Changed to wet food...how many feeding a day?

I have just changed my cats to all wet food. I was afraid that my boy may be experiencing symptoms of diabetes. I know that they are now craving the carbs of dry food and driving me nuts wanting more food. How many times a day can I feed them wet. My mother feeds her cats three times a day, but mine seem to want to eat every five hours, so a total of four feedings. Is that okay to feed them that much. None of them are overweight, althought my one cat has belly fat that hangs down, but has no fat anywhere else. Just wondering if it's bad to feed them too much or should they just have to get used to three feedings a day?

I think since you are transitioning them, you can go with 4 meals first, then cut it back to three.
Now, feeding 4 meals doesn't mean you are feeding more - it means you are splitting the same amount of food into more meals...
Look at the back of the can for quantities.

Also, if you suspect at all that your cat has diabetes, he NEEDS to see a vet; changing diets alone is not the answer.

Okay...I will look at the back for feeding info. I will try four, but just with less at each feeding as to not over feed. I had a cat with diabetes in the past, so I do know that he needs to be checked. My vet is away and won't be back until March 1st. I changed the food as precautionary and figured it was a better choice with the wet for all even if he's not diabetic. But I do have an appointment for as soon as the vet comes back. Thanks for your help.

four is good typically 2 or 3 for a adult cat ...

what food dry did he eat and what wet are you now giving?

He was on TOTW and I now bought wet Friskies...only certain kinds of them from a list that I found on thecatsite.com I have tried my others on EVO before TOTW and they didn't care for it. They seemed to like the TOTW well enough, but now that I have had this male stray come into our home, and he has been drinking what I would consider alot, I decided to make the switch to wet. He just seems so hungry all the time, and being so young (a little over a year we think), I think he is still growing and I don't want to limit him, but don't want to overfeed at the same time. Can he just have however much he wants when ever he wants? I just know that they always had dry in their bowls and didn't even like the eat the stuff at the bottom, they always wanted fresh poured...so I feel like I am depriving him by not allowing him to eat all the time. HELP. thanks

Read the back carefully, I don't think Friskies is very nutritious... You might need to feed him more than what you are feeding.
As my vet says... If he is skinny, feed him more... if he is fat, feed him a little less...

What I did when I transitioned Jake was look at the calorie content of the dry food I was feeding , and then the new wet food. He was eating TOTW too. I tried to feed the same amount of calories in a given day, and portion in 2-4 feedings, the more feedings the better.

TOTW has 370 calories per cup
Friskies wet:

http://www.petobesityprevention.com/...ouch_Foods.pdf

You can find the calorie content here. Someone made a nice chart..

ETA: you said he is growing, how old is he? If he is still growing I think you can give him as much as he wants, I am not sure maybe someone can give you better advice, but I've heard that they can be free fed when they are still growing. I free fed my Jake until 9-10 months. He has a large frame though, some people will suggest to free feed longer.

Yes you can spread out your cats daily food requirements out into 4 feeding times through out the day. That is perfectly fine. Here is a great article for you to read http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm (for your info kcal is the same as calorie). Also, check out this website for further info regarding feeding cats http://www.catinfo.org/ Feline diabetes http://www.catinfo.org/felinediabetes.htm I used to feed 3 times a day but now I try to feed 4 times (sometimes 5) a day.

How much food (calories) are you feeding total in a day now for each cat? You should be giving 20-30 calories per pound of body weight. If your cat is on the chunky side then you want to guage lower calories. If your cat is thinner then you want to guage higher calories.

Originally Posted by Denali

Yes you can spread out your cats daily food requirements out into 4 feeding times through out the day. That is perfectly fine. Here is a great article for you to read http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm (for your info kcal is the same as calorie). Also, check out this website for further info regarding feeding cats http://www.catinfo.org/ Feline diabetes http://www.catinfo.org/felinediabetes.htm I used to feed 3 times a day but now I try to feed 4 times (sometimes 5) a day.

How much food (calories) are you feeding total in a day now for each cat? You should be giving 20-30 calories per pound of body weight. If your cat is on the chunky side then you want to guage lower calories. If your cat is thinner then you want to guage higher calories.

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No one source actually agrees MOST are 15 -25 or 20-30 calories per pound ... asking your vet is a good place to start

You went from a Moderate High calorie dry to a low end not high calorie wet...

Wet foods normally recommend 1/2 oz to ONE oz per LB of IDEAL wt .... So if kitty should be 12 lbs 6-12 oz per day

Originally Posted by sharky

Wet foods normally recommend 1/2 oz to ONE oz per LB of IDEAL wt .... So if kitty should be 12 lbs 6-12 oz per day

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that's a huge bracket...do you mean it depends on the food whether it's 1/2 oz or 1 oz per lb??
Jake is 17 pounds and eats 10 oz wet food per day (350 calories)

Originally Posted by ut0pia

that's a huge bracket...do you mean it depends on the food whether it's 1/2 oz or 1 oz per lb??

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On the can of Friskies it says "3/4 oz to 1 oz of food per pound daily". I assume the variation would take into account the cat's activity level, metabolism, etc. When I ran out of dry food (while snowed in....bad!) my cats didn't eat the amount of canned food I expected. I allowed for 9 ounces each daily (I averaged according to weight) but there were leftovers when I did that. So I guess it just all depends.

just wanted to thank everybody for their replies. You guys gave me a lot of good links and information. Thanks for all the help!