(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.