are they getting enough?

Some of us have no choice but to free feed. My schedule is so irregular that I'm rarely home at the same time two days in a row. That makes it extremely hard to give the kitties meals at set times. I do a measured free feed, but the times I put the food out can vary by as much as 3 hours.

My cats range in weight from 6# to 11.5# and none of them are overweight, so I assume that they are regulating themselves on the amount each one eats. I also suspect that my aby eats at least as much as the largest cat, but he is also the most active.

they do gobble all their wet food down when I give it to them, so maybe if I mix the dry stuff with the wet food? that way the little one would eat all her food right away and I wouldn't have to worry about the big one eating everything? I have a similar problem to Goldy's, where I'm not home consistently. if only there were a wet food measure dispenser, like the timered ones for dry food... I have noticed that since I introduced the wet food to their diets (they used to be dry only, or wet food as a treat), they aren't as excited about their dry food, which I can understand. so maybe by mixing their dry food and wet food, so that the dry stuff gets the gravy of the wet food, they will eat all of it in one sitting and I won't have to worry about them not eating it all right away.

Yeah, that might work. Just be sure not to leave dry mixed with wet out for long periods of time, as getting dry food wet can promote bacteria growth. But if the idea is to get them to eat it in one sitting anyway, then that's not an issue.

May I ask why you're determined to keep dry food in their diets though? It seems like it's causing an inconvenience for you, and they like the wet better, so since wet is better for them, why keep dry in their diets at all?

Since switching to this particular dry food, I haven't had to clean up hairballs. I always worry when the little one throws them up because she used to do it weekly. Would the wet food still keep her from having hairballs? If so, then I will just use up the rest of the dry food and switch to wet food completely, since they like it so much more. I'm fairly new to "regular" pets, since my first ones have been a tortoise and rabbits, which both have strict and more "wild" diets, ie. Tons of veggies and less pellets, so its weird to have a pet that is considered a "common" household pet.

Originally Posted by twobananaz

Since switching to this particular dry food, I haven't had to clean up hairballs. I always worry when the little one throws them up because she used to do it weekly. Would the wet food still keep her from having hairballs? If so, then I will just use up the rest of the dry food and switch to wet food completely, since they like it so much more. I'm fairly new to "regular" pets, since my first ones have been a tortoise and rabbits, which both have strict and more "wild" diets, ie. Tons of veggies and less pellets, so its weird to have a pet that is considered a "common" household pet.

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In some cats wet only will help with hair balls but usually this means using one with a form of oats( oats, oat bran , oatmeal)


Other methods if doing grain free wets for hairballs, butter and oil added to food or as a treat

so i did the mixing of the wet and dry this morning and it was 50/50. the little cat gobbled all her food down, but the big one (the princess), turned her nose up to it right up to when I was about to put it in the fridge for her her dinner and just give her dry food, then she ate it. I will see tonight if she ate it all. She truly hate change.


I have some family that adds olive oil to their dog's food for her coat. would this be a side benefit of adding oil to the food for the hairball problem? and if olive oil is not good, would I use that "fancy" salmon or fish oil sold at specialty pet food stores?

oh, and the big one (Saki) has a vet check up appt set for next week, so I will be asking the vet about her weight and such then. sorry to be a bother with all these questions!

My kitties take the olive oil on wet foods

so would i just add like a teaspoon of it to their food once a day?

Olive oil is a mild lubricant laxative, and in humans it has long been advised that laxatives should not be taken for long-term use. Considering average 150lb humans are suggested to take around a tablespoon of oilive oil as a natural remedy to treat constipation, a teaspoon (1/3rd of a tablespoon) seems a lot for a creature 1/10th or less the weight, especially if consumed daily.

Personally, I just use a furminator (medium size is good and just $18) on Wesley religiously (Buttercup just doesn't shed, not sure why as they are siblings) to prevent a hairball issue and keep hair off my furniture, his food has enough fiber in it, and in the rare case I notice a hairball like symptom I just give him a dab of a lubricant laxative that is specifically made to help pass a hairball and is like a malt flavored petroleum jelly.

i suppose like rabbits, cats should be eating a diet that allows the hairs that they ingest to just pass through their system, and us, being the caretakers of said animals, should be removing as much loose hair as possible so they are swallowing as much. looks like my little one is going to get punished and brushed a LOT more often. it's weird, the shorter haired one is the one with hairball problems, but the longer haired one has never had a hairball since we've had her. I will just have to get the little one used to being brushed. she hates it right now, but i think if i do it every day, and for very short periods, she might grow to tolerate it.

as far as their new diet regime goes, I have given them 1/3 of a can of wet food mixed with 1/6 cup of dry, once in the morning and once in the evening, thus giving them a total of 1 cup of food per day. and so far, by mixing the dry with the wet, the little one eats all her food in one sitting, which keeps the big one from eating that one's food along with her own. although the big one is still dubious about eating wet food in the morning, but I think she'll start to like it once she realizes that this is the new way of things.

Originally Posted by Ducman69

Olive oil is a mild lubricant laxative, and in humans it has long been advised that laxatives should not be taken for long-term use. Considering average 150lb humans are suggested to take around a tablespoon of oilive oil as a natural remedy to treat constipation, a teaspoon (1/3rd of a tablespoon) seems a lot for a creature 1/10th or less the weight, especially if consumed daily.

Personally, I just use a furminator (medium size is good and just $18) on Wesley religiously (Buttercup just doesn't shed, not sure why as they are siblings) to prevent a hairball issue and keep hair off my furniture, his food has enough fiber in it, and in the rare case I notice a hairball like symptom I just give him a dab of a lubricant laxative that is specifically made to help pass a hairball and is like a malt flavored petroleum jelly.

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Many prefer oil to inorganic solvents... It is active debate in the veterinary community... occasional hairballs I do use a mineral oil based but for basic prevention a bit of oil or butter ( in my house 1 1/2 oz pat butter per week for four cats )... Typically most holistic vets suggest 1/4 to 1/2 half teaspoon of oil per day or every other day...

Furminators should be USED very cautiously as they can increase the overall shedding ... Ie in most cases no more than once a week ... for daily brushing s there are many many other brushing/ combing options

So how is it going with the change in feeding? Are they still crying for food two hours before it's time?

surprisingly, there was no crying last night at all! they didn't even start stalking me, and shadowing me everywhere, saying "hungry......feed me...." it was so nice, to not have them badgering me. I actually got to start preparing their dinners before they started doing the shark circling. the little one still meows in the morning, but I think that's just her saying good morning and pay attention to me.

i think i might stop by the store tonight on my way home from work and pick up that zoom groom thing that someone suggested I try on my hard to brush kitty, so hopefully she will like that better than the slicker brush, the rubber brush, the flea comb, the regular brush.... maybe I will buy a baby hair brush too sometime and try that. maybe she just likes realllllly soft bristles? we only furminate maybe once a month, because they hate it so much.

so after a few days, the big one has started to not be excited for her morning meal, now that I have been mixing it with the wet food. she still eats her dinner right when I put it out, but I'm worried about leaving the wet food/dry food mixture out when I leave for work, and she hasn't touched it yet... so I switched her back to plain dry food this morning, since that's the way it was before. how do I train them to eat the food when I put it out in the morning? I think I might have to start giving them their food before my shower, so they have more time to eat before I leave for work. would that work do you think? as it is, they have about 15-20 minutes to eat their food from the time I set it out, if I were to take it away when I leave, to convince them they have to eat during a set time. any ideas?

Give your plan some more time... just like humans some cats are stubborn