Adult Feeding Schedule & Can/Kibble Ratio

[aks6]

Hello everyone! I have a few questions about adult cat feeding. This is new to me as in the past I've only ever fostered orphaned neonatal kittens, never older than 4 months. I adopted my last foster kitty, who came to me at 4 weeks with a URI, blind in one eye. She had to have that eye surgically removed. She is now 9 months and thriving. I recently adopted a 6 month old kitten for her to bond with and they are 2 peas in a pod!

So anyway, my 9mo cat has not grown in about 2 months now, so I switched her to adult kibble. I'm still free-feeding the kibble and feeding 1/4 of a 5.5oz can (mixed with 2tbsp of warm water. She refuses to eat it without water haha) twice a day. So my question is if she continues to maintain her weight, when do I stop free-feeding the kibble and increase the can food? How much kibble and can food do I feed, and when? Right now she gets canned for breakfast and dinner, between 5:30-7:30am (depending on when she wakes me up lol) and then 5:30-7:30pm (12 hours after breakfast). She snacks on the kibble throughout the day. I guess I'm confused on how I would schedule both kibble and can food feeds. I am home all day so if it's like a 3 or 4x/day thing I can do that.

My other question is about the 6 month old cat. He is about 6lbs. He's built super tiny but he has a huge pot belly. They were monitoring his food intake at the humane society, feeding 1/4 of a 5.5oz can mixed with water 3x day. I chose to put him on the same routine as my 9mo old (but kitten kibble), free-feeding kibble and giving 1/4 of a 5.5oz can mixed with water twice a day just to keep things universal. But since I'm here and already asking for advice, does anyone have any advice/experience for this? He was fed Blue Buffalo in his first home before being surrendered, so the pot belly isn't a matter of poor nutrition. He's also extremely active, so it's not laziness. He did have an umbilical hernia that the humane society fixed surgically when they neutered him, but on his post-op notes the vet says he was still concerned about the pot belly and ordered his food intake to be monitored, so that makes me think the two are not connected.

FYI I feed Wellness Core kibble and can foods. I will be switching their kibble to Fromm or Orijen soon, though.

Thanks everyone!!

 

[aks6]

No one?

 

[Norachan]

Just bumping this for you so you'll get some responses.

 

[tallyollyopia]

Are you sure he's finished growing? Most of ours (over a year old) have stopped, but Ra is still growing, so be careful about that.

 

[JMJimmy]

It really depends on the cat and their activity level.  My mother-in-law's cats get unlimited access to kibble and are perfectly healthy/don't over eat but they're also indoor/outdoor cats and get lots of exercise.  An indoor only cat may simply eat because it's bored (just like humans) and may not be able to burn off the calories.

 

[NewYork1303]

I agree that it is definitely dependent on the cat. Right now, I have a 1 year old cat and one that is 3 years old. Between the two of them this is their meal schedule: They eat a 3oz can between both of them each morning. Then they get 1/4 cup of kibble to eat during the day. When I get home, they are fed another 3oz can of canned cat food. Before we go to bed, they get another 1/4 cup of dry food to eat through the night. 

How much you feed the cats you have depends partially on their weights and the number of calories they really need as well as how many calories are in the food. It is generally best to rotate wet cat food between brands and flavors to give them a balanced diet and to make sure they are used to different things in case the brand you use is recalled. We rotate with Weruva, Fancy Feast, Nutro, and Sheba. 

There is not correct ratio or feeding schedule. You have to take time to figure out what works best for your cats. 

 

[tallyollyopia]

 
I agree that it is definitely dependent on the cat. Right now, I have a 1 year old cat and one that is 3 years old. Between the two of them this is their meal schedule: They eat a 3oz can between both of them each morning. Then they get 1/4 cup of kibble to eat during the day. When I get home, they are fed another 3oz can of canned cat food. Before we go to bed, they get another 1/4 cup of dry food to eat through the night. 

How much you feed the cats you have depends partially on their weights and the number of calories they really need as well as how many calories are in the food. It is generally best to rotate wet cat food between brands and flavors to give them a balanced diet and to make sure they are used to different things in case the brand you use is recalled. We rotate with Weruva, Fancy Feast, Nutro, and Sheba. 

There is not correct ratio or feeding schedule. You have to take time to figure out what works best for your cats. 

What is Weruva? I've never heard of it. 

 

[NewYork1303]

It's a great high protein food. Here's the Chewy link to the variety pack: http://www.chewy.com/weruva-cats-in-kitchen-goldie-lox-3/dp/120532

I feed only the Cats in the Kitchen type. So I don't know about any of their other varieties. Some of the cans are much lower calorie than others, so I pick the ones with the most calories for my cats.

 

[catpack]

Ok. So, you can definitely go ahead and put both kittens on schedule feedings. I'd start with 4 meals per day since they are accustom to grazing.

I'd suggest this...
Keep your breakfast and supper meals the same. Feed another meal about 6 hours after breakfast. Then, give them a set amount of dry food to snack on overnight.

If they seem very hungry at the midday meal, you can always add in another afternoon meal.

What percentage of wet/dry do you want to feed?

What is the calorie content of the dry and wet food you plan on feeding?

Has the younger kitten been dewormed since being in your care? Has he been check for a hernia? It is not normal for a 6 month old kitten to have a pot belly.

 

[aks6]

Ok. So, you can definitely go ahead and put both kittens on schedule feedings. I'd start with 4 meals per day since they are accustom to grazing.

I'd suggest this...
Keep your breakfast and supper meals the same. Feed another meal about 6 hours after breakfast. Then, give them a set amount of dry food to snack on overnight.

If they seem very hungry at the midday meal, you can always add in another afternoon meal.

What percentage of wet/dry do you want to feed?

What is the calorie content of the dry and wet food you plan on feeding?

Has the younger kitten been dewormed since being in your care? Has he been check for a hernia? It is not normal for a 6 month old kitten to have a pot belly.

He was just due for his Nemex this week, he has an appointment on Friday. He had an umbilical hernia that was repaired at the humane society. His pot belly was there before that and remained after. It's all in his medical notes.

I would like to continue with two 1/4 5oz can feedings twice a day. I can start breaking up their kibble into scheduled feedings, but I'm going to wait because an old neighbor of mine who hadn't seen my 9mo cat in 3 months said she has grown, I guess since I see her everyday I just hadn't noticed. Really need to get a scale! I also don't think I would be able to get away with free feeding the baby and not the 9mo, so I'll stick to free feeding until the baby is ready for a schedule.

FYI I switched them over to Fromm Surf & Turf kibble and Holistic Select can food. Next time I get kibble I'll get Orijen, I need to get can food tomorrow so I'll choose from the list I made from the thread here. I know it's important to switch

 

[catpack]

He had an umbilical hernia that was repaired at the humane society. His pot belly was there before that and remained after. It's all in his medical notes.

Ok, so I have to wonder if instead of a "pot belly" what the issue is is that his abdominal fat pad has separated from the abdominal wall. We have a group of cats (2 years old) that have this. One of this litter had an ingunial hernia that leas to the fat pad basically dropping. It looks a lot like a "spay sway" but it isn't. The other 3 developed the same thing to different extents as well. Luckily no hernias with them.

 

[aks6]

Ok, so I have to wonder if instead of a "pot belly" what the issue is is that his abdominal fat pad has separated from the abdominal wall. We have a group of cats (2 years old) that have this. One of this litter had an ingunial hernia that leas to the fat pad basically dropping. It looks a lot like a "spay sway" but it isn't. The other 3 developed the same thing to different extents as well. Luckily no hernias with them.

I will definitely ask the vet about this today. Is this something that needs to be repaired?