Does it truly make a difference how often you put the food down?

[Nature9000]

If I can clarify, for Prince and Nikita I've always put food down around the time I've woken up and around the time I get ready for bed. That had changed a little bit too when I wake up and when I get home from work. Although my grandfather made a comment about Nikita seeming a little bit skinny which I'm noticing that maybe she does seem a little bit thin though she's the runt of the litter and Incredibly tiny as it is. Nikita has often eaten way less than Prince, eating a tiny bit of her food here and then going away to come back later to eat more wearas Prince sits there and eats his entire field before he's done. I'm not sure if this is due to Nikita being a dainty eater or if the foster care lady had food available 24/7

Leading into my question in regards to whether or not it makes a difference to put food out for 30 minutes two or three times a day purses leaving the food out for them. With my job my noral more hours I'm out for 8 hours in a day but this summer my hours are Monday through Thursday 10 hours a day. So I wonder if I should just leave the food out for them because they could potentially go 12 hours without eating, and even then Nikita may not be getting her fill even normally leaving food out for 30 minutes

 

[cataholic07]

For 8 hours it should be easy enough to feed 3 times a day, morning, after work and before bed. 10 hours can be a little harder so you could still feed twice a day but leave a little dry food out for them to nimble.

 

[Nature9000]

For 8 hours it should be easy enough to feed 3 times a day, morning, after work and before bed. 10 hours can be a little harder so you could still feed twice a day but leave a little dry food out for them to nimble.

Yes it's definitely easier to do with the normal 8 hour work day.

 

[daftcat75]

You can always use timed feeders to give them extra meals when you can't be around to plate them. I personally love these.

Pet Supplies : WOPET Automatic Cat Feeder, Pet Feeder for Dogs and Cats with Ice Pack Included - 2 Meals : Amazon.com

They're cheap, they are not easily defeated like some others, and they won't rotate food away before your cat has finished. And while you can buy them two at a time, you don't have to deploy them together. I would start with two and put them out overnight to see if your cats figure them out and how they like them. If they take to them as quickly as mine did, you can get several and put them to open at different times. Prince can't eat all the food and Nikita will figure out there's enough for her.

To answer your question, in the wild, cats will eat up to 10 times a day. As they get older, you may find that they're not able to eat as much in one sitting as they used to. This makes it harder for them to go as long between meals. My Krista, sixteen years old with IBD/GI lymphoma, eats every three hours. If you ask her, she's ready at two hours. She doesn't have the stomach/gut for a large enough serving to stretch her out longer than three or four hours. The pandemic and the work-from-home order makes it easy for me to keep her schedule, though. I sleep in sprints between her meals. But I'll likely be shifting her back to the timed feeders again. At least on the overnight.

 

[Nature9000]

You can always use timed feeders to give them extra meals when you can't be around to plate them. I personally love these.

Pet Supplies : WOPET Automatic Cat Feeder, Pet Feeder for Dogs and Cats with Ice Pack Included - 2 Meals : Amazon.com

They're cheap, they are not easily defeated like some others, and they won't rotate food away before your cat has finished. And while you can buy them two at a time, you don't have to deploy them together. I would start with two and put them out overnight to see if your cats figure them out and how they like them. If they take to them as quickly as mine did, you can get several and put them to open at different times. Prince can't eat all the food and Nikita will figure out there's enough for her.

To answer your question, in the wild, cats will eat up to 10 times a day. As they get older, you may find that they're not able to eat as much in one sitting as they used to. This makes it harder for them to go as long between meals. My Krista, sixteen years old with IBD/GI lymphoma, eats every three hours. If you ask her, she's ready at two hours. She doesn't have the stomach/gut for a large enough serving to stretch her out longer than three or four hours. The pandemic and the work-from-home order makes it easy for me to keep her schedule, though. I sleep in sprints between her meals. But I'll likely be shifting her back to the timed feeders again. At least on the overnight.

Well it's funny that you mention that because I did and do you have an automatic feeder that I got from Petco which wasn't cheap at all. It works rather well but I stopped using it and went back to the Bowls because I like the more personable and feel of giving them the food. That and Prince learned how to stick his paw in the dispenser and force food to come out at will. Although it also takes the C4 batteries which are also not necessarily cheap as far as batteries go

 

[daftcat75]

Well it's funny that you mention that because I did and do you have an automatic feeder that I got from Petco which wasn't cheap at all. It works rather well but I stopped using it and went back to the Bowls because I like the more personable and feel of giving them the food. That and Prince learned how to stick his paw in the dispenser and force food to come out at will. Although it also takes the C4 batteries which are also not necessarily cheap as far as batteries go

These are cheap. They take a single AA or AAA battery (I don't remember which.) The battery lasts forever. I doubt Prince will defeat this. The only downside to these is that the egg timer ticks. If you deploy them in your bedroom and you like to sleep in silence, you will hear the ticking. I sleep with the TV on so the ticking never bothers me. Tells me the battery is still working.

I'm recommending that you use these during the day (and possibly overnight) to feed when you can't personally feed them. Of Krista's six or seven meals a day, only one or two of these are ever out of a feeder. I like our feeding conversations and seeing the spring in her step as she follows me from kitchen to her eating spot.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
You have a grazer who possibly needs to eat more, and a cat who probably doesn't need more food available throughout the day.

To my mind your baby Nikita is where you should focus your thoughts, regarding how to provide her with food throughout the day if she needs it depending on her body condition. There are auto feeders that can be set to open to a specific cat's microchip which could be the answer once she catches on to it.

The Cat Health Check Guide.

Fit or Fat: Your Pet's Body Condition Score (BCS)

 

[maggie101]

Well it's funny that you mention that because I did and do you have an automatic feeder that I got from Petco which wasn't cheap at all. It works rather well but I stopped using it and went back to the Bowls because I like the more personable and feel of giving them the food. That and Prince learned how to stick his paw in the dispenser and force food to come out at will. Although it also takes the C4 batteries which are also not necessarily cheap as far as batteries go

I bought the time feeder that @;; daftcat75
suggested and I love it!