How much do you feed your cat?

julianne353

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Hello,

I have two young cats, one is a year and one is a year and a half. The youngest is starting to look a little overweight and the vet said the older one needs to lose weight. I used to give them about 1.5 cups in the morning and the same at night in just one bowl. Yesterday I started to give them 1/4 of a cup in the morning and 1/4 in the evening in separate bowls and make sure they both eat out of their own bowls. By late afternoon they were going crazy meowing and running with me anytime I went towards the kitchen. Is this because they aren't used to not eating very much or because they need more food? The vet said they should get about 1/2 a cup a day so that's what I am going off of but I'm curious as to how much you guys feed yours.
Julianne,
Maggie & Grace
 

sharky

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what brand of food are you feeding???

have you considered wet food??
 
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julianne353

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They are eating Purina Complete formula, I changed over from the kitten formula a couple months ago. I used to do wet food but dry was just easier, is that better for them?
 

sakura

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Cats are good at making you think they need more food when they don't.


I think weight loss programs for cats have to be closely monitored by the vet because if they lose too much too quickly, it can harm them. There is an ingredient that helps with this but I don't know it off the top of my head.

Mattie is 9 lbs 11 oz, 1-2 years old, and eats 1/4 cup of Nutro Natural Indoor Dry in the morning. At night, I feed her 3oz of wet food canned - Wellness, Natural Balance, etc. I'd like to switch her to all wet food, but with 2 cats it's easier to give them dry in the morning since I'm always in a rush. When I adopted her in October, she weighed about 8 lbs 9 oz, so she has gained quite a bit since she's been here. I don't know if it's because she didn't eat in the shelter (she was only there a week) or if I'm overfeeding her, or maybe something else is going on. She's a big girl but she just saw the vet and she didn't indicate any concern over her size. She eats 2x a day.

My kitten, Chloe, is about 4 lbs and eats 1/4 cup of dry kitten food in the morning, Nutro Natural Indoor Kitten, and then I try to feed her as much wet food as she'll eat the rest of the day (Wellness Kitten canned). Based on her weight, I should be feeding her about 1 1/3 cans of the kitten food at night/throughout the rest of the day since it's in addition to the dry, but she never seems to eat that much. I feed her about 3-4 times a day.

For now, I would switch to a higher quality food that has more protein and less fillers than what you are feeding now. Purina isn't the best. What are the feeding guide instructions on the package for the amount to feed? In general, I think wet is better than dry but I still feed both. There are overweight-cat-foods that can help but for now, try switching to all-wet or at least half-wet. When you find a better dry food, make the dry food switch gradual and slow so you don't upset their stomach.

Are they getting any treats during the day? Eating each other's food? My SO is the *worst* about giving too many treats.
 

emily-jane

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My cats dried food bowl is full all the time, all 3 eat from the same bowl. They both eat a small tin of wet food a day too, and my kitten has a little serving of mince as well as all the dried food he wants. Only one of them is fat and when i asked the vet he said it was a healthy weight.
 

sharky

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I too recomend a higher protein but make sure the first ingrediant in the food is not corn and the 2 is no by products
 

thezookeeper

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I'm having the same problem. I have a 7 month old (Cali) and a 9 month old (Ripley) cats. When we adopted Cali she was 1 month old and very sick. She was real tiny even for her age. Cali is now gotten much bigger, we think she is over weight. Ripley has always been a big cat but we think she is too big. Not only are they getting big, but they go to the bathroom A LOT. We have to clean out both their litter pans at least 2 times a day. No matter how often we clean it out a day, the next time we look it looks like we haven't cleaned them out in a week. We are hoping that if we feed them less, the cats will lose weight and will go to the bathroom less.

We use to have dry and canned food out for them all the time but now we are cutting down to feeding them twice a day. When it isn't time for them to eat, both cats, especially Cali, beg and search for food the entire day. Cali jumps on the dinner table and counter all day long hoping to find food. Is my family doing the right thing by feeding them only twice a day?
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Thezookeeper

I'm having the same problem. I have a 7 month old (Cali) and a 9 month old (Ripley) cats. When we adopted Cali she was 1 month old and very sick. She was real tiny even for her age. Cali is now gotten much bigger, we think she is over weight. Ripley has always been a big cat but we think she is too big. Not only are they getting big, but they go to the bathroom A LOT. We have to clean out both their litter pans at least 2 times a day. No matter how often we clean it out a day, the next time we look it looks like we haven't cleaned them out in a week. We are hoping that if we feed them less, the cats will lose weight and will go to the bathroom less.

We use to have dry and canned food out for them all the time but now we are cutting down to feeding them twice a day. When it isn't time for them to eat, both cats, especially Cali, beg and search for food the entire day. Cali jumps on the dinner table and counter all day long hoping to find food. Is my family doing the right thing by feeding them only twice a day?
Most of us believe kittens till about 12 months should be free feed dry and given some wet
 

raggiekitty

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Also, if you are feeding a lesser quality food with lots of fillers = more in the litterbox. A better food with less filler is more digestable = their bodies use most of what is eaten = less in the litter box.
Oh and kittens usually poop more times a day than an adult cat too.
HTH
 

persi & alley

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I leave food out for my cats 24 hours a day. It is dry food. Their weight never varies. What works for one will not work for another I realize. I consider myself very lucky.
 

kelicat

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I primarily feed wet. I keep dry on hand, but only feed it for a snack or if I'm in a hurry, or my son feeds for me if I'm working late. When my last foster babies were in (there were under 6 months old), I allowed them more and an several dry meals through out the day, two of my adults were sneaking and snacking with them, and put on a little too much weight.

Dry has more carbohydrates, so they tend to put on more weight with a dry diet. Each cat is an individual, so what may work for one, does not for another. I feed about an 1/8 of a can (of a 5.5 oz can) twice a day to my two kids that need to loose a little weight. The other's all get about 1/4 of a can twice a day. It varies by food too, I feed ultra premium, so I can get away with feeding less then if I fed friskies. My litter boxes are pretty scarse on the poopies, so they are utilizing most of what I feed them.

I have a new foster that is about 7 1/2 months old that needs to put on weight pretty badly, and she is getting about 1/3 of a can twice a day plus free feeding on dry several times a day.
 

canaws

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I feed my cat (female, 2 years old, indoor) 1/2 a cup of food a day. I just put 1/2 cup of Nutro Maxx Roasted Chicken in the bowl each morning. She seems okay with that. She doesn't beg for food or anything and her weight is fine.

Your cats might be complaining about it because of the drastic change in amount, but they will be fine after a while. Although, maybe you can try to decrease the amount a little more gradually, if you think it will cause too fast of a weight loss. Maybe a 1/4 of a cup less each week until they are down to 1/2 cup?
 

sharky

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on ave a cat on grocery food will eat a1/3 to 1/2 more than one on premium ....

1/2 cup is on ave right for a 8-12 lb kitty ... mine is 8-9lbs and lean .. eats premium and eats a 1 cup a day so ave is a guide
 
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