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How Much to Feed Cat?
I usually give Mico one half of a tuna sized can of food a day. Lately he's
been eating it all, and then wanting more. Mico is almost one and a half years old, and is Siamese. I don't want him to become obese. Due to hunger he's taken to ugly habits like licking the floor when there's no more food left. Ugh. Should I feed him more? What is 'normal' for a cat like him? Thanks in advance, - Ruby Tuesday |
#2
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"Ruby Tuesday" wrote in message
... I usually give Mico one half of a tuna sized can of food a day. Lately he's been eating it all, and then wanting more. Mico is almost one and a half years old, and is Siamese. I don't want him to become obese. Due to hunger he's taken to ugly habits like licking the floor when there's no more food left. Ugh. Should I feed him more? What is 'normal' for a cat like him? When mine were on tinned food they used to get a tin each a day & were still hungry. I've been feeding scienceplan dried food for the last 10 or so years and just leave a bowl out for them to help themselves. Initially they binged because I assume they were used to eating food while it was there when I fed them twice a day but quickly they realised that there would always be food when they were peckish and just nibbled all through the day. Unlike dogs, cats are able to excercise self control and not eat everything within their line of sight and therefore shoud not really get obese. Of course there are rare exceptions but it also depends on what they are fed, high fat human food might taste nice and be cute to feed them but is basically bad for them. If you feed a good quality dried food and leave it available all the time your cat shoud not need to binge and will eat to suit. -- I.P.Freely |
#3
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On 2004-11-22, I.P.Freely penned:
"Ruby Tuesday" wrote in message ... I usually give Mico one half of a tuna sized can of food a day. Lately he's been eating it all, and then wanting more. Mico is almost one and a half years old, and is Siamese. I don't want him to become obese. Due to hunger he's taken to ugly habits like licking the floor when there's no more food left. Ugh. Should I feed him more? What is 'normal' for a cat like him? When mine were on tinned food they used to get a tin each a day & were still hungry. I've been feeding scienceplan dried food for the last 10 or so years and just leave a bowl out for them to help themselves. Initially they binged because I assume they were used to eating food while it was there when I fed them twice a day but quickly they realised that there would always be food when they were peckish and just nibbled all through the day. Unlike dogs, cats are able to excercise self control and not eat everything within their line of sight and therefore shoud not really get obese. Hey now, watch the gross generalizations! My dog "grazed" for his entire life. The bowl of food was always there for him, but he tended to only eat when we were eating. It probably helped that he had no other dogs to contend with for food. Anyway, I also leave dry food out for my cat. I think most animals can handle this sort of approach, especially if they become accustomed to it while young. I use Nutro Natural Choice, as an aside, because it seems to produce the least noxious litterbox offerings. Of course there are rare exceptions but it also depends on what they are fed, high fat human food might taste nice and be cute to feed them but is basically bad for them. If you feed a good quality dried food and leave it available all the time your cat shoud not need to binge and will eat to suit. -- monique |
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On 2004-11-22, kaeli penned:
They don't just eat when they're hungry. Neither do most humans. I still haven't figured out how Oscar is more than skin and bones, since she seems to eat one kibble at a time. She never parks herself at the bowl and just eats. Maybe she read somewhere that many small meals are better than 2-3 large ones? Still, one kibble at a time ... it's just weird. She seems to drink more often than she eats. Of course, she deals with tuna entirely differently! And cats can have very low thirst drives. Eating nothing but dry food is a known risk factor in having kidney problems later in life because of chronic dehydration. Some cats will drink plenty to make up for the lack of water in their food. Others will not. If a cat doesn't drink enough, their urine gets too concentrated and they can develop stones, infections, and be constipated. So if you choose to free-feed, be aware of how much your cat drinks. If it isn't enough, you NEED to add wet. A cat's natural diet consists of all the water they need, so in the wild, they wouldn't need to drink at all. If I had known this earlier in my life, I really think I wouldn't have lost the cats I lost at early ages due to bladder and kidney problems. We always free-fed dry, too. I now feed a combo of portioned dry in the morning and wet at night. (If they'd eat decent quality wet food, I'd only feed them that.) I didn't know this. As with human care, it seems that good advice for one goal conflicts with good advice for another goal. Isn't constant wet food bad for their teeth? (Oscar eats entirely dry food except for a small portion of the can when I'm having tuna, and her breath is daisy-fresh! Well, maybe not daisy, but it's not smelly at all.) -- monique |
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"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message ... I didn't know this. As with human care, it seems that good advice for one goal conflicts with good advice for another goal. Isn't constant wet food bad for their teeth? I don't know about that, but I *do* know that dry food is bad for them period, according to this article: http://www.catsincanada.com/articles/feeding.html - Ruby Tuesday |
#7
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In article ,
"I.P.Freely" wrote: "Ruby Tuesday" wrote in message ... I usually give Mico one half of a tuna sized can of food a day. Lately he's been eating it all, and then wanting more. Mico is almost one and a half years old, and is Siamese. I don't want him to become obese. Due to hunger he's taken to ugly habits like licking the floor when there's no more food left. Ugh. Should I feed him more? What is 'normal' for a cat like him? When mine were on tinned food they used to get a tin each a day & were still hungry. I've been feeding scienceplan dried food for the last 10 or so years and just leave a bowl out for them to help themselves. Initially they binged because I assume they were used to eating food while it was there when I fed them twice a day but quickly they realised that there would always be food when they were peckish and just nibbled all through the day. Unlike dogs, cats are able to excercise self control and not eat everything within their line of sight and therefore shoud not really get obese. Of course there are rare exceptions but it also depends on what they are fed, high fat human food might taste nice and be cute to feed them but is basically bad for them. If you feed a good quality dried food and leave it available all the time your cat shoud not need to binge and will eat to suit. One exception to this may be a former feral. My Sebbie, who was rescued at 3-4 months of age, still doesn't fully understand that another meal will be forthcoming and that each time I put food down isn't his last shot at eating. He had grown into a really "solid" build, to put it nicely. Priscilla -- "It is very, very dangerous to treat any human, lowest of the low even, with contempt and arrogant whatever. The Lord takes this kind of treatment very, very personal." - QBaal in newsgroup alt.religion.christian.episcopal |
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On 2004-11-22, Ruby Tuesday penned:
"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message ... I didn't know this. As with human care, it seems that good advice for one goal conflicts with good advice for another goal. Isn't constant wet food bad for their teeth? I don't know about that, but I *do* know that dry food is bad for them period, according to this article: http://www.catsincanada.com/articles/feeding.html - Ruby Tuesday Interesting. It makes some intuitive sense, but I'm reluctant to believe anything I see based on only one opinion (not that sheer volume of opinion guarantees accuracy, either!). I'm trying to find more such opinions online, without much luck. Can't seem to find the right search criteria. Oscar is also getting some shots in a week; I can ask our vet what she thinks then. (Not that vets and doctors can't be wrong! We talked to a doctor while Eric was in the hospital who had "never heard of" cat saliva being involved in cat allergies, and gave us that condescending "I'll humor your silly layman's ideas" look that I really, really hate.) -- monique |
#9
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"Hodge" wrote in message ink.net... In article , kaeli wrote: Many cats cannot be free-fed and will overeat, especially cats that are indoors all day. They eat out of boredom, just like many people. Pudge was free-fed and always watched her own weight. Hodge eats like he will never be fed again. Perhaps something happened to him to make him like that. -- Gnarly, former pregnant stray, free-fed for 20 years and stayed slim. Buddha, raised inside since kittenhood and spoiled rotten, is obese and cannot be free fed because she will eat the food until it is gone. Cheeky, former pregnant feral, is rail-thin and free-feeds. She eats very little canned food (I put 3 oz down in two feedings per day but she eats maybe half of that) but wolfs her dry food. I can't keep her up to 7.5 lbs most months. Go figure. |
#10
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we feed Shaina one small can of wet food and have a bowl of dry for
her to eat during the day. she also has water and i notice that she drinks enough. we used to give her 2-3 small cans/day and she didn't eat that much dry food, but we decided that it was too much food for her. she is 8 months old. is one small can enough in addition to free feeding dry food? she also helps herself to our food. i was eating a smoked salmon sandwich and she came over and started nibble on the bread that was left. i was still holding it. is it ok for them to have bread? today she came over to "share" a honey glazed donut. i gave her a little. i was wondering if carbs with sugar are ok for her, in very small quantities. -L |
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