Feeding question

horselo285 · Sep 24, 2015

Hi,

So last month I took in an abandoned little cat. She is about 7-9 months old but tiny. She was 5 lbs last month when I got her and thin, she has since gained a lb and is looking much better.

After her last trip to the vet (last week) I took in a homeless 4-month-old boy from the vet. He had a nice sized belly but his back/hip area feels very bony to me (he has been wormed twice and is up to date on all medical).

I am trying to figure out how much to feed each of them and the best food to feed him with in a price range that I can afford. Right now I am giving him a mix of natural balance hard food and canned food twice a day and I gave the baby some extra hard food last night because he was meowing and hungry.

I am also concerned about future issues with urinary blockage in the boy… He has no issues right now, but I had two cats when I was younger who had urinary blockage issues and the vet bills are astronomical… I would like to avoid that with him if at all possible.

Any advice on what food to feed, ratio of hard/soft and amount would be much appreciated!!

Thanks!
Laura

2cats4me · Sep 24, 2015

horselo285 said:
Hi,

So last month I took in an abandoned little cat. She is about 7-9 months old but tiny. She was 5 lbs last month when I got her and thin, she has since gained a lb and is looking much better.

After her last trip to the vet (last week) I took in a homeless 4-month-old boy from the vet. He had a nice sized belly but his back/hip area feels very bony to me (he has been wormed twice and is up to date on all medical).

I am trying to figure out how much to feed each of them and the best food to feed him with in a price range that I can afford. Right now I am giving him a mix of natural balance hard food and canned food twice a day and I gave the baby some extra hard food last night because he was meowing and hungry.

I am also concerned about future issues with urinary blockage in the boy… He has no issues right now, but I had two cats when I was younger who had urinary blockage issues and the vet bills are astronomical… I would like to avoid that with him if at all possible.

Any advice on what food to feed, ratio of hard/soft and amount would be much appreciated!!

Thanks!
Laura

The canned food twice a day great . If you can add even a tbs of hot water to each meal that would add extra water to the diet to help prevent UTI's As far as the amount of calories I am not sure on that as they are kittens and they need more calories than adult cats . As for the kibble look for one that is low grain/grain free and high meat content . A few people on this site feed Orijen and are very happy with it ..

I just started feeding my cats Victor and they are doing very well on it ...http://www.sportdogfood.com/victor-cat-food-classic-feline-multi-pro-recipe-for-cats-14-pound/

horselo285 · Sep 24, 2015

Thank you so much for the reply! I will look up the brands you mentioned as soon as I'm off work. Right now I have a mix of natural balance limited ingredient hard food and ideal balance hard food. The ideal balance is what I first bought for sassy… But then after she got spayed and had the cone on her neck, when I remove the cone, she started scratching it's spot of her neck quite severely… A couple of friends thought it could be food allergy related so I switched her onto the natural balance limited ingredient to see if it helped. Since then, I have seen absolutely no difference and the vet says it is not food allergy related, so I've mixed the ideal balance back with the ideal balance to use all that I bought.

As of now, sassy, the older kitten, is getting 1/4 can of soft food mixed with a couple of handfuls of hard food, twice daily (she was getting more canned food when I was using a cheaper quality can… But when I switched to natural balance it seem that it was much thicker and that the quarter can wa comparable to a half can of cheaper food. Severus snape (younger kitten) is getting s little less canned food right now cause I'm weaning him onto it. He didn't like it originally. He's getting a bit more than an 8th of a can mixed with a handful of hard food. I am happy to adjust these meals anyway needed to keep them both healthy. I will definitely start adding water to their meals as well!

Thanks!!!

horselo285 · Sep 24, 2015

Sassy did gain a full pound so maybe this amount is good for her? I'm not sure how to tell lol

2cats4me · Sep 24, 2015

horselo285 said:
Sassy did gain a full pound so maybe this amount is good for her? I'm not sure how to tell lol

This chart may help you . I just don't want to tell you an amount and be wrong ..

http://www.animalmedicalcenterofchicago.com/pdf/CalorieRequirementsForCats.pdf

horselo285 · Sep 24, 2015

2Cats4Me said:
This chart may help you . I just don't want to tell you an amount and be wrong ..

http://www.animalmedicalcenterofchicago.com/pdf/CalorieRequirementsForCats.pdf

Thank you so so much! That's very helpful. On another note, the baby's tummy is a bit upset- he's acting fine but his stools are soft. Probably just from the change in food twice in a row, right? (When he came into vet and now came to me). He had clearly never had soft food, so I'm guessing that was a big change for his body?

2cats4me · Sep 25, 2015

horselo285 said:
Thank you so so much! That's very helpful. On another note, the baby's tummy is a bit upset- he's acting fine but his stools are soft. Probably just from the change in food twice in a row, right? (When he came into vet and now came to me). He had clearly never had soft food, so I'm guessing that was a big change for his body?

You are welcome . I am happy to help .. Yeah , the change in food can be very stressful on the tummy .. He should be ok in time ..

horselo285 · Sep 25, 2015

Than

2Cats4Me said:
You are welcome . I am happy to help .. Yeah , the change in food can be very stressful on the tummy .. He should be ok in time ..

Yeah, I normally try to switch my pets over slowly but in this case he wasn't really used to any food on hand yet. He's been through a lot of changes for sure recently...but wow...what a sweetie!! He snuggles with me... Climbs on my lap and falls asleep in all sorts of positions lol.

image.jpg

horselo285
Sep 25, 2015

That's him last night. He's so cute. [emoji]10084[/emoji]️

image.jpg

horselo285
Sep 25, 2015

Ands that is my Sassy girl. [emoji]10084[/emoji]️ She's not as snuggly and can be very shy (and hides whenever upset) but is super sweet. I'm hoping over time, with lots of love, she will become less shy and hopefully cuddly. Lol. (But if not obviously that's fine. Lol I love her either way and am happy I got her instead of her ending up in a bad situation)

2cats4me · Sep 25, 2015

horselo285 said:
That's him last night. He's so cute. [emoji]10084[/emoji]️

image.jpg

horselo285

Sep 25, 2015

Ands that is my Sassy girl. [emoji]10084[/emoji]️ She's not as snuggly and can be very shy (and hides whenever upset) but is super sweet. I'm hoping over time, with lots of love, she will become less shy and hopefully cuddly. Lol. (But if not obviously that's fine. Lol I love her either way and am happy I got her instead of her ending up in a bad situation)

Aww, they are adorable .. They look very happy ..

horselo285 · Sep 25, 2015

2Cats4Me said:
Aww, they are adorable .. They look very happy ..

Thanks! I think they both are!

they are happily eating breakfast right now. Lol

So, what I'm doing right now is giving them each a 1/4 can of natural balance ultra, mixed with hard food and warm water twice a day and im leaving hard food out in between meals cause the baby gets hungry quickly. I'd Love to up their canned food… But at $1.89 I can, I can't really afford to… It sure adds up during the month and right now I'm still recovering from all of Sassys medical bills and from teeth extractions Bills in one of my dogs. I'm hoping overtime to at the amount of canned food they get… At least for the baby since he's the one who would be at risk for the urinary blockage issues (and sassy is already doing well on this amount of food) but right now this is what I can do. Does it sound ok? I've been doing research and trying to find the best affordable food… I've been reading the ingredients and a lot of the canned foods, and I thought the natural balance ultra seems to have the most real meat in it out of the grain free choices, so I figured that even though it's more expensive than some, it's probably worth it since the kitties will be getting more nutrients within the amount I feed them?

2cats4me · Sep 25, 2015

horselo285 said:
Thanks! I think they both are!

they are happily eating breakfast right now. Lol

So, what I'm doing right now is giving them each a 1/4 can of natural balance ultra, mixed with hard food and warm water twice a day and im leaving hard food out in between meals cause the baby gets hungry quickly. I'd Love to up their canned food… But at $1.89 I can, I can't really afford to… It sure adds up during the month and right now I'm still recovering from all of Sassys medical bills and from teeth extractions Bills in one of my dogs. I'm hoping overtime to at the amount of canned food they get… At least for the baby since he's the one who would be at risk for the urinary blockage issues (and sassy is already doing well on this amount of food) but right now this is what I can do. Does it sound ok? I've been doing research and trying to find the best affordable food… I've been reading the ingredients and a lot of the canned foods, and I thought the natural balance ultra seems to have the most real meat in it out of the grain free choices, so I figured that even though it's more expensive than some, it's probably worth it since the kitties will be getting more nutrients within the amount I feed them?

I think that sounds perfect . It sounds like they are happily eating what they are . They are getting extra water . If it ain't broke don't fix it is what I always say ..

I understand completely about the expense . We have 2 cats plus 3 dogs . Although it does get expensive I try to feed the best I can ..

horselo285 · Sep 25, 2015

2Cats4Me said:
I think that sounds perfect . It sounds like they are happily eating what they are . They are getting extra water . If it ain't broke don't fix it is what I always say ..
I understand completely about the expense . We have 2 cats plus 3 dogs . Although it does get expensive I try to feed the best I can ..

Ooh so you know exactly where I'm coming from, cause that's exactly what I have, 2 cats and 3 dogs! And one of my dogs is a high maintenance 14-year-old Afghan hound… I adopted him from a friend that didn't want him when he was 10 months old (I was 17) and he's always been hard to keep weight on… Obviously he's a skinny breed… But in his old age it's become an even harder. I can't free feed him, cause my beagle will eat it all, so he gets 2 to 3 large meals with canned food and hard food and water and oil all added to it. lol. My beagle and my husbands dog are easy though-opposite problem with them… Always have to make sure they're eating little enough so they don't gain tons of weight. LOL

I'm glad the food for the cat sounds good! I've never had a cat that wasn't strictly free fed hard food, so it's a learning experience for me… all my cats when I was a child for free fed. Actually, this is technically the first time I've had a cat that was actually mine and not a family cat that my parents took responsibility for. LOL

My dogs on the other hand, I've had responsibility for for most of their lives (all older).

2cats4me · Sep 25, 2015

horselo285 said:
Ooh so you know exactly where I'm coming from, cause that's exactly what I have, 2 cats and 3 dogs! And one of my dogs is a high maintenance 14-year-old Afghan hound… I adopted him from a friend that didn't want him when he was 10 months old (I was 17) and he's always been hard to keep weight on… Obviously he's a skinny breed… But in his old age it's become an even harder. I can't free feed him, cause my beagle will eat it all, so he gets 2 to 3 large meals with canned food and hard food and water and oil all added to it. lol. My beagle and my husbands dog are easy though-opposite problem with them… Always have to make sure they're eating little enough so they don't gain tons of weight. LOL

I'm glad the food for the cat sounds good! I've never had a cat that wasn't strictly free fed hard food, so it's a learning experience for me… all my cats when I was a child for free fed. Actually, this is technically the first time I've had a cat that was actually mine and not a family cat that my parents took responsibility for. LOL

My dogs on the other hand, I've had responsibility for for most of their lives (all older).

Yes , personally think that cats are more difficult as far as feeding goes .. I think you are doing a fabulous job .

Feeding question

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