My Cat Eats A Lot?

[Becca_and_remmy77]

So my cat is a year old boy. Pretty active. Weighs around 8 ibs. I’ve been giving him one Sheba proportion pate in the morning and free feeding him. Today I filled up his bowl four times with the Purina One Indoor Advantage. Each with 1/3 cup scoop. Is this too much? He’s still growing a little and he can be really annoying when he’s hungry, ex he’ll attack my feet when I’m sleeping if he’s hungry.

 

[jen]

I would say you are absolutely feeding him too much. Cut WAY back on the dry, add more wet, stop filling the bowl over and over, 1/3 a cup is usually closer to what they should have for the WHOLE DAY.

Overeating leads to obesity, dry food leaves them dehydrated, can lead to diabetes, renal failure when older and the worst... urinary blockage. I have a client at work currently with an obese 3 yr old male with constant blockages. They are deciding this week to put the cat to sleep or do the surgery that costs a couple grand. They already have almost 2 grand into his care in the last week.

 

[maggie101]

I agree with jen . I do not give my cats any dry so not sure how much dry to give. My cat Maggie is 8-9 pds,7 yrs old. Big in length and height. She is active as are my other cats and eats one 5.5oz can a day split 3 meals. Peaches is 8 yrs old,7pds and eats 4.5oz can. Coco is 6 yrs old 3/4 5.5 oz can, 8 pds

 

[Maria Bayote]

I have the same problem with my cats, but now I learned to ignore them when they ask for food over and over again. They are more into wet food, though. Try to cut back on the dry.

 

[lisahe]

B Becca_and_remmy77 is your cat gaining weight? Is he chunky?

Since he's only a year old, very active, still growing, and it's unclear if you're feeding him four scoops of food every day, it doesn't necessarily sound to me like he's being overfed if he's not gaining, hmm, chunky weight.

It does sound like you're feeding him a lot, though young cats eat a lot. (Ours sure did, even into their third year.) Than again, Sheba portions aren't that caloric. And, like I mentioned, it's unclear to me how often you actually put four scoops of food in the little guy's bowl. The food (if this is the right one) is 372 calories a cup, meaning he'd be eating around 500 calories a day from just the dry food if he gets four scoops a day. That's a lot. It makes me wonder about worms.

All that said, I have to agree with the others about cutting back on the dry food. Feeding meatier wet food could go a long way in satisfying your cat's appetite. These ingredients -- corn gluten meal, rice, soybean meal, whole grain corn, soy protein isolate -- which are third through seventh on that food's list, aren't doing a cat many favors, either in terms of healthy growth or satisfying a cat's craving for meat.

Personally, I'd go for calorie-dense wet foods (Fancy Feast Classics might be a good supermarket option) that have a lot of meat in them.

Also, on being woken up! Our vet told us not to feed our cats immediately after getting up. Waiting until after taking a shower means they don't associate our getting up with their getting fed. It really does work. Or at least help a lot!

 

[Becca_and_remmy77]

Well I noticed the other day I fed him four times. Usually I feel him 2-3 times. He gets 1/3 when I wake up 1/3 when I get home (go to class and work for 8-12 hours) and then if his bowl is empty when I go to bed I give him 1/3 cup. I don’t really have the money to feed him wet food all the time. He used to get Sheba twice a day but 1) it got expensive and 2) he’s definitely still slim but he is putting on a tiny bit of weight. The feeding him after I shower is a good idea but he usually cries whenever I shower so I feed him before so he’s distracted and won’t wake up my roomates (hopefully). I’d cut back on his food no questions asked if it weren’t for the fact that he’s a boy and the vet told me he wouldn’t really be full size until he’s 2 years old and I used to have a boy cat who put on a significant amount of weight when he was a year old and then that all turned to muscle and build after like 6 months or so of us saying he was a little chubby. I’m just wondering if he actually needs the food he wants or if he doesn’t need it. I don’t want to deprive him of any nutrients but I probably feed him 4x a day every three days or so

 

[MissClouseau]

When was the last time he got dewormed and was it for all hookworms, roundworms, AND tapeworm? If he can't get enough nutrition that might lead to more hunger feeling.

I'm not familiar with that particular Purina food but "Indoor" and "sterilised" foods are usually lower in calorie. If your cat is physically more active than the average indoor cat, then the amount might not be as much as it sounds calorie-wise. My own tabby cat eats her food more than the suggested amount on the box but she has never been overweight, maybe like 200 extra grams for a week at most. She just literally runs around daily, jumps and all outside in the yard. Usually especially North American food brands seem to base their food, calorie content, and amount based on "indoor-only" cats who aren't all that active. (My cat also eats more in the summer but it's because she sleeps maybe 12 hours a day. In the winter it's more 16-20 hours. I also rarely give her any treats.)

Perhaps it would be better and more budget-friendly to get food with higher meat amount, even if it's more expensive. Another thing I noticed with indoor/sterilised cat food they seem to add more appetite stimulant like "flavor" of some sort to get the cat eat. My cat absolutely gets more crazy about Royal Canin than Acana which has higher meat amount. Not that she doesn't love Acana - she just doesn't overeat it.

I also highly suggest weighing the cat on the same digital scale on the same day every week. Weight control is so much easier when you catch unwanted change early.

 

[Uncled]

Can you put his dry food in a treat ball that he has to bat around to get the food or a food puzzle as simple as a taped shut cardboard box with holes cut in it that forces your cat to reach into the holes that you cut out to get at the dry food? It will keep him occupied.