Cat's Not Transitioning To Scheduled Feeding Well, At What Point Should I Be Worried?

saleri

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So they pretty much eat all raw grinded food at this point. They've being pretty much free feeding for the last 4-5 months. Their both fairly young at 10 months and 8 months. However it seems even when they were free fed that they ate 80% of their food at night when I was sleeping.

I'm trying to feed them around 7:00 AM, 12:10 pm, and 9:00 pm. I don't have that much time in the morning and lunch, so I don't really put out the food for longer then 20 minutes. Although at night I try to put it out for at least 30 minutes.

I also don't want to waste too much food, so even though they have their own bowls I mostly just put it in the bedroom, place one cat in, and then let them be, and then take that cat out and put the other one in.

But it seems frequently that they just barely touch it. I've tried toppings, heating in microwave for a few seconds, hot water, none of it really helps except me putting it on my finger and giving it to them to eat.

It's being a little over 36 hours now and neither of them have really eaten much at all, don't want them to get fatty liver disease or go that much longer without food. Any thoughts?

They sometimes seem interested when they see me get the bowls but then walk away when I put the food down, but they sometimes don't show even that much interest.

Thoughts?
 

neely

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saleri

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Fortunately I have not had this problem with our present cat, HE tells us when it's time to eat. In fact, he has a built in clock when it comes to meals. :wink:

I thought these 2 Articles may offer some helpful advice for you:
How Long Can You Safely Keep Cat Food Out For?
18 Awesome Cat Feeding Tips By Thecatsite Staff Members

I hope other members with similar problems will be able to weigh in with their advice. Good luck!
Yeah I do want to add some variety into their diet, going shopping this weekend. But I feel like it's pointless to add more complexity until they get the basics down first.

11. Feed nervous cats higher up is interesting, but I would imagine only one cat would have the problem and not two.
 

duckpond

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what were they free feeding on? You are feeding raw now, but did you start a new food along with the meal feeding?

My first thought is they dont like the food. Second thought is switching from free feeding to meals can be hard and stressful. I would maybe try to use the food they were eating well, get them use to a meal schedule, and then introduce new foods?

I would not want to let my cats go for more than 24 hours without eating a good amount. at 36 hours i would worry, and i definitely would not want to let them go longer than 48 hours. If it had been that long i would break out some of the old food and feed them.
 
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saleri

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what were they free feeding on? You are feeding raw now, but did you start a new food along with the meal feeding?

My first thought is they dont like the food. Second thought is switching from free feeding to meals can be hard and stressful. I would maybe try to use the food they were eating well, get them use to a meal schedule, and then introduce new foods?

I would not want to let my cats go for more than 24 hours without eating a good amount. at 36 hours i would worry, and i definitely would not want to let them go longer than 48 hours. If it had been that long i would break out some of the old food and feed them.
They were on raw while free feeding for the last 2 months.

I don't know why both wouldn't like the food, fostered 5 kittens in the last few months, and they all took to the food fairly quick, but the kittens were on a set feeding schedule.
 

duckpond

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well, if they were eating it well while free feeding i dont know why they would go off of it on meals then? If they had more of a schedule eating at night can you maybe feed heavier right before bed? Cats are all so different on what they like, and when they will eat. It can be very difficult to change their habits. Best of luck to you getting them to eat well, soon. I worry when cats will not eat.
 
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