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How Much to Feed Cat?



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 22nd 04, 09:53 PM
Ruby Tuesday
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Default 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  
Old November 22nd 04, 10:05 PM
I.P.Freely
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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  
Old November 22nd 04, 10:19 PM
Monique Y. Mudama
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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
  #4  
Old November 22nd 04, 10:43 PM
kaeli
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In article ,
enlightened us with...

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.



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. America's
pets have an obesity problem much like their humans these days - cats
included. Indoor-only cats have a much higher obesity problem when free-fed
than indoor/outdoor, at least from what I've seen and read. I have yet to
have a free-fed indoor-only cat that *wasn't* at least chubby. The barn cats,
however, are free-fed and quite trim.

Many dogs can be free-fed and NOT be obese. I've had some that could be and
some that had to be portioned. Some breeds are notorious for having to be
portioned, such as labs and beagels. My GSD was free-fed, yet slightly
underweight, her whole life. Dogs with a high food drive cannot be free-fed.

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.


They don't just eat when they're hungry. Neither do most humans.
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.)

--
--
~kaeli~
Never mess up an apology with an excuse.
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart
http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace

  #5  
Old November 22nd 04, 11:03 PM
Monique Y. Mudama
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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
  #6  
Old November 22nd 04, 11:15 PM
Ruby Tuesday
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Posts: n/a
Default


"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  
Old November 23rd 04, 12:00 AM
Priscilla Ballou
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Default

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
  #8  
Old November 23rd 04, 12:10 AM
Monique Y. Mudama
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Posts: n/a
Default

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  
Old November 23rd 04, 01:21 AM
Mary
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Posts: n/a
Default


"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  
Old November 23rd 04, 01:58 AM
Laila
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Default

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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