Best Way to Feed a Cat?

by CinnamonPearl Tue 26 Jul 2016, 10:05 am

Hey, cat people, I need your help! I'm wondering what the best way to feed a cat is. The problem right now is that everyone in my family is disagreeing over how we should feed Felix. I was holding at first that we should just give him breakfast and dinner of wet food, twice daily. But my mom is holding that we should do that but also let him free feed with dry food throughout the day, and my sister is agreeing with her. I wouldn't want to do it, but the thing is, Felix gets really hungry during the day. So my mom gets worried and thinks he should have some sort of lunch, even though his vet told us to stick to breakfast and dinner. But I'm worried that if he's allowed to free feed, he'll get overweight easily. I mean, he's already learned how to beg. I'm not sure of his weight right now, but when we got him, he was two months old and two pounds. A month later, he was four pounds even though I'd heard kittens grow a pound a month. So with cats, how do you balance between them not getting too hungry throughout the day and them not getting overweight? Should I only leave dry food out for a small window? I know I've heard bad things about dry food, but my mom read online that dry food is good for cleaning their teeth and exercising their jaws, which I can't disagree with. Anyone?

Edit: Forgot to mention, the brand of dry food we got for him is Wellness Core. We were feeding Blue Wilderness, but I didn't like the ingredients. Core is the only brand I could find with two different meats as the first two ingredients as opposed to meal.

by CallaLily Tue 26 Jul 2016, 10:23 am

How old is he? A younger kitten will need to eat more often, so spreading his food out to three meals may be better until he's older. Not saying feed him more - but instead maybe spread it out into 3 smaller meals instead of 2 bigger ones.

I feed my adult cats twice a day, but I do try to keep food available to the kittens more often.

by CinnamonPearl Tue 26 Jul 2016, 10:53 am

He's three months old.

by CAPSLOCK Tue 26 Jul 2016, 10:04 pm

For a kitten, I'd agree that another meal in the middle of the day is ideal. How much of a can are you feeding each time? Also, he may feel less hungry with 3 small meals equaling the two larger ones you're doing now.

Did the vet happen to say why s/he recommended 2x a day?

A good option is to give him lunch, but make him work for it. Wellness is a good brand. You could do a lunch of dry Wellness, but instead of giving it to him in a bowl, put it in a ball with a hole so he has to roll it around and work for it. A well-dried plastic water bottle (poland spring type bottle) also works great for this. Or putting it in / under something such that he has to "fish" for it with his paws. Or having him "hunt" for it hidden around. Cats are not typically inclined to overeat if they actually have to put forth effort to get the food.

by CinnamonPearl Tue 26 Jul 2016, 10:19 pm

The vet didn't mention why, no, but I can ask next time. The foraging toy idea is great! I think he'd love it. I'll give it a try.

by Barbiefly Wed 27 Jul 2016, 12:49 am

Capslock"s idea about the foraging toy is great. As a kitten he will need a third meal and working for it is perfect. Lunch as dry food is great because the dry food will help keep his teeth clean.

by Artistwolf Wed 27 Jul 2016, 11:36 am

I also like the idea of a foraging toy! I agree that a kitten should probably be fed three meals a day. An adult cat only needs two a day.

Edit: random addition—I don't really see any issue with 'meals'. I mean, basically it's just all the leftovers that people don't want—which is often some really nutritionally good stuff. I mean, humans don't want to eat things like heart or intestines, but if you look at the wolf—the alpha goes for those parts first, because they're most nutritious. And, I'm in Scotland now so, humans eat haggis. Haggis is all the leftovers of a sheep! So what's the difference? Feel free to argue with me XD

by CallaLily Wed 27 Jul 2016, 3:00 pm

I agree, a named meal isn't so bad. Such as chicken meal or beef meal. I have read that unnamed meals should be avoided ("meat" meal) .... I think because they are usually from lower quality sources?

by CinnamonPearl Wed 27 Jul 2016, 4:16 pm

Tried the foraging toy- he loved it! He had a ball with it, he started knocking it around just for the fun of it and would eat everything up later. He figured it out pretty much immediately. And the best part is, he didn't overeat. Now he's all ready for dinner.

I guess I'll talk to my mom about giving him a proper wet food lunch again. I do wonder why the vet said to stop after he turned three months; it seems like every other source disagrees. But is a lunch of dry food okay, or should he also have some wet food in the middle of the day?

by CAPSLOCK Wed 27 Jul 2016, 7:57 pm

Lunch of just dry is fine. Glad he enjoyed figuring out the toy!

by Artistwolf Thu 28 Jul 2016, 10:33 am

I'm the biggest anti-dry food person (lol) but I reckon a lunch of it wouldn't be a problem Smile

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