Free Feeding

lakpdx

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Hi, all,

I'm brand spankin new to this forum. I'm trying to get my cats off of free feeding dry food. They get wet in the morning and evening, but I have dry out during the day for their munching pleasure. I'm noticing both by cats are starting to resemble baby harp seals, so I think it's time to cut the dry. :) They are protesting to say the least. My feral is super vocal is letting me know her displeasure. Anyone been thru this process? Ideas, thoughts? Tips? Suggestions?

Thanks!
 

RajaNMizu

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:hithere: Been there, done that. Mizu (the tabby in my avatar) began to only eat her dry food and ignored her wet food when she was about six months old. Both my girls were eating an am/pm portion of wet food and being free fed dry as kittens. The first thing I did was take an account of just "how much" she was being given and how much she was eating. In her case, it was half a cup. The next thing I did was to start serving meals rather than having it available at all times. I put the dry food meals as far apart from the wet food meals as I possibly could, time-wise, to create an appetite. Once she began to eat some of her wet meals again, I found a topper that she LOVED (bonito flakes!) to encourage her to eat more. The final thing I did was to reduce the amount of dry food left out during the day as well as changing her dry food to a low carb/high protein kibble (Tiki chicken/fish luau). She went from half a cup, to a third of a cup over the course of six months. After her first birthday, I split that third into two "snacks". She is now a year and six months and I'm getting ready to wean her down to one snack, so it's been gradual but very successful. I have also increased the amount of wet food slightly to account for her calorie differences while losing the dry food.

The important suggestions in my opinion are obviously do not try to starve her out. Cats cannot go more than 24 hours without food or they are prone to fatty liver disease. Keeping that in mind, creating a little hunger helps when trying new things! Finding an topper that Mizu loved was a key ingredient in getting her to enjoy wet food.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi! Welcome!!

You've received excellent advice from RajaNMizu RajaNMizu and the main thing, don't go too fast.

Try keeping a log of their weight, once a week or so as you go through this. Also, see if you can increase their activity levels, even if it's just taking them for walks in a harness/leash (one at a time :) )

7 Proven Ways To Get Your Cat To Be More Active

Harness And Leash Training For Cats

Transitioning Your Cat From Kibble To A New Type Of Food (canned, Raw, Or Homemade)

Transitioning Free-fed Kibble Kitties To Timed Meals
 

FeebysOwner

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Hi. Feeby started out as a free dry grazer. Now that she gets wet for dinner, she is less inclined to eat as much dry throughout the day. However, she still expects it to be there for her, so I am trying to put out less and less. It would seem to her that when she sits at the dry food bowl with a few kernels in it looking at me expecting that should be MORE in there, as long as I put another 2-3 kernels in there, it makes her happy.
 
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lakpdx

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:hithere: Been there, done that. Mizu (the tabby in my avatar) began to only eat her dry food and ignored her wet food when she was about six months old. Both my girls were eating an am/pm portion of wet food and being free fed dry as kittens. The first thing I did was take an account of just "how much" she was being given and how much she was eating. In her case, it was half a cup. The next thing I did was to start serving meals rather than having it available at all times. I put the dry food meals as far apart from the wet food meals as I possibly could, time-wise, to create an appetite. Once she began to eat some of her wet meals again, I found a topper that she LOVED (bonito flakes!) to encourage her to eat more. The final thing I did was to reduce the amount of dry food left out during the day as well as changing her dry food to a low carb/high protein kibble (Tiki chicken/fish luau). She went from half a cup, to a third of a cup over the course of six months. After her first birthday, I split that third into two "snacks". She is now a year and six months and I'm getting ready to wean her down to one snack, so it's been gradual but very successful. I have also increased the amount of wet food slightly to account for her calorie differences while losing the dry food.

The important suggestions in my opinion are obviously do not try to starve her out. Cats cannot go more than 24 hours without food or they are prone to fatty liver disease. Keeping that in mind, creating a little hunger helps when trying new things! Finding an topper that Mizu loved was a key ingredient in getting her to enjoy wet food.
Such wonderful advice. Thank you for such a thorough answer. :) I'll keep you posted!
 

kittyluv387

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I went cold turkey for all my cats lol. My first cat is food obsessed so he didn’t mind too much. The other 2 I adopted as adults. I’m not sure they just didn’t protest too much at all. I didn’t really have any dry in the house at that point so maybe they sensed that.
 

Maria Bayote

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My cats are also being fed wet in the morning and at night, and during the day I leave out dry for them while I am at work. So far their weight are just fine.

Leave out small portions only of the dry just so they would not get too hungry in the day.
 
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lakpdx

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Update:
So, I haven't done it yet. I know! I know...I just need to do it. But I have one VERY vocal cat who won't shush. Constant meowing....I get up and walk towards her, and she leads me to the food bowl where she promptly gives me love squints and makes it very obvious that food would make her the happiest and quietest kitty around. I work at home, and let me tell ya....more than once I've been on conference calls and have had both of my kitties trying to participate in the call. I did, however, change food to a weight control formula. So, hopefully that will help get things going in the right direction. Thanks again everyone for the solid advice. I promise I will use it soon.... :)
 

maggiedemi

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I measure out the dry food along with their wet food and feed twice a day, 7am and 7pm. You can put it on separate plates or side by side on the same plate.
 
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