A very hungry cat!

We've had our 1 1/2 year old cat for three months now (got him from the SPCA) He was scrawny and timid when we got him, but now he has filled right out and is cuddly and wonderful. He's an active indoor cat. We live in a three story house and every evening he runs up and down all three flights with us in pursuit. He loves it.

Here is my question. At his last check up, the vet weighed him, and told us that he's a 'good' weight. (Around 10 pounds), but that he shouldn't gain any more. She said that she sees many 'obese' cats.

We give him 1/3 cup of dried food in the morning and another 1/3 at night. Trouble is he chows it down so fast, and looks for more! I know that if we 'free' fed him, he would eat all day. We feed him Purina Pro dry for Indoor cats. He drinks lots of water and the vet said he didn't need canned food.

According to the package 2/3 cup - 1 cup is about right for his weight. Since we are 'new' cat owners, we want to do the right thing - but I worry that he's not getting enough. Should I be?

lin

If he's maintaining his weight, he's eating enough.

Feed the best food you can afford that your cat will eat. Grain free dry food will keep the cat sated longer because of the higher quality protein and lack of fillers. That said, canned food is FAR better for cats than dry food. One of my cats won't touch canned food and it makes me sad because I know that she would be healthier in the long term if she did.

Many vets do not have any (or little) training in nutrition. Wet food IS good for cats as it mimicks the moisture/fat/protein content they would get in the wild better than dry. Cats are not by nature thirsty creatures. I have seen research that a cat fed an all-dry diet must drink 10 oz of water a day to maintain proper hydration.

Is there a reason you are feeding Purina Proplan Indoor? Is that all you can get or afford? I know if I eat cereal in the morning for breakfast in two hours I am so hungry I cannot stand it. Whereas if I eat cheese, eggs, etc ... I stay fuller longer. Cats are designed to eat meat and fat, not grain.

Now - that said - some cats do need a little grain in their diets for urine Ph and sometimes grain-free is too rich for today's modern house cat.

As others here have suggested, I would add a little wet to his diet. It is also less calorically dense than dry and will help him maintain a healthy weight.

I am biased but I am not fond of Purina foods by and large for quality reasons, so would you consider changing his dry food? Let us know where you live, what is available to you re: shopping choices and folks on here will be glad to give you recommendations. (Indoor formulas tend to be full of fillers to keep cat "full" w/o all those calories, when feeding a mix of wet and dry would work better, IMO. Same thing with weight loss formulas. MY vet said to me about my chubby cat - ALL WET diet to lose weight! )

Another suggestion is if he is gobbling his food you can either get a "speed bump" bowl or put a ping-pong ball in his dish and put the dry around it... forcing him to work a little harder to get the kibble into his mouth and naturally slowing down his eating.

This is the kind of bowl I am talking about.
http://www.brake-fast.net/

Catit also makes one that I use with my scarf-n-barf kitty.

Vets do see many overweight animals these days - I think they're all very sensitized to the problem.

My vet worked with me re portions for my boy (he tends to be a little heavy) - the package guidelines are very wide ranging and I was overfeeding him by going strictly by the bag.. I just dragged a bag in with me and she worked out what she thought would be a good portion calorie wise. Right now, a little less than 1/2 cup of dry Hills CD with a little wet - he doesn't care for wet food much, but he drinks well from the fountain. And he's about 13 pounds - vet said he could lose a little weight, so we're giving a little less dry since the weekend visit.

So, if you're concerned about portion size, I'd say work with the vet. Probably the lower range of the bag recommendation, as you're doing, or even less would be just fine. But, really, these days just about any vet would be delighted to help work out a health diet plan. Mine even lets people bring in their pets for free weighings to their hearts' content. I'm not sure the techs are that thrilled, but....

Also, my boy tended to really scarf his food down til almost a year after I got him...he was adopted as an adult stray, and I think it took almost that long before he realized that food was always going to be there. Your boy is in his teen-age years, and may also be a little insecure that the next meal will always be forthcoming.

I agree with wet/dry, ect, as others have stated, but just to let you know, I saved a little kitty that was emaciated and in poor health. I had never actually seen ribs on a kitty from a distance.

Anyway, not to say that I'm any great expert or anything with this but I experienced this my my kitty. My kitty showed up on my doorstep one day and once we snagged her and got her inside, vet treatment, ect, she would eat everything I put in front of her. She would completely lick the bowls clean, wet or dry. This went on for a good 6 to 8 months straight. At first my vet was happy with the weight gain, but then she started to look like that poster you see in the vets of "what your pet should not look like" looking down at your pet from above with the belly sticking out from the sides...lol.

Well eventually she started to leave food in her bowl and slow down and she stabilized to a normal weight. I think part of her problem was that she had been starving for so long that she thought I would take the bowls away if she did not eat it all or it just took her sometime to realize that she wasn't going to be tossed out and left to fend for herself again. She was definately owned by someone prior, because she was spayed and was never pregnant and had one of the sweetest personalities.

Any whoo....just food for thought...lol.....