help with timing and quantity of feeding

Hi, Jkbank! Welcome to TCS.

 

I'll take your second question first. Canned food is so much easier on a cat's digestive system that it doesn't require a slow transition period. In fact, it doesn't require any transition (with the exception of really carb-heavy products, which will cause some of the same issues seen with kibble). Prior to going all natural, my cats were eating 21 different canned food varieties every seven days; they didn't eat any single product more than once a week.

 

So rotate away!  :-}

 

As to how much to feed, 5.5 to 6 ounces of food a day is the very general guideline, with no less than three meals per day (which you're already doing). Currently, you're offering 8.5 to 9 ounces a day. You can continue feeding this same amount, or cut back to 6 ounces a day per cat. Either way, pick an amount, stick with it for a few weeks, and watch your cats' body condition and weight. If they begin to put on weight (assuming they're currently at or over their optimal weights), reduce how much you're feeding; if they begin to lose weight, just watch that it's not more than a few ounces per week and once they reach optimal body condition, increase the food just a bit so their weight stabilizes.

 

Optimal body condition = you shouldn't be able to see their ribs, but you should definitely be able to feel them.

 

As an example, this is my last rescue kitty, Ralph, shortly after he arrived. Notice his ribcage, hip bones and shoulders blades are all visible:

 

And here he is a few months ago, nicely filled out, but with a still-visible waistline.

 

Your girl is most likely crying because she's unused to actually feeling hungry. Give her time and she'll come 'round.

 

Hope that's helpful!

 

AC

Just want to chime in here and say that I also feed a WIDE variety of wet foods as Auntie used to before she went all natural. I never have any issues with digestive upset either. I am now incorporating pre-made raw into their diet's too. They love it. Agree - 5 oz. per day is about right to start and then adjust accordingly after a few week's of taking note of their body condition. I also feed four small meals a day for my crew. I am lucky in that I am home right now and am able to do it that way. But I would never go to two feeding's a day (but that is just me :rolleyes) - I would always recommend three smaller feeding's a day if possible.

It is a good idea to feed wet food if you can, but I really would try to get them off Fancy feast as soon as possible. It is very tasty, all cats love it, but it is the equivalent of feeding your child on hamburger and chips every day, fast food for cats. The nutrition levels are very low, and the cats willl put on weight and still feel hungry. Fancy Feast is very useful if a cat needs to be 'kick-started' into eating after being sick but is not good as a long term diet.To help you find a better food look up some of thcomparison sites, such as

Http//cats.about.com/cs/catfood

Despite what many people think, you can actually leave canned food out for several hours (unless you live in an unusually hot climate or have a pest problem). If you add a couple tsps of water, it won't dry out as quickly either. People are way too paranoid about the bacteria issue. Cat's digestive tracts are much better suited to handling bacteria levels that might pose a problem to humans. I've left canned food out for up to 12 hours and have never had a cat get sick from eating it at that point. And I'm not the only one (thousands of people on another forum do the same). 

Cats can most certainly deal with crazy high bacterial loads that would sicken and kill their owners; however, we need to keep in mind their tolerance is not infinite (and cats fed a heavily-processed diet of canned or kibble do not enjoy the level of safeguards as those same cats would were they switched to raw).

 

Canned food will grow bacteria when it's left out, and adding water to that food will increase that bacteria growth exponentially. So while you can leave it out longer than most people think is safe, the longer you do so the smaller your margin of safety grows. An hour or so, even a few hours, I'd be comfortable with; leaving it out for twelve hours on a regular basis is not, however, what I would consider an optimal or healthy practice.

 

Regards!

 

AC

Unlike raw food, the canned essentially starts out sterile when you open it, so it can be left out a couple hours without issue.   Remember the food is already cooked in the can, but the exact time will depend on the conditions of your home.   My home is currently at 45% humidity and 67oF according to my gauge, so the food would long dry out and turn into unappetizing dried refried beans consistency before I was worried about too much bacteria growing. 

 

Most in the food industry are paranoid about bacteria due to regulation, but I can't count the times I've eaten leftover pizza in the morning that was left out after a party and never gotten sick.  Now if it were an uncooked pizza, no, I certainly wouldn't eat it 10-12 hours later.

I would say that if there was canned food remaining out after 12 hrs on a regular basis, that someone is feeding their cats too much!

I feed my cat's scheduled meals and do not leave out food. They usually eat everything up at once anyway. I don't think I would leave wet food out for more than an hour. Most cat's won't even touch it after it start's to dry out a bit. If you just feed "scheduled" meal's each day and don't leave any food down - then your kitty will be more hungry and ready to eat at the scheduled feeding's thus be more willing to eat the wet food right up. Good luck with the changeover