(Poll) How often do you feed your cat?

How many meals do you feed your cat(s) every day?


Vote in the poll please.


Then please answer the following,

Big meals or small meals?
How fit is your cat? lol. ex: over-weighted?

My cats get fed twice a day plus a few treats. They are a good weight.

Sam is a bigger cat overall at 17#. Adam West is more sleek at 9#. Both are within proper weight range according to the vet. I assume Adam West was free fed before I got him but he's adjusting to having 2 mid sized meals a day. Sam is used to it

All of my cats except one have a bowls of dry that they can nibble as they want. One cat, Chelsie, is food obsessed and will go after anything edible and gorge. She's a slender build and should weigh about 8-9 pounds, and she topped out at 12 at the worst. So she is on a diet to get her weight back down and I have to ration her food to tiny handfulls three or four times a day. She also needs corn free food because of allergies.

(03-03-2012 04:19 PM)Karenskatz Wrote:  All of my cats except one have a bowls of dry that they can nibble as they want. One cat, Chelsie, is food obsessed and will go after anything edible and gorge. She's a slender build and should weigh about 8-9 pounds, and she topped out at 12 at the worst. So she is on a diet to get her weight back down and I have to ration her food to tiny handfulls three or four times a day. She also needs corn free food because of allergies.

lol, first time I heard a cat with allergy... with corn.


Extra 3 pounds is a lot for a cat weight only 8~9 pounds. It is like extra fat of 30% of the original body weight.


I've heard that smaller but more frequent meals are better for humans. Is it the same with cats?

My cats get food twice a day, but water consistently. Whenever the water is low or dirty I replace it. I replace it most often because the cats either spill it or it's dirty.

Corn allergies are more common than you think. It counts toward the total protien so you find a lot of it in cat and dog foods, even though it's not very digestable protine. I think this is part of what's prompting the trend toward grain free foods. Chelsie was repeatedly scratching the side of her face raw. The cat sitter put her on a corn-free food just for convenince, and suprisingly her face healed. Then the sitter tried some corn based litter that she was given, and Chelsie broke out in full blown alergic dermatitus, which receded when she went back to clay litter. I've kept her on corn free food and she's still scratching, but not as much. Next, I'm going to try grain free.

As far as more frequent, smaller meals, it's probably more normal for them. Look at how their ancestors lived. How big a meal is a mouse? It would take several to fill them up, and they're not going to have back-to-back catches. That's why one tactic to keep house cats occupied is to hide bits of food around the house for them to "hunt". With Chelsie, I'm trying to keep her somewhat satisfied while not filling her up in the hopes that her stomach shrinks and she will be satisfied with less and stop binging.

Maybe you should try a couple mice!

Karenskatz said, Corn allergies are more common than you think. It counts toward the total protien so you find a lot of it in cat and dog foods, even though it's not very digestable protine. I think this is part of what's prompting the trend toward grain free foods. Chelsie was repeatedly scratching the side of her face raw. The cat sitter put her on a corn-free food just for convenince, and suprisingly her face healed. Then the sitter tried some corn based litter that she was given, and Chelsie broke out in full blown alergic dermatitus, which receded when she went back to clay litter. I've kept her on corn free food and she's still scratching, but not as much. Next, I'm going to try grain free.

Absolutely! That is why we feed brands that do not contain corn. We feed a combination of Holistic Select, Wellness and Instinct by Natures VAlley. We get a variety of brands and flavors so the do not get bored with their food. Did you know that cats (and dogs) can also be allergic to plastic food and water dishes? For some reason the plastic causes chin sores. A friend of mine had a cat that had chin sores. I convinced her to change to a stainless steel bowl, the chin cleared up.

The plastic dishes obsorb oils from the food, and their chin rubs on the edge, so they get acne on their chin. Like people, some animals seem to have a genetic predisposition to acne and are more prone to breakouts. Glass, glazed ceramic, or metal dishes are easier to clean thoroughly and don't obsorb oils.

We use only stainless steel pet bowls.

My cat gets fed twice a day and I also change his water when I feed him. The vet says he is healthy at 12 lbs. He does get treats a couple of times a day also.

I've always kept dry food around they can nibble on whenever they want. I kind of adapted this approach from my mother, and have had very few problems with overweight cats. I have seen a few in my life that will overeat, and it seems the cat is trying to eat everything to keep it away from other cats. All of the cats I have now are a good weight. I give them some form of moist food somewhat regularly, and my 13-14 year old marine coon gets moist food of some type daily, as she'll throw up if she eats all dry food.

We have always free fed our cats. Their food bowls are always full and they eat whenever they feel like it. Out of the six cats we've had (3 then, 3 now), only two cats have ever abused this kind of feeding. They both had/have weight problems. The other four cats were/are always at a decent weight.

While I try to let their food dish go empty for a few hours in between, they typically have dry food available to them 24 hours a day. 3 of my 4 cats are of healthy weight. Dot, who had pyometria last August and thus her girly organs removed, has become a tubbo. She bats around the food dish if it is empty and sits there like a martyr. I swear these animals are smart! LOL. Despite the fact that she has a big belly, she is very active and healthy, so I'm not too worried. We rarely feed them treats or human food just to make sure they are healthy. And I feed them wet food once a week or so as treats. Obviously, they get fresh water at least once a day, but if it's extra warm or the household has been active (and thus hair has flown around), I refresh the water as needed.

The only bad side effect to having food available to them often is that the litter boxes get full QUICK! They don't eat as much as me, yet they go about 4 times more than me. Geesh!

My old guy gets canned food twice a day, and dry food is left out for him at all times. His weight is fine, since he doesn't actually eat much of the dry anymore. I used to only give canned once a day in the evening, but then one kitty developed diabetes and needed to be fed when I gave him his insulin shots, which was every twelve hours. The only way I could guarantee he'd eat on schedule was to give him canned food (canned food is supposed to be better for diabetic kitties anyway because it's generally higher in protein and lower in carbs). Of course, I couldn't feed one kitty and not the other. The diabetic kitty has since crossed the bridge, but I've continued with the twice a day routine.

We feed her twice a day. Her weight is decent.

James

Well, it's hard to answer the poll because it depends on who is feeding the cats.

My fiancee likes to fill the bowl up to the rim. I personally like to feed them a certain amount to ensure they are getting the right portions and not just stuffing their faces to get fat.

If it's me, I feed them twice a day (fill it once the bowl is empty). My fiancee will fill it up in the morning and if it's empty in the evening.