Food behavior

A coupke questions inspired by my cat's eating (mis)behavior:

(1) I have been feeding my cat one 5.5 oz can daily split between two
meals. I open a can, give her 1/2, refrigerate the rest, use it later.
But lately she has started resisting left-over food. I know she likes
that kind of food, she just resists eating the left over portion and
waits in front of the cupboard where she knows new cans to be stored.
Cute but frustrating. (Nothing has changed about the way I warm the
food either.)

(2) Even about new food, she has become more picky. A particular kind
of Meow Mix pouch that she used to eat happily, she refused today
(freshly opened, not left over or anything) and just waited for a
Friskies can.

I relaize I may have spoiled her by unthinkingly opening a new can a
few times in the past when she didn't eat what I put out, but how to
get back on track?

(3) On a different note, forgetting human convenience, how many times
per day would it be ideal for a cat to eat?

As I said above, I have been feeding twice, but somebody or other is
always at home these days and dividing the food into more feedings
would not be a problem.

Newbie wrote:
A coupke questions inspired by my cat's eating (mis)behavior:

(1) I have been feeding my cat one 5.5 oz can daily split between two
meals. I open a can, give her 1/2, refrigerate the rest, use it later.
But lately she has started resisting left-over food. I know she likes
that kind of food, she just resists eating the left over portion and
waits in front of the cupboard where she knows new cans to be stored.
Cute but frustrating. (Nothing has changed about the way I warm the
food either.)

(2) Even about new food, she has become more picky. A particular kind
of Meow Mix pouch that she used to eat happily, she refused today
(freshly opened, not left over or anything) and just waited for a
Friskies can.

I relaize I may have spoiled her by unthinkingly opening a new can a
few times in the past when she didn't eat what I put out, but how to
get back on track?

(3) On a different note, forgetting human convenience, how many times
per day would it be ideal for a cat to eat?

As I said above, I have been feeding twice, but somebody or other is
always at home these days and dividing the food into more feedings
would not be a problem.

Refrigerated food is cold, has a different texture and very little
smell. Since you're feeding it to her on the same day why not put the
rest of the can on the counter with a saucer or plastic lid (available
in alot of places) on top.

pat

rpl wrote:

: Refrigerated food is cold, has a different texture and very little
: smell. Since you're feeding it to her on the same day why not put the
: rest of the can on the counter with a saucer or plastic lid (available
: in alot of places) on top.

I have always warmed refrigerated food, usually by leaving it out for
1-2 hours and then, if it still felt cool to touch, either adding a
spponful of hot water or mcirwaving for 3-4 seconds. Point is, she did
use to eat it happily, but started acting picky lately.

As I noted, he refused to eat even a freshly opened pouch (the kind she
used to eat) because she wanted me to open a new Friskies can instead.

But your comment brings up an interesting idea:

Is it ok to not refrigerate an opened can if I am going to use it again
within 12 hours? We have had temperatures in 75-85 range. (If I could
store it unrefrigerated, I could just keep it in the same cupboard
where new cans are, which would be a pretty neat way to 'trick' her!)

The other idea that I hadn't considered until now is that maybe she
remembers eating the same food, and I should try to feed it to her the
next day. I was thinking that once a can is open, better to use it up
as soon as possible.

Newbie wrote:

Is it ok to not refrigerate an opened can if I am going to use it again
within 12 hours? We have had temperatures in 75-85 range. (If I could
store it unrefrigerated, I could just keep it in the same cupboard
where new cans are, which would be a pretty neat way to 'trick' her!)

I'm not a food-medicine, but I imagine if it was sealed, a half day or
so would be okay. Has with mine.


pat

rpl wrote:
Newbie wrote:

Is it ok to not refrigerate an opened can if I am going to use it again
within 12 hours? We have had temperatures in 75-85 range. (If I could
store it unrefrigerated, I could just keep it in the same cupboard
where new cans are, which would be a pretty neat way to 'trick' her!)


I'm not a food-medicine, but I imagine if it was sealed, a half day or
^specialist

so would be okay. Has with mine.


pat

"Newbie" schrieb im Newsbeitrag
...
:
: A coupke questions inspired by my cat's eating (mis)behavior:
:
: (1) I have been feeding my cat one 5.5 oz can daily split between two
: meals. I open a can, give her 1/2, refrigerate the rest, use it later.
: But lately she has started resisting left-over food. I know she likes
: that kind of food, she just resists eating the left over portion and
: waits in front of the cupboard where she knows new cans to be stored.
: Cute but frustrating. (Nothing has changed about the way I warm the
: food either.)
:
: (2) Even about new food, she has become more picky. A particular kind
: of Meow Mix pouch that she used to eat happily, she refused today
: (freshly opened, not left over or anything) and just waited for a
: Friskies can.
:
: I relaize I may have spoiled her by unthinkingly opening a new can a
: few times in the past when she didn't eat what I put out, but how to
: get back on track?
:
: (3) On a different note, forgetting human convenience, how many times
: per day would it be ideal for a cat to eat?
:
: As I said above, I have been feeding twice, but somebody or other is
: always at home these days and dividing the food into more feedings
: would not be a problem.


(1) You don't need to refrigerate the food if you use it within a day.
My cats hate refrigerated and warmed up food. Just get a special plastic lid
for the can. Those are great!

(2) Leave that away for a while, she'll come back to that.

(3) Twice, and don't refill before the rest is eaten unless it's 24 hours
old.


carola

I relaize I may have spoiled her by unthinkingly opening a new can a
few times in the past when she didn't eat what I put out, but how to
get back on track?


The "you eat it or you starve" method. You feed her what you want her to
eat, leave it down for 20 minutes to half an hour, then pick it up and don't
give in till morning. Cats are picky eaters because we make them that way.
There really isnt a need for a varied diet. Buy only one kind that you
think is best, and stick to that. In fact, too varied a diet can lead to
gastro-intestinal distress (aka diarrhea)

When my furfamily went from free feeding to schedule feedings, it took a
while for them to get the picture. As long as she eats something she'll be
fine. If she eats nothing for more than two days, she wins and try
something a different food or you could run into other medical issues.

Memphis and Phoenix here.
Listen carefully, we will say this only once! It seems that you are as yet
not quite trained in the ways of us superior beings! It is our right (duty
in fact) to make ourselves your number one priority, and that includes
getting you to worry over our eating habits. Of course we will refuse to eat
our favourite foods, turning up our cute noses at everything you thought we
liked!
How else do we train you to give us the tastiest titbits from your (our)
larder?
Naturaly you should feed us any time we enter the kitchen and meow at you.
We can then eat a couple of mouthfuls of each new delicacy. We also reserve
the right to follow you around our house complaining that we are starving,
when there are at least three types of food out for us. You see, we are
cats, it is our job to think up ways of keeping you on your toes. Can't have
any slacking around here unless it is us doing it. We don't spend 18 hours a
day just sleeping you know, we are busy dreaming of new ways to get you to
do our bidding. We had better stop talking now, we have already given away
too much information, and it is time to go back to sleep.
Memphis and Phoenix

--
Sandra

(I was hoping somebody would answer this but nobody
has so far. I am wondering about the same thing)

Newbie wrote:

: (3) On a different note, forgetting human convenience, how many
: times per day would it be ideal for a cat to eat? I have been feeding
: twice, but somebody or other is always at home these days and
: dividing the food into more feedings would not be a problem.

I feed my adult cat small meals frequently. This averages about 4 times per
day.
Gail
"Kiran" wrote in message
...
(I was hoping somebody would answer this but nobody
has so far. I am wondering about the same thing)

Newbie wrote:

: (3) On a different note, forgetting human convenience, how many
: times per day would it be ideal for a cat to eat? I have been feeding
: twice, but somebody or other is always at home these days and
: dividing the food into more feedings would not be a problem.