neko is larger and not so active. I am still working on getting my dad to start regularly buying wet food. Now that I take care of my Uncle's dog I get some money and I am baby sitting so maybe I can start buying it myself.
 

cococat

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Originally Posted by berries781

we've been doing once a day and about 2/3 cup, but i'm not sure if this is the best way or not. what do you do? do you even control how much they eat? do you just keep their bowl filled? or do you keep a measured amount in there?
My cat is smallish at 7 lbs. and active as can be.
I wouldn't recommend a certain amount as cats vary so much to what they need based on energy level, age, health, breed, build, exercise, and all of that. Also, the food matters, the higher quality your food, the less you will have to feed. If the food is low quality and filled with lots of grain and unhealthy fillers, the cat will need more food than normal to maintain the same weight as the cat would be on a good diet (high quality kibble and wet, home made, and/or raw).
I can't free feed, as mine would get as big as a house ( I have tried this, she gets huge)
So I feed once a day a measured amount with several snacks through out the day.
 

cococat

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Originally Posted by laureen227

wet is much closer to their natural diet, & provides moisture as well. many cats are not big drinkers, so it's another way for you to keep them hydrated.
I agree, with some moisture in the diet they are less prone to UTI and other problems. It is healthier. My vet told me this and suggested I feed wet daily
 
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