Feeding Schedule !

[Marbedoll]

Hello again!!

I find this site so helpful and quick thank you to whoever takes the time oro respond to this!


I free feed my kitten because that’s what they were doing at the spca .. it’s been a month since I’ve had him... and i have no problem with free feeding him. He’s a 5 month old kitten. he eats about 1 cup a day. Sometimes 1 1/2 ! I read online that having him on a time schedule is better for his general health. And feeding him 2-3 times a day is better . So i guess my question is ..

Do you guys/gals have any recommendations as to how I should start to feed him and when he should be fed? And does it really matter ?

 

[KarenKat]

Hello! I feed meat-based canned food (best for hydration and most species appropriate). I've heard also that timed feeding can be healthier for adult cats. Since kittens need to eat as much as possible, feeding him dry food all the time and adding in wet timed meals might be the best until he is done growing.

For Olive, who puts on lbs from dry food quickly, I only give her wet food (and dry as a snack once in a while). She is fed 3 times per day, once when I wake up (around 7 am), once when I get home (630 pm) and once right before bed (~1130 pm). I look for food with no fillers or plant protein (no corn, wheat gluten, soy, potato or peas) and the first 5 ingredients that are meat. I also try and avoid carrageenan and limit agar-agar. The brands I feed most often are Rawz, Hound and Gatos, Tiki Cat After Dark, Life's Abundance, Dr Elsey's canned and Go! Petcurrean Fit and Free. There are a ton of other good brands out there, though, in a variety of prices.

Our two boys have been on kibble their whole lives, and while we are trying to get some wet food in their diet, it's a slow transition. They are free-fed dry Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit LID kibble. This is because Trin has IBD and we want to make sure he is eating enough food.

 

[Kieka]

For a five month old it is fine to keep free feeding. Growing kittens have huge appitites. You should probably start instituting wet feeding three times a day to get him used to that idea. Once he stops gaining noticable length and height start reducing the amount of dry left down ecah day. If you slowly reduce the amount of kibble left out he will get used to the idea of I get this much a day and it will refill the next day.... Hopefully. You can get rid of the kibble altogether and keep just scheduled feedings or put a small amount of kibble to munch on out each evening or before leaving for the day. If you are able to keep up three times a day wet feedings he is fine on wet only. If you can only do two I recommend leaving out some kibble when you are away from the home, but some cats do fine with just twice a day feedings.

 

[lalagimp]

My boys are fed five times a day.
Yep.
I'm a sucker.

 

[Marbedoll]

For a five month old it is fine to keep free feeding. Growing kittens have huge appitites. You should probably start instituting wet feeding three times a day to get him used to that idea. Once he stops gaining noticable length and height start reducing the amount of dry left down ecah day. If you slowly reduce the amount of kibble left out he will get used to the idea of I get this much a day and it will refill the next day.... Hopefully. You can get rid of the kibble altogether and keep just scheduled feedings or put a small amount of kibble to munch on out each evening or before leaving for the day. If you are able to keep up three times a day wet feedings he is fine on wet only. If you can only do two I recommend leaving out some kibble when you are away from the home, but some cats do fine with just twice a day feedings.

Thank you so much for your time !

So when he’s about 1 year old I should switch him to wet food ?

 

[Marbedoll]

My boys are fed five times a day.
Yep.
I'm a sucker.

Hahah! I totally don’t blame you!

 

[Marbedoll]

For a five month old it is fine to keep free feeding. Growing kittens have huge appitites. You should probably start instituting wet feeding three times a day to get him used to that idea. Once he stops gaining noticable length and height start reducing the amount of dry left down ecah day. If you slowly reduce the amount of kibble left out he will get used to the idea of I get this much a day and it will refill the next day.... Hopefully. You can get rid of the kibble altogether and keep just scheduled feedings or put a small amount of kibble to munch on out each evening or before leaving for the day. If you are able to keep up three times a day wet feedings he is fine on wet only. If you can only do two I recommend leaving out some kibble when you are away from the home, but some cats do fine with just twice a day feedings.

I guess another question would be is wet food the goal? Why is it so much better ? My kitty drinks plenty of water ? Haha it’s not a problem at all to switch or have both I am just curious !

 

[Marbedoll]

Hello! I feed meat-based canned food (best for hydration and most species appropriate). I've heard also that timed feeding can be healthier for adult cats. Since kittens need to eat as much as possible, feeding him dry food all the time and adding in wet timed meals might be the best until he is done growing.

For Olive, who puts on lbs from dry food quickly, I only give her wet food (and dry as a snack once in a while). She is fed 3 times per day, once when I wake up (around 7 am), once when I get home (630 pm) and once right before bed (~1130 pm). I look for food with no fillers or plant protein (no corn, wheat gluten, soy, potato or peas) and the first 5 ingredients that are meat. I also try and avoid carrageenan and limit agar-agar. The brands I feed most often are Rawz, Hound and Gatos, Tiki Cat After Dark, Life's Abundance, Dr Elsey's canned and Go! Petcurrean Fit and Free. There are a ton of other good brands out there, though, in a variety of prices.

Our two boys have been on kibble their whole lives, and while we are trying to get some wet food in their diet, it's a slow transition. They are free-fed dry Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit LID kibble. This is because Trin has IBD and we want to make sure he is eating enough food.

Thank you so much for your time and help!

 

[1 bruce 1]

My boys are fed five times a day.
Yep.
I'm a sucker.

Welcome to the club.
I'll be by later to teach you the secret handshake, LOL

 

[1 bruce 1]

I guess another question would be is wet food the goal? Why is it so much better ? My kitty drinks plenty of water ? Haha it’s not a problem at all to switch or have both I am just curious !

Cats don't usually have a very good drive to drink water unless their food doesn't have it in it! More people will help you out on this.
I would personally free feed and offer wet foods 3-4 times a day, and once they're eating the wet and only "picking" at the dry I'd switch it up.
Our meals aren't really timed (by the clock) but numbered (2-3 times a day.) Sometimes it's 5:00AM, noon, and 7:00PM, sometimes it's more like 8:00AM, 2:00PM, and 9:30PM, etc., so don't feel you have to be really rigid.
The thing I like about meal times vs. free feeding (ESPECIALLY with cats) is you will be able to tell immediately if a cat is not eating normally, which is one of the first signs of needing to consider calling the vet. Cats are extremely good at hiding illness and when you notice they're not eating, this can save a lot of progression of whatever is going on that you might not notice if you fill the bowl every few days.

 

[RajaNMizu]

I free-fed dry food when I adopted both my girls who were 4 and 5 months old at the time. At about six months I began to gently reduce the amount of dry food available to them mainly because one was beginning to avoid all of her wet food in favor of eating only dry. They were being offered 2 wet meals a day in addition to the dry. Now they are a year old and consistently eat two wet meals a day (sometimes three) and they have 1/3 cup Tiki chicken dry food to snack on during the day. There isn't any need to wait to transition your cat to wet food. Cats need the moisture from the wet food to stay hydrated and dry food tends to dehydrate them.

 

[KarenKat]

I guess another question would be is wet food the goal? Why is it so much better ? My kitty drinks plenty of water ? Haha it’s not a problem at all to switch or have both I am just curious !

Cats evolved from desert animals, and so they get most of their water from food. Generally even if you kitty drinks water, it's likely not as much as was in a prey animal, so generally they are a little dehydrated. This tends to be more important for male cats, since they are susceptible to urinary tract issues although hydration is obviously important for both.

Beyond the hydration factor, dry food tends to have more fillers and more carbs, and wet food tends to have less fillers and more meat. So generally wet food is healthier.

On a personal note, when I was free-feeding Olive only dry food she porked up quite a bit even though our boys were both eating the same food and were of a good weight. She just doesn't have the inclination to stop if food is there. We started feeding dry food meals and because dry food is so calorie dense, feeding her the right number of calories looked so pitifully small and did not look satisfying at all. We started feeding wet food at that point and she seems much more satisfied after a meal. Which is a long way of saying I knew wet food was right for her specifically.

 

[1 bruce 1]

I free-fed dry food when I adopted both my girls who were 4 and 5 months old at the time. At about six months I began to gently reduce the amount of dry food available to them mainly because one was beginning to avoid all of her wet food in favor of eating only dry. They were being offered 2 wet meals a day in addition to the dry. Now they are a year old and consistently eat two wet meals a day (sometimes three) and they have 1/3 cup Tiki chicken dry food to snack on during the day. There isn't any need to wait to transition your cat to wet food. Cats need the moisture from the wet food to stay hydrated and dry food tends to dehydrate them.

Dry food as a back up for cases of "the munchies" is a good idea.
Kittens and pups here are fed raw of course, but are also given the option of kibble as a grazer especially if we won't be around for whatever reason for a few hours.
With kittens, offer them ALL kinds of things...wet food, dry food, bits of people food, whatever, because (for me) it's so frustrating to have a cat that's addicted to dry food and won't eat, and wet food or human food or cooked meals is met with disgust.
If they learn all foods are good foods early, if they ever have an illness, tempting them to eat is so much easier if they're open to knowing food doesn't come in just one form. This might not pay off for 10 or 12 years, but it might. It has for us!

 

[LTS3]

More in depth reading why canned foods are best for cats: www.catinfo.org

It's ok if some dry food is in the diet, especially for growing kittens. You just don't want to feed only dry food since that can lead to all sorts of health issues which may mean expensive vet bills.

You can feed some canned food now to your kitten. Kittens are eager to try most new foods while an adult is usually stuck in his / her way and will refuse anything deemed not food. Trying to transition a stubborn dry food addict is difficult, especially if a diet change is needed to help manage a medical condition.

 

[Marbedoll]

I had gotten a deal of dry food so I have tons .... is it ideal to keep feeding him the dry food three times a day just add water to it ? On top of having his water bowl out all day? Would that help? Until I can start buying him all canned food ?

 

[Marbedoll]

Cats evolved from desert animals, and so they get most of their water from food. Generally even if you kitty drinks water, it's likely not as much as was in a prey animal, so generally they are a little dehydrated. This tends to be more important for male cats, since they are susceptible to urinary tract issues although hydration is obviously important for both.

Beyond the hydration factor, dry food tends to have more fillers and more carbs, and wet food tends to have less fillers and more meat. So generally wet food is healthier.

On a personal note, when I was free-feeding Olive only dry food she porked up quite a bit even though our boys were both eating the same food and were of a good weight. She just doesn't have the inclination to stop if food is there. We started feeding dry food meals and because dry food is so calorie dense, feeding her the right number of calories looked so pitifully small and did not look satisfying at all. We started feeding wet food at that point and she seems much more satisfied after a meal. Which is a long way of saying I knew wet food was right for her specifically.

Thank you for your time .
I had gotten a deal on dry food so I have a ton... it says on the bag my cat who is 7 lbs and 5 months old supposed to eat 1 1/2 cup a day . But I free feed him and he barely eats a cup a day. But eats little by little all Day. I have managed to only put his food on it in the morning the evening and at night . And it’s fine . I don’t want all this dry food to go to waste but I do need him to have the best health . So would mixing water in his meals be ideal for now ? Until I can buy him all wet canned food ? And if I do put water in his bowl, what should the ratio be ?

 

[RajaNMizu]

The problem with adding water to dry food is that it breeds bacteria. If you did add some water to the kibble I wouldn't leave it down for more than 30 minutes before getting rid of it. Maybe you can buy some canned food add feed both instead? Some wet meals during the day and small amount of dry?

 

[Yanaka]

I never saw anyone mentioning this here, but feeding on a schedule also avoids bugs from being attracted to the food... if I leave out their food too long, I have a trail of ants (in my new apartment) and used to have happy roaches running in our apartment (in my old apartment in Philly). Yikes.

Your cat is likely to be grossed out by the water/dry food combo. Really the good bet is to feed wet meals and feed him as much as he wants to be (CRAZY appetites!!!) and then when he will be older he’ll suddenly calm down and you can instate a schedule. They get fat real fast after growing up so long aha.

 

[KarenKat]

I had gotten a deal on dry food so I have a ton... it says on the bag my cat who is 7 lbs and 5 months old supposed to eat 1 1/2 cup a day . But I free feed him and he barely eats a cup a day. But eats little by little all Day.

We have a grazer too that eats a few bites throughout but the day. The bags of food overestimates calories, so I wouldn’t worry if he eats a little less than suggested.

I think you should definitely keep feeding the dry food you have - as RajaNMizu said add in some wet canned food meals and supplement with the dry food. Wet food is definitely healthier, but there is no harm mixing in the dry as well. Most people tend to feed both.

 

[haiitsvi]

I've been trying to figure out my rhythm because my work schedule sometimes has me getting home after 9pm. I feed a combination of wet, raw, and dry. My most recent attempt is early when I wake up (5-6am), right before I leave for work I give him a little dry to graze throughout the day in case I get home late (8-9am) but he usually scarfs it down before I'm out the door. If I'm home for dinner I'll feed him again (6-7pm) and then right before bed (9-10pm). I also play with him before before/in between/after the last two meals because if he does not get his energy out he will run around and meow all night. I have a Siamese lol.