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If you free feed... - Page 2

post #31 of 43
9/2/11 at 9:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SweetPea24 View Post
(I am assuming that you free feed dry) do you put the food in the bowl and fill it up when it gets empty or do you measure a certain amount and put it down for your cats to graze(and not refill the bowl when it is empty until the next day)?

And if I may ask, why did you choose to free feed as opposed to meal feed? Convenience? Your cats like to graze? Other reasons?

I'm just curious...not to judge or anything.
I free feed dry kibble but feed their wet twice daily. I monitor their intake but leave it down until it's gone. I measure a daily ration for my 4 meezers. Most of the time it is all eaten by the end of the day so I can clean the bowl My cats are grazers. A normal cat will graze between 7 and 20 times a day. I'd say mine graze on the high side. I wouldn't mind doing a scheduled feeding of their dry but the free feeding seems to work well for them and they seem to like being able to wander over graze now and then.
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post #32 of 43
9/2/11 at 9:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SweetPea24 View Post
Thank you all for your replies. Very interesting. So your cats don't eat it all at one sitting?
Speaking only for my cats; No they don't eat it all in one sitting. They nosh off and all all day and night.
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post #33 of 43
9/2/11 at 9:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minka View Post
Not to preemptively judge anyone here... But I've come to realize that about 75%+ of owners don't even realize that their cats are overweight. Let alone obese. So just because people may say it's working, doesn't mean it actually is.
Can you tell me where you obtained the 75%+ statistic? I'd like to see the numbers on that study.

I free feed dry and feed wet 2x daily. I monitor their intake and have had absolutely no weight issues with any of my cats. Which is why I'm curious as to where you got your numbers from, and what scientific journal you got them from. Kibble is calorie dense but if fed correctly and if the cat drinks plenty of water, a dry diet is fine.
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post #34 of 43
9/4/11 at 11:35am
My Trixie is 7 months old and has always been on a 'free feeding' diet, I fill her bowl around mid morning (or before work) and then again on an evening to keep her happy overnight. She only gets dry food at the moment as my job made a routine impossible but as i introduce the new kitten to the family i plan on adding wet food as an evening meal with dry to graze on during the day (obviously much less than she gets at the moment as she rarely empties her bowl anyway) I have been thinking of adding wet food for a while as I know Trixie isn't fussy and will eat anything she is given. When I was younger we had a cat Friskie that only ate dry food which was free fed, filled on a morning, and she never had any issues until she got too old and lazy and began to gain weight.
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post #35 of 43
9/4/11 at 11:53am
I free feed because my kitties are grazers with the dry food. I give them wet food once a day, except my 2 older girls who get wet food twice a day to keep their weight up.
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post #36 of 43
9/4/11 at 12:17pm
My indoor cats free feed on Wellness Dry Indoor formula. It is out in 3 different dishes throughout my house and the cats eat when they want to.

My outdoor cats have constant access to their dry food as well, in my garage. They eat regular Authority Brand.

Blue, who is 14 and has no teeth left, gets a meal of wet food in the morning and at night. What he doesn't eat goes to the other cats (outdoor cats get the morning leftovers, indoor cats get the evening leftovers).

This works well for us. My outdoor cats hunt and eat their prey whenever they like as well. My indoor cats are healthy with shiny coats and not obese (though Rex is, uh, big boned...but he is not fat according to the vet. He is just a bigger cat), so I assume the food situation is working for them as well.
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post #37 of 43
9/5/11 at 4:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by NutroMike View Post
Can you tell me where you obtained the 75%+ statistic? I'd like to see the numbers on that study.

I free feed dry and feed wet 2x daily. I monitor their intake and have had absolutely no weight issues with any of my cats. Which is why I'm curious as to where you got your numbers from, and what scientific journal you got them from. Kibble is calorie dense but if fed correctly and if the cat drinks plenty of water, a dry diet is fine.
I never said anything about a study...
From my experience, the cats that I've seen in my lifetime, (belonging to family, friends, neighbors, TCS members, patients at veterinary clinics) 75+% of them were overweight or obese.

The national statistic is over 50% http://www.petmd.com/cat/nutrition/e...overweight_cat but I don't know how accurate that is because if the survey asked owners, most would underestimate how big their cat should be, and if they asked vets, it would also be biased because so many people never take their cats to the vet.
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post #38 of 43
9/5/11 at 4:33pm
Maybe the key is not as much in free feeding as it is in WHAT is being free fed. Surely it is better to free feed dry Blue Buffalo or Wellness than it is to free feed, say, Meow Mix...??

The way I judge whether my cats are overweight is at their yearly check-ups. The vet is very good about telling me whether or not one is leaning over the line a little. Generally, what we increase is playtime and exercise. The food we feed is already grain free and they already have wet food in their diet. I have noticed that having some active playtime each day has helped all of my cats stay more in their target weight zones. My heaviest cat is Rex at 11lbs 6oz and my lightest (adult) is Momma Kitty at just over 8.5 pounds (Blue is 9lbs 3 oz and Chloe is 10lbs 8 oz).
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post #39 of 43
9/5/11 at 6:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueRexBear View Post
The way I judge whether my cats are overweight is at their yearly check-ups. The vet is very good about telling me whether or not one is leaning over the line a little.
^This this this this this!
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post #40 of 43
9/6/11 at 5:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minka View Post
I never said anything about a study...
From my experience, the cats that I've seen in my lifetime, (belonging to family, friends, neighbors, TCS members, patients at veterinary clinics) 75+% of them were overweight or obese.

The national statistic is over 50% http://www.petmd.com/cat/nutrition/e...overweight_cat but I don't know how accurate that is because if the survey asked owners, most would underestimate how big their cat should be, and if they asked vets, it would also be biased because so many people never take their cats to the vet.
From the info I've read the figure is more like 25%. Around 54 million cats are obese in the US. I don't think there is ANY accurate number but your 75% caught my eye because it seems really, really high statistically. But as you pointed out, it is your opinion based upon your experience. For whatever reason I thought you were citing numbers you have read. You are right that most owners do not realize or would not classify their animals (both cats and dogs) as obese, BUT, they do realize obesity in animals is cause for concern. Kind of odd isn't it?
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post #41 of 43
9/6/11 at 8:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by NutroMike View Post
From the info I've read the figure is more like 25%. Around 54 million cats are obese in the US. I don't think there is ANY accurate number but your 75% caught my eye because it seems really, really high statistically. But as you pointed out, it is your opinion based upon your experience. For whatever reason I thought you were citing numbers you have read. You are right that most owners do not realize or would not classify their animals (both cats and dogs) as obese, BUT, they do realize obesity in animals is cause for concern. Kind of odd isn't it?
From the info I linked you it's 50+%. And that study is recent. Here's another one from 2009 that says the same. http://www.dogchannel.com/dog-news/2...udy-finds.aspx
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post #42 of 43
9/6/11 at 6:23pm
Thread Starter 
Kind of weird that owners wouldn't see their cat as overweight or obese eh? Part of it is embarrassment but some just won't admit it. My boyfriend won't admit his cat is fat even though the vet told him he needs to lose 5 kilograms (not pounds!) Then these owners are surprised that their cats get diabetes or have urinary blockage. The good thing for me, a vet tech, is the mean, fat ones can't move to bite or claw!

I asked the question out of curiosity and to examine the 'myth'that cats who are free fed become overweight. Obviously, it works for some. But yes, some owners do not view their cats as overweight.

To those free feeders, do you know how much food you are giving and how much your cat is eating? Some of you said the bowl is empty at a certain time.
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post #43 of 43
9/6/11 at 7:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SweetPea24 View Post
.......To those free feeders, do you know how much food you are giving and how much your cat is eating? Some of you said the bowl is empty at a certain time.

I do know about how much each of my cats eat, I do. The list is as follows:

Panda DLH: 1/4 to 1/2 cup dry and 1/4 cup dry mixed with 3 human spoon fulls wet food in a 24 hour period.

Loki F3 Savannah: 1 to 1 and a half cups dry food as an adult. Plus one feeder mouse a day for the past month or so. He used to eat four to six cups of dry food a day when growing. His eating is based on temperature and activity level now. He seems to be self regulating.

Shadow and Momma cat DSH's: Since they are indoor/outdoor cats this is to the best of my knowledge. They each get two cups of dry food a day to share. Plus 1/4 a cup of dry mixed with a quater of a 5.5 oz can twice a day. I know they both catch wild food as I see it happen or see the left overs on my deck .
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