wet food/ starvation

Pretty dramatic post title. I should start off by saying I'm new here. Two cat babies. Bowie who was a stray and is 1 year 7 months. We've had hm over a year now. He's slightly aggressive. He bites when he's over you petting I'm or when hes playing and gets too excited. Then we have Jagger he is 7 months. We've had him for 3. He was a feral kitten but is the sweetest, bravest little cuddly cat ever. They are best friends and completely obsessed with each other.

Now, a couple weeks ago I noticed jaggers stool was super loose and had some blood in it. He was acting fine as can be so I didn't worry too much. I figured it couldn't be a virus because bowie would probably have the same issue. Bowie's stool has always been insanely smelly. We tried gleuton free, soy free blah blah. No hard food worked. We switched them to canned food. Completely normal stools all around.

The issue is that they are constantly begging for food. I know wet food is basically cat crack so I don't always listen. I feed them the reccommened amount and maybe a little extra depending if the hours I fed them were a little off. Before they had dry food out all day and ate tiny bits whenever they wanted. Now its a scheduled morning and evening meal times. They seem OK about it. Normal energy levels etc. But at night is when I'm worried. We live in a studio apartment so no bedroom door. Bowie will wake me up scratching and biting me and damn that jaw is strong. No blood is drawn but it wakes me up and he will harass me until I feed him. Its been between 1 and 4 am pretty much since the switch.

What I'm asking is am I basically starving my cats? Is he just being a brat, should I ignore him and hell get use to it and leave me alone? What should I do to ensure he doesn't starve during the night? I dont really want to put hard food down because if instantly makes their stomachs upset. What food schedule do you other wet food feeders use?

How much are you currently feeding them? What brand/flavors/etc.? How much do they weigh? Both neutered, I assume?

Jagger is basically a teenage boy :tongue2:, and they need a lot of calories at that age. Bowie should be past the growing stage but a young male still needs more calories than an older cat.

Assuming you're feeding them enough, yeah, you just have to learn to ignore him or he'll always wake you up for food at odd hours. Most cats prefer 3-4 meals a day---I do meals right before work, right after work, and at bedtime. If you have a more flexible schedule you might be able to fit another meal in midday, but definitely try to keep mealtimes consistent so they know when to expect food and when not to bother begging.

Willowy said:

How much are you currently feeding them? What brand/flavors/etc.? How much do they weigh? Both neutered, I assume?

Jagger is basically a teenage boy

, and they need a lot of calories at that age. Bowie should be past the growing stage but a young male still needs more calories than an older cat.

Assuming you're feeding them enough, yeah, you just have to learn to ignore him or he'll always wake you up for food at odd hours. Most cats prefer 3-4 meals a day---I do meals right before work, right after work, and at bedtime. If you have a more flexible schedule you might be able to fit another meal in midday, but definitely try to keep mealtimes consistent so they know when to expect food and when not to bother begging.

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  To ALL of that.    Every can of cat food is different, has different amount of calories, protein, etc.  And each cat is different as far as how active they are, so we definitely need more information from you.

I also feed my furkids 3 wet  meals per day.  The last meal of the day is right before we go to bed   The first meal is within an hour of getting up.  I don't want them to expect it the minute I get up, so I make them wait a little while, although I do give them a freeze dried raw treat or two while they are waiting, just so they don't gnaw my arm off (seriously, the only reason I do this is because I have a kidney cat, and they  need something on their stomach often or they will throw up froth, so  SHE gets something when I first get up..and if I give to one, I have to give to all.  SHE gets a bunch of the freeze dried treats while I toss the boys' theirs down the hall and occupy them elsewhere )

Oliver knows not to bug me to get up. He also knows that when I do get up, I'm going to get dressed and use the bathroom first. Then he gets fed. Despite knowing all this, he can't seem to keep himself from meowing from the moment I pick up the bowl to the moment I place it back into its holder, and that always involves a cleaning of the bowl as the first step.

And then he usually sniffs it and walks away for a few minutes before coming back to eat it. Makes me wonder what all that meowing is about.

i would definitely try giving them more play sessions and feeding them right after especially right before bed time. Also I believe kittens should be fed as much as they'll eat so the 7 month old kitty should eat as much as he wants. You can also crate them in the evening or put them in an exercise pen that they cannot jump out of.