How many times a day should you feed a cat?

megan1985

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Sometimes when I feed Otis not more than 45 minets after I feed him, I'll walk past him sitting at his food bowl wineing at me because he wants me to feed him again then when I do he attacks it like he has never seen food before. I try not to feed him more than 3 times a day because I figure to much isnt a good thing either but I was wondering how manytimes a day is reccomened for a cat?
 

pat

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I found this to be very sensible advice - just scroll down to the sections "adult", "geriatric" and "special needs".

The key points are that it depends on the cat - it's age, any health conditions, if you are at home or work, if you feed wet or dry.
 

xocats

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Thanks for the link. I signed up to take "The Role of Food in Your Cats Health" lessons.
 

nano

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In my estimation, the quality of the food you give pets is much more important than optimizing the feeding schedule. So my answer is "whatever is most convenient for you as a pet owner"....

I free-feed, which is considered a mortal sin around these forums, but...

1. If I feed distinctly separate meals, then Nano goes overboard and gorges herself as soon as food becomes available. I don't want her binging and then vomiting later.
2. Certain cats (Nano included) don't like it when there isn't a feed bowl available. Some cats only whine (moderate annoyance) but Nano thumps her tail and is very demonstrative.
3. Unless your cat starts to get overweight, or has specific medical issues, what is the problem with letting the cat set its own eating patterns? Some days I am barely home for 1 hr (awake), but other days I am home all day -- Nano has developed her preferred feeding patterns and I observe her eating on some semblance of a schedule. Since most (but not all) cats develop a schedule on their own, why enforce an arbitrary schedule which is more work for the caretaker and less natural for the cat?
Anyway...good luck!
 

pat

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Originally Posted by Nano

<snip>
I free-feed, which is considered a mortal sin around these forums, but...
<snip>
Since most (but not all) cats develop a schedule on their own, why enforce an arbitrary schedule which is more work for the caretaker and less natural for the cat?
I don't think free-feeding is considered a "mortal sin"
However, as I understand it from the research I've been doing lately on crystals (struvite or calcium oxalate) I would free feed a cat with a hx of calcium oxalate stones, but do frequent small meals for a cat with a hx of struvite...there is what they describe as an alkaline wave after eating...and in cats with struvite crystals, you want the urine more acidic, not more alkaline, where it is the opposite with cats that develop calcium oxalate stones.

So...sometimes, there are reasons besides what might be natural, to change your cats feeding pattern.

I would def. say it should be on an individual, cat by cat basis, and with consultation with your vet re any conditions your cat has.

You've found what works best for Nano, I don't think anyone faults you for that!!

keep in mind, first cup of coffee of the day has yet to be consumed, any errors in the above, I blame on that!
 

luvmysphynx

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I free feed my babies (Sphynx burn calories quicker as they do not have hair to help insulate them) and then I give them soft food at dinner time!!
 

sharky

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With my girls I feed wet on demand dry for Zoey is measured and set out for the day
 

willow

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I recently read in a nutrition book for cats that the average meal given to a domesticated cat is equivalent to five mice that he would catch in the wild. Seeing that most feral cats would consider themselves lucky to catch even one mouse in a day, it is possible that most cats today might be getting more food than they need.
 

yosemite

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We free feed dry food to Bijou and Mika and they get a can of wet food to share for dinner. I've actually always only free fed any cat we've ever had.
 

nano

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Originally Posted by willow

I recently read in a nutrition book for cats that the average meal given to a domesticated cat is equivalent to five mice that he would catch in the wild. Seeing that most feral cats would consider themselves lucky to catch even one mouse in a day, it is possible that most cats today might be getting more food than they need.
Do you have a source for that information?
 

i am furniture

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I use the free feed method with dry food and give Lightning can food in the morning & at night. Right now Lightning doesn't really eat alot of it so I just leave food out for him.
I had him in for his first vet check up on Friday and he weight in at 9.8 lbs. I just adopted him from the humane society May 4th. It was neat the vet I brought him to was the same place the original owners brought him, there was a kitten picture of him from when he was in to get neutered & declawed.
 
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