He's eating his full day's food in one sitting

We just adopted a cat that they think is about 1 year old. We haven't weighed him yet but believe him to be around 5-6 lbs. We got the dry food that he was on because we didn't want to switch his food right away and followed the amount listed on the bag. It says to give 1/2 cup per day for a 6 lb. cat. The first day we put a half cup in his bowl and he ate the whole thing in one sitting. We don't know if we're feeding him too little or if he's used to having to eat all his food at once after being in the shelter for a couple months or what. We'd like to get it so if we were to go away overnight that we could leave him extra food and water but at this rate he'd probably eat the whole thing at once and then starve for the rest of the time till we got home. We're going to the vet for his rabbies shot on Friday so we'll see what he has to say. I know he's very knew to our home so it might be a temporary thing. Any suggestions?

Give him 1/4 cup at a time? When you go away, don't fuss, a day or two is nothing to a (mostly) grown cat. If he eats it all at once, well, too bad! Try what we used to do ... leave a little in various bowls around the house where he likely will visit at some point in the time you're away, so he doesn't get it all at once. I personally would also throw in a snack or two once a day at least (before bed) which also helps settle them down at night.

I would give him at least 1 full cup a day half in the morning then the other half at night.Do you plan on giving him canned?I would a can at night..

My cats allways have acces to dry food. The bawl is never empty. If they are gaining weight I swiths to a light food of the same brand and I have never had a fat cat. I don't know if this works with indoor cats though.
Is he de.wormed? If he has worms you feed a lot more than a cat.

Originally Posted by Larke

Give him 1/4 cup at a time? When you go away, don't fuss, a day or two is nothing to a (mostly) grown cat. If he eats it all at once, well, too bad! Try what we used to do ... leave a little in various bowls around the house where he likely will visit at some point in the time you're away, so he doesn't get it all at once. I personally would also throw in a snack or two once a day at least (before bed) which also helps settle them down at night.

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Sorry but I disagree- the cat is more than likely a stray and that is how they eat. They eat everything in front of them, or bury it for later (depending on what it is)

A day or two without food is a big deal. I would suggest you invest in an automatic pet feeder. You can find them at www.meowhoo.com under basic pet supplies/food and water bowls. That way it will regulate the feedings while you are gone. Also have someone you trust check in on the cat while you are gone.

Some cats are just like that - will eat everything put in front of them straight off. Jaffa is like that so he has set mealtimes (morning before work, after work and before bed). If I'm going to be late home from work I leave that meal in an automatic feeder. Mosi has adapted to set meal times no problem. It sounds like that's what you need to do.

I'm so embarrased. My bad. We were so convinced that he couldn't weigh more than 5 lbs. but then we weighed him last night by me stepping on the scale and then holding him in my arms and weighing again and found that he's 10 lbs! We're used to picking up a 26 lb. dog so he seems light as a feather. We weren't feeding him enough. We felt so bad when we figured that out. Now we're feeding him half a cup at a time and he's not finishing it off right away. We are going to start giving him a treat of wet food in a different dish at night now too. I like the timer bowl thing for if we go away overnight though. I'll have to look into getting one of those. BTW, he has been dewormed so we're good there. Thanks for all the advice.