Feeding Your Cat

[Kalei]

So I always wondered if it is healthy or not to basically ration your food your cats eat. Like some dog owners feed their dogs a certain amount at certain times a day, and other than that, no food is down for them to eat. Does anyone here do that with their cats? And is it healthy for them?

All my life, we always had food down for the cats 24/7. The cats always ate as much as they wanted when they wanted. That's the way it is with my cats still.

Because of Kalypso's stomach problem and now that we are buying expensive Science Diet food, I was thinking of giving them their food at certain times of day. Kalypso gets bored and she eats alot, so I don't want her to eat all this expensive food just in one week cause she is bored. Any suggestions?

Do any of the cat lovers here feed their cats differently?

[krazyaboutkatz]

Yes, it is healthy for them not to be free fed. I've been doing this for several years. I was forced to because some of my cats are pigs and they'll eat all of the food. I now have 6 cats again so I have to make sure that everyone gets their fair share of food. They get fed 2 small meals in the morning and 2 in the evening. I wish I could just feed them 2 times a day but it just doesn't work. They're also on a grain free diet which is good for them too and it helps to control their weight. You'll find that your cats will be more active if they don't over eat. Good luck.

[columbine]

Smudge is overweight, and the vet suggested that I give him only a specific amount of food a day. He gets two 1/8 cup servings of kibble and two 1/4 can servings of wet (with his medicines mixed in) a day. He's lost a little, if not much, weight, and this way I can make sure he actually eats the canned stuff and gets his vitamins & meds (and the extra water I mix in), because otherwise he'd just gobble kibble all day long.

Love, Columbine

[Freedom]

Got a few pudgy wudgies here as well.

In the wild, cats eat twice a day, dawn and dusk. My cats never read the books which explain this.

So I put food down 3 times a day. Food is all gone in about 1/2 an hour. With 10, I have no way to know who eats how much. But they all gather round at mealtimes, come out of hiding, napping etc. and wait at the closet for me to get some out and fill the dishes.

[Pinot's Mom]

Pinot is the first kitty (of only three we've owned) who is on a strict diet. She could never be "free poured" as our RB kitty Jamara was for 18 years. We realized this early on.

Pinot has 1/4 cup dry Science Diet with a spoonful of canned S/D with water at essentially dawn and dusk. This is not HER preferred diet, but she would eat everything in sight given the chance.

[cassiesmom]

My fur-nephew Milo is not free-fed because he's a bit of a pudge. He eats Science Diet, 1/4 cup in the morning and 1/4 cup at suppertime. In the summer and during school breaks, that half cup gets divided into 3 portions and he gets one at lunch time in addition to morning and suppertime.

[kaycountrygal]

1.3.10 Last month due to constipation problems I switched Luke from dry food to canned Wellness & canned w/d. I have never just left food out for him because my little dog would eat it (she loves cat food). I tried feeding him twice a day but he meowed, begged, followed me, & acted like he was really hungry so we're at 3x a day. Also I mix Laxatone in it. Because the canned food is so expensive, I might try gradually adding dry food... we'll see. Kay in NC