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is a 1/4 cup enough?

post #1 of 11
9/6/11 at 9:13am
Thread Starter 
Tessie has been on Blue Buffalo Wilderness for about a year now. I feed her 1/2 a cup a day but she only eats 1/4 of it. When I first started buying it for her she would eat it like a pig and now she doesn't eat much of it.
She was over weight and that is why I switched to a no grain food. She has lost about 2-3lbs which is good. The vet wanted to see her loose 3-4lbs.
My question is, is she getting enough food? I am wondering if she is tired of the food I am giving and maybe should switch or mix another dry food in? Trust me she has an appetite, she is always wanting her treats, lol. I try to keep her calorie intake to 210- 240 a day.
Thank you!
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post #2 of 11
9/6/11 at 9:51am
If she is only eating 1/4th a cup normally, then yes it should be fine to cut down to that.

It's not usually advised to switch dry foods very often because it's hard on their tummies and you have to do it slowly, over a period of a week or two.

Does your vet want your cat to lose 3-4 More pounds? If you find she is stalling in weight loss, you may have to add wet food to her diet.
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post #3 of 11
9/6/11 at 10:23am
Thread Starter 
Thank you Minka,
The vet wanted her to loose a total of 3-4 lbs so she only has 1-2lbs left to go. She has been loosing on this food which is great because it's hard for me to afford wet food that she will actually eat.
I kept thinking to myself that 1/4 is so little, it's only 96 calories but she also gets a few treats here and there.
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post #4 of 11
9/6/11 at 10:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ~*Regina*~ View Post
Thank you Minka,
The vet wanted her to loose a total of 3-4 lbs so she only has 1-2lbs left to go. She has been loosing on this food which is great because it's hard for me to afford wet food that she will actually eat.
I kept thinking to myself that 1/4 is so little, it's only 96 calories but she also gets a few treats here and there.
If 96 calories is all she burns in a day, then 96 is what she needs. However, if you stop feeding her treats, I can guarantee you that not only will she eat more Blue, but she will lose weight faster.
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post #5 of 11
9/6/11 at 11:44am
Mine eat about 1/3rd of a cup of food with grain in it. So, if you removed the grain, that would go to about 1/4th of a cup. Makes sense to me.

You could use a different flavor of the food as "treats".
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post #6 of 11
9/6/11 at 11:52am
Thread Starter 
She actually only gets 2 little treats a day (usually temptations). But that is a very good idea about an actually dry food as a treat, I might have to try that out. Thank you everyone for you help, it really puts my mind at ease.
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post #7 of 11
9/6/11 at 12:56pm
Thread Starter 
Would her tummy get upset if I mixed flavors for a little change? She gets the chicken now but BBW also has duck.
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post #8 of 11
9/6/11 at 1:43pm
Well, it wouldn't hurt to try it. Some cats like variety; some don't. The worst you can get out of the experiment is a stinky litter box.
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post #9 of 11
9/6/11 at 5:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Minka View Post
If 96 calories is all she burns in a day, then 96 is what she needs. However, if you stop feeding her treats, I can guarantee you that not only will she eat more Blue, but she will lose weight faster.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ~*Regina*~ View Post
She actually only gets 2 little treats a day (usually temptations). But that is a very good idea about an actually dry food as a treat, I might have to try that out. Thank you everyone for you help, it really puts my mind at ease.
If you are truly only giving two treats a day that is fine. Panda my DLH is fed at least five a day and she is on a very controlled diet. I have seen no problem with weight gain from such a treat. But I am sure results might vary.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ~*Regina*~ View Post
Would her tummy get upset if I mixed flavors for a little change? She gets the chicken now but BBW also has duck.
I think that depends on the cat. Panda the DLH is given different dry and wet foods mixed together daily. Along with a different cup of dry food every other night or so. My two indoor/outdoor DSH's Momma and Shadow get a far less varied diet. But when I add a new wet or dry food they do not seem sick. While my F3 Savannah can only seem to tolerate Evo and Taste Of the Wild dry or whole prey.
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post #10 of 11
9/6/11 at 6:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ~*Regina*~ View Post
Would her tummy get upset if I mixed flavors for a little change? She gets the chicken now but BBW also has duck.
If you do say, 3/16ths old food and 1/16th new food, and continue increasing until she is at 1/8th old and 1/8th new, she should be fine.
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post #11 of 11
9/7/11 at 5:20am
Thread Starter 
Thanks again everyone!
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