How Much to feed? I am confused!!!

[2crazykittens]

Hi all!

I have been trying to feed both my year and a half boys a diet consisting of raw and canned food. I have been feeding them both about half a 5.5oz can in the morning ea 9am, a raw primal freeze dried nugget ea for dinner 5p.m. and finally half a 3oz can ea with an additional freeze dried nugget at bedtime 11p.m.. The freeze dried foods have always been fed hydrated and not fed dry. Anyway, I have been feeding them both 3 meals a day like this since they were kittens maybe a bit more when they were kittens. My issue is in the last few months one of the males seems to not be very excited about meal times.

He used to get pushed out of his food bowl while his buddy would eat his meal and his own aswel, and I have wondered if this is why the cat seems to eat less.

I started to feed this cat in a separate room at meal times to give him a chance to eat peacefully and at his own pace. This seems to be working better or at least it did. I find that if I feed him 2.75oz can in the a.m, he will eat about less than a half sometimes more, walk away and will only eat it if I add a treat to it.

Then he will eat a bit more then leave about a tsp or so left uneaten. At dinner time he pretty much does the same thing. He gets a smaller serving only a nugget of primal freeze dried, he eats a little or sometimes snubs it until a treat is added i also offer the left over food from earlier. Bedtime meal is often the same.

By the end of the day, after treats added to every meal, he leaves about 2-4 tsps of uneaten food. I have counted the calories in the foods or at least tried to and have come up with he is likely willing to eat without treats around 160-180 cal a day. He is a 9lb cat. and was weighed by the vet recently and they said he had lost a tiny bit of weight but nothing significant. Other than that he is in great health, playful, active and normal in every way. I don't want to be forced to add treats to the meals, as I can't ask every pet sitter to be on stand by to get ready and crush a treat on his food. That and I think this is a bad habit.

My question really boils down to how much should he be eating? Could the raw foods be making him feel more full? 

I worry about him loosing weight and I want him just to be a normal cat. I can't free feed because I have the other cat who tends to be a glutton. I am currently offering around 200-225 cal a day to both cats give or take. Although it is really hard to know exactly how many cals are in the freeze dried and canned foods when combined, I just try to count the cals according to the ounces on the bag or can.  All foods I feed come in a variety of flavors, he seems to act like this with all food. Is this normal for a cat? Long should I wait for him to eat his meal before discarding it? Thanks for your time!

 

 

[slykat12]

I think 18-24 calories a pound is good to maintain. Depending on activity level of course. Primal site says 180 calories for a 10 pound cat other sites say up to 240 for a 10 pd cat. I too feed Primal and premium canned but I figure out the calories for everything. Primal raw nuggets tell you their calories and some cans do to-otherwise you can look them up online.

 

[lisahe]

I feed a combination of Primal's (rehydrated) freeze-dried, Rad Cat, and canned food. Your food amounts, @2crazykittens, sound very similar to what our cats, who are in the eight-pound range, eat. They get a nugget or so each of Primal in the mornings and evenings, split a 5.5 or 6-ounce can of something during the day, and split a 3-ounce can at night. They get a small serving each of Rad Cat most afternoons. Their canned foods vary in calories--there are high-calorie pates and low-calorie shreds--so sometimes I give them another small can of something during the day or at night. I've done rough calculations and they seem to fit within the general guidelines @Slykat12 mentioned.

Our cats are also about a year and a half old and they're very active. Edwina is also a piglet, particularly about raw food: she watches the other cat, Ireland, waiting and obviously hoping there will be leftovers. Ireland seems to have gotten smart to this and now plants herself over the dish so she can finish. I've separated them a few times but don't like to do it because they're such drama queens. I think what's helped most is that the cats get a variety of foods -- and we often mix two kinds of Primal in a meal -- so Ireland doesn't get bored.

I have to admit I also find it difficult to know if I'm feeding them the right amount, particularly since their canned foods vary so much and Edwina is more aggressive about her food than Ireland. In the end, though, everything seems to work out: the cats don't beg and their weight seems fairly stable, though Edwina is a little stockier, despite their being littermates.

As for your question about how long to leave food out. Our cats eat up their raw food very fast so that's not an issue. I do sometimes end to leave their canned food out for fairly long periods of time, like morning to evening, overnight, etc.: that's easy to do in a climate like Maine!

Neither cat seems to mind food that's been sitting around, in fact sometimes I think they actually prefer it that way!

 

[2crazykittens]

Thank you!

I suppose he is regulating himself then, and he must be getting enough because he only really wants to eat what he will. I do rotate in Stella and chewy's freeze dried food too as they have more flavors than Primal. Again I count the calories and serve up a variety of the grain free cans. I will admit that I feed Fancy Feast classic pate as their classics are all grain free. I have yet to be able to find a canned cat food that is easy on the budget and one that is grain free. Most if the premium brands run 1.59 - 3.00 a can depending on size. That is quite steep considering that FF price is around .79 cents a can. I am still looking though. I really need to keep the canned on the cheaper side as the raw foods already cost me around 100.00 a month.

Anyway, this morning was another headache.

I served up some Stella and chewy's sea-licious salmon and cod a one ounce portion around 72 calories. He has eaten this before and had no problem with it. This morning I placed his food bowl in the hallway, he sniffed it and walked away. Then went back, ate a few bites (maybe 3 bites) then sat at the gate looking at me.

I let him sit there a while then was forced to add some freeze dried cooked chicken breast as a topper before he would eat his full meal. This is starting to get annoying.

I really don't want to be forced to add a topper, only to have him eat the topper and leave the food.

He is getting into a bad habit and I don't want to train him to be like this. So in short of letting him starve, I have no idea what to do. As I have stated, both cats are not free fed due to one of the kitties being a piggy and eating everything in sight. They get 3 meals offered daily at 9am, 5pm and 11pm. I am thinking that maybe to break him of this habit I will just have to serve his meals as usual and give him a half hour or so to eat any of it before it is removed and offered again at the next meal. Maybe if he gets hungry enough he will actually eat without aids or convincing.

He is offered a variety of food flavors both in canned and raw. He is acting this way at all of the food.

I just don't know what else to do. This cat is starting to make me crazy!

If anyone has any ideas or if you have a cat that is similar advice would be great! 

 

[slykat12]

Let him get hungry! U are the boss! I know it is hard. I went through it too. Now she eats what I put down or 30 min later it is gone!

 

[2crazykittens]

OK so I prepared a primal chicken and salmon nugget ea for their 5pm meal. Did not add any toppers. Left him to sit behind the gate in the hallway alone to eat. Sure enough he spent the 30 minuets meowing and not eating.

When time was up the food was removed and placed in an air tight container in the fridge for his 11pm feeding. He is so strange. He is driving me mad!! Other than that he acts totally normal, like as if this hunger strike will help him.

I guess we wait till 11pm to see how it goes.

 

[lisahe]

 
OK so I prepared a primal chicken and salmon nugget ea for their 5pm meal. Did not add any toppers. Left him to sit behind the gate in the hallway alone to eat. Sure enough he spent the 30 minuets meowing and not eating.

When time was up the food was removed and placed in an air tight container in the fridge for his 11pm feeding. He is so strange. He is driving me mad!! Other than that he acts totally normal, like as if this hunger strike will help him.

I guess we wait till 11pm to see how it goes.

I hope it goes better at 11! One thought: I'm not sure how you mix up their Primal but our cats get very annoyed if there's not enough variety in their food rotation so we give them differing combinations of Primal foods at each meal. (Like turkey in the morning, then a combination of chicken and beef in the evening, some days there might be a Primal nugget plus a few chunks of Stella & Chewy's. Etc.)

Ireland is sometimes a little like your cat, too, though we've found that she eats best in one certain place where she seems to feel protected. And her food has to be piled up against one side of her dish.

We flatten Edwina's food so she can't eat it as fast, and her food is always on a raised platform. They both get canned food on their little platforms. All that seems to help keep them a little separate and slow Edwina down. We found that once Ireland felt more secure eating her food she started to eat more food. (If that makes sense.) I totally agree about using a bit of hunger to your advantage: I do that, too, if they're not thrilled with a menu choice. In fact, sometimes I prefer feeding them foods they aren't thrilled about because they eat them at a more reasonable place!

Good luck!

 

[2crazykittens]

Last night was about the same as usual for him. He ate about a full 3oz can of food with a bit of dry Stella and chewys on top. He seems to like it when that is used as a topper.

I have realized he just seems to like to eat smaller meals throughout the day at random times. I can feed him at random times for the most part, but more so in the evening really.

This morning he managed to eat a half a 3oz can before he lost interest. I added no topper.

I picked up some wellness today in the shredded form and a couple cans of wellness. Just to stimulate an appetite. Maybe be is just board with the arrangement.

At dinner I offered a half a 3oz can of the Merrick salmon pate and he gobbled that up. I even offered a chicken heart to both cats one gobbled it up, the other needed toppers!

Good news is he seems to be eating about the same but just likes smaller meals.

 

[lisahe]

I have realized he just seems to like to eat smaller meals throughout the day at random times. I can feed him at random times for the most part, but more so in the evening really.

That's how Ireland is, too. It's taken months but she's gotten to where she's used to being fed at certain times -- especially first thing in the morning and before bed -- so seems to eat more then. But she just doesn't seem to want to adapt to just timed meals. And Edwina seems to get stomach acid problems (and gluttony, too!) if she doesn't have food three or four times a day, in small meals. We've ended up with something right in the middle of free feeding and timed meals and it seems to work well for humans and cats. I hope you can find something that works out for all of you, too!

 

[2crazykittens]

I am still gonna stick to timed meals, it's easier for me. I figure one extra meal for my small eater a day might just be what he needs. So instead of his regular 3 meals, he will get 4.

I just gotta figure out what time to give the extra meal at, or just throw it in at random like a treat.

Cats are so strange sometimes. I have a pet sitter doing an overnight next weekend, I am not sure yet how I plan to do the feedings. Might just get her to feed the normal 3 feedings and just let him eat what he will. The sitter is new and he might be a bit stand offish anyway.