Cat feeding question...

[kherrmann3]

Hello, again!

I just need some advice from those of you who have had cats... and subsequently had to feed them.

I will post all of my questions at the bottom of this topic.

I just got through weighing our semi-new kitty, Bella. She has been here for a week and a half, and weighs roughly 12lbs, 8oz. This seems heavy to me, and she looks heavy, too. She does look like she has lost weight since she came to live with us, though.

We are feeding her dry and wet food daily. She gets fed "Natural Balance - Original Ultra" (NB) dry food and she used to get the canned form of that stuff, too. We ran out of the NB wet food, so while we were out last night, we picked up some canned Iams. I know that Iams isn't the best food, but since we were at Target and there weren't any other stores close, we picked that up. Heck, it's probably better than Fancy Feast or "Special Kitty"... Whatever the heck that is.

The NB dry food label says, "For kittens through adults". I know that kittens and adult cats probably should have different needs, so this kind of bothers me.

Here is what we feed her:
- 1/8 cup dry food in the early AM.
- 1/8 cup dry food in the evening.
- 1/4 can wet food along with the AM feeding. (Note: the can is only 3 oz, so she gets 3/4 oz. per day.)

Questions:

The NB dry food package recommends that you feed 3/4-1 cup per day. Am I underfeeding her? I mean, I can tell that 1/4 cup/day is significantly less than 3/4-1 cup/day, but is that not enough?

What kind of food should I feed to a two-year-old cat? Is a "kitten through adult" food any good? Her former owner's veterinarian recommended this food (that I can only find at Petco).

"Help! They don't know how much to feed MEEE!"

*meow*

 

[Leaf]

I free feed my cats. Now with the dogs I'm a stickler, but the cats do well on their own.

 

[kherrmann3]

I opt to not free-feed her, because that is how she got heavy in the first place. Her old owners had two senior cats, and they had to free-feed them in order to get them to bulk up. Miss Bella chowed on all of their food and got a bit of a tummy on her. She does not even crunch her dry food. She just inhales it.

In fact, her old owners joked that they should have named her "Belly" instead of "Bella". :shock:

 

[Leaf]

I know my SIL scedules feedings/ammounts for their two cats. I shot her an email. When/if she responds I'll at least be able to tell what and how much she feeds them.

 

[naturestee]

If the owners were free-feeding her, start with feeding her by the directions on the package. You don't want to decrease her food too drastically at once- weight loss needs to be gradual. Feeding some canned food like you do will probably help with weight loss anyway since it doesn't usually have as much carbs as the dry stuff. Ideally you should feed for the weight she's supposed to be, although it's hard to know that without a vet visit. When I started limiting my cat's food, my vet took the calorie information of my food and calculated how much to feed them.

I have two cats, one about 10 lbs and the other around 12.5 or so. They get 1/2 cup of dry food daily. The vet would like me to cut back a little more but IMO they're not fat. Especially not Eve. And Lily's been dropping weight since her allergies cropped up anyway.

Natural Balance is a great quality food and is fine for adults. Some of the high quality ones like that or Innova, California Natural, etc. don't have separate kitten and adult foods. Usually they're tailored a bit more towards adults though.

I had to stop free feeding my cats when they were about 6 months old because Lily was blowing up like a balloon! Some cats just can't be free-fed.

 

[kherrmann3]

We started off feeding her 1/2 a cup, but she didn't eat it. It soaked up the wet food and smelled icky so we would throw it away. She wasn't eating right away because of her self-induced hunger strike (stress from moving, new environment, etc.) When she started eating again, we did the 1/8 cup thing because of how little she ate. I hope that makes sense? Should I start feeding her more based on that?

ETA: Thanks for the replies, everyone!

 

[naturestee]

I would start feeding her more if she'll eat it.

 

[kherrmann3]

OK, I will add another 1/4 cup to her bowl for this afternoon.

 

[Mrs. PBJ]

My 12 pound slim foster got.

Male man coon mix.

1/3 cup of wellness start feeding that its the best of the best cat food, Purple bag is weight control formulia you can get it at petco.

And half a can of there wet food also. The vet always said he was a great weightI had him for over 2 years. From six months to a little over 2 years and healways ate that that.

That should be ideal for her to be honest I would feed 1/4 cup of food and half a can of wet.

If she was free fed and is over weight you making her diet right and her playing she should be dropping weight. Trust me you dont want to deal with a over weight cat in old age. Kidney, liver, bladder problems.

All food companys over shoot the amount to be fed because they wont want to be blamed for under feeding as in a skiny dog and the owner sayd that what the bags says.

Some ferel cats and outdoor cats go days with out eating and they hunt for there own food.And sense she is fixed if she is fixed make sure what ever you feed has cranberry in the ingredients. Wellness does.

Hopethis helps

 

[YukonDaisy]

I free-feed a measured amount. So my cats eat whenever they want, but I control how much they get during the day. I think you should do that too, put out what the bag says, minus the can food. The see how it goes from there. I started putting out the recommended amount, if they didn't eat that within 24hrs, I lessened it until I got to the amount they actually ate. I feed Acana Pacifica grain-free, it says my cat's should get 2/3 - 3/4 cup each, but they only get one cup between them.Missy is a good weight, but I think Kagome is overweight, eventhough the vet said she was fine. She is a steady weight, either way!
Oh, and this food is for all lifestages, too.

:biggrin2:

~Diana

 

[undergunfire]

I feed 1/4 cup in the morning and then again at night. My kitties are both around 10lbs. I don't actively feed wet food right now, I am trying to decide what type I would like to get.

If I free-fed, Tibi would be 40lbs. He eats all of his 1/4th cup and begs for more. My kitties aren't skinny, but they aren't fat either.

A lot of high quality foods are for all life stages because there really is no need to have separate life stages.


Oh, I wonder if there is somewhere on line where you can look up your cat's needed calorie intake and go from there with the food?

 

[kherrmann3]

undergunfire wrote:

My kitties aren't skinny, but they aren't fat either.

You have the "pleasantly plump" kitties? That's about where Bella is, too. She's not morbidly obese or anything, just has a little extra "fluff" on her.

I started feeding the 1/4 cup in the AM and at night. I don't even have to refill it at night... She hasn't been eating the whole amount. Then, in the mornings, she acts like I'm starving her (even at 1 cup a day). She is now rolling around on my lap (I just got changed into my work scrubs.) :grumpy: