Cat fast (withholding food)?

Just curious; has anyone ever withheld food for 48 hours to fast their cat? Someone else was asking about a raw food diet, and I was interested to I visited the feline future site, and in addition to the raw food info they say that the occasional 48 hour fast is very beneficial to the cat and doesn't harm them in any way (water must available at all times). I don't feel a great need to do it, but wanted to know if anyone has tried it and what the results were. I can just see Snowball giving me "the look" after the first missed feeding

Personally, I would never withhold food from my cat unless it was on a vet's advice to do so. To many things can happen within the cat's system without food.

I really dont see how withholding food from a cat for 48 hours could be beneficial to them

I got this from http://www.felinefuture.com

"Physiologically, the cat is adapted to gorge food, followed by periods of fasting. This eating habit is necessary to provide sufficient time between meals for the body to de-tox, because a nearly all meat diet produces many toxic metabolic by-products, which are naturally filtered from the blood by the kidneys, and excreted in the urine. If the cat were to eat continuously, high toxic levels would be maintained in the blood stream and accumulative effect the cat's health. Meal feeding in 8-12 hour intervals assures that toxins in the blood peak only for short periods after ingestion and during digestion, after which they are nearly completely filtered from the body.

Fasting
It is very beneficial for healthy adult cats, to withhold all food for a 48hour period on occasions. This extended fast will enable the body to clear some accumulated toxins from fat tissue, and completely empty the bowl. Healthy cats don't fast voluntarily, but are frequently faced with an involuntary fast in a natural setting through unavailability of prey, or repeated unsuccessful hunts. They will, however, frequently refuse food when unwell as a possible means to speed recovery. Cats are unharmed by the absence of food for several days, and in extreme times of famine may loose up to 50% of their body mass and still survive. It is, however, critical that the cat has unrestricted access to fresh water during fasting."

The first paragraph is actually only giving reasons why we shouldn't free feed, but sort of relates to the fasting part.

Fasting a cat is a horrible idea! When cat's don't eat, they can run into very serious liver problems... please don't fast your cat!

Don't worry, I wasn't planning on fasting Snowball. I was really just curious, because when I read the info on fasting, it seemed to counter intuitive. However, after doing a little more research, I think I understand it a little better. I got this from another website:

"The so-called "fatty liver" represents one of the most common causes of liver failure in the cat and it stems from the basic design of the cat. Cats evolved as predators of small birds and rodents, eating multiple small meals throughout the day. Their physiology is geared towards a completely carnivorous diet and with the presupposition that cats would live lean and never have the opportunity to develop extensive fat stores.

Of course this all changed when cats become domestic. The modern housecat has every opportunity to become overweight and while this may not be of disastrous consequence on a day to day basis, should the cat get sick or lost and stop eating, a very big problem erupts. The fat stores mobilize. Normally, in starvation, fat is moved from the body's storage depots to the liver for processing into lipoproteins but the feline liver was never intended to handle huge amounts of mobilized fat. The liver becomes infiltrated with fat and fails.

Approximately 2 weeks of eating 1/2 - 3/4 the normal amount of food is needed to develop a fatty liver."

I'm guessing that two days is long enough to produce the benefits of fasting (cleaning out toxins and stuff) but not long enough to develop the fatty liver. I would have completely ignored the fasting thing, except that the feline future site really seems to have done their research.

Originally posted by glentheman20
Approximately 2 weeks of eating 1/2 - 3/4 the normal amount of food is needed to develop a fatty liver."

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Is this true? I've been trying to cut back on how much my cat eats by just giving her small portions (1/4 cup) dry 2x a day and also 1/3 of a 5oz can of food. She's used to eating dry food when she feels like it (thus, overate...). Now I'm wondering if I'm doing damage... she doesn't eat the entire 1/4 cup at once, just snacks on it (she's 14 pds).

The safest thing to do is check with your vet to set up a weight loss program. That being said, I think if you make a very gradual reduction, you'll be okay. On the bag they say the amount to feed for weight loss (usually 1/4 -1/2 cup of food daily). If the reduction is gradual, then the cat's body will only need to pull a little bit out of the fat stores for energy each day, which shouldn't overload the liver.

Originally posted by woodsygirl
Is this true? I've been trying to cut back on how much my cat eats by just giving her small portions (1/4 cup) dry 2x a day and also 1/3 of a 5oz can of food. She's used to eating dry food when she feels like it (thus, overate...). Now I'm wondering if I'm doing damage... she doesn't eat the entire 1/4 cup at once, just snacks on it (she's 14 pds).

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That's about how much Zoey eats a day.. and she's 12 pounds!

Thanks... it's just hard when you go from free feeding to measured feeding as I really didn't know exactly how much she was eating. Right now I'm giving her more food than she's eating... but she still eats. I'm trying to get her to get up off her lazy behind a little more

I strongly recommend against fasting a cat even for only 2 days, especially if the cat is overweight, for the fatty liver reasons mentioned above. When I worked in a vet clinic I remember someone bringing a cat in that was dying - she had gotten stuck on their roof for 2 days somehow, and had gone into liver failure. I just don't think any minor benefits are worth the risk.

Originally posted by hissy
Personally, I would never withhold food from my cat unless it was on a vet's advice to do so. To many things can happen within the cat's system without food.

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I agree

HI everyone, I know this is an ancient thread but remains topical. My cat and I must be away from home for about 10 hours while workmen finish a project in my loft. Cat sitter, cat spa or a cat-loving friend are not options. Since we will be away from her facilities, about how far in advance should I fast her. Thanks.

Is your cat going to be with you? Why can't you just feed her wherever you are taking her for this period of time? 10 hrs isn't insane, you could feed a larger meal before and then a larger one when you return instead. I don't know why we need to fast. Don't do that. Liver damage can happen in a very short period of time.

Thanks for the response.....I worked it out.