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Feeding
- Thread starter ZoomZoom
- Start Date
Ideally none? Dry food isn't great for cats. Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition – Common Sense. Healthy Cats. has details and more about why dry food is not an ideal food to feed.
Are you feed only dry food? Do you feed any canned food? What brand are you feeding?
If the dry food only makes up a small amount of the cat's diet, a very small amount daily is fine. Like a 1/4 cup or less. Some people just use dry food as treats.
If your cat is only being fed dry food, you'll need to feed enough daily to meet the cat's calorie needs. The general suggestion for any type of food fed is 20 to 25 calories per pound of body weight daily. So your 9.5 lb cat might need between 190 and 237 calories daily. Many dry foods are super calorie dense per measured cup, though. Some have as much as 600 calories per cup.
Are you feed only dry food? Do you feed any canned food? What brand are you feeding?
If the dry food only makes up a small amount of the cat's diet, a very small amount daily is fine. Like a 1/4 cup or less. Some people just use dry food as treats.
If your cat is only being fed dry food, you'll need to feed enough daily to meet the cat's calorie needs. The general suggestion for any type of food fed is 20 to 25 calories per pound of body weight daily. So your 9.5 lb cat might need between 190 and 237 calories daily. Many dry foods are super calorie dense per measured cup, though. Some have as much as 600 calories per cup.
Males are more likely to have urinary problems as they get older. At least dry and wet mixed in then possibly all wet. If you stick with just dry it will be harder to transition in the future. Be sure to have water bowls scattered around. Even a fountain!
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- #4
He gets wet food almost every day - but will only take less than 1'4 can.... he was doing fine.... only started this nonsense a week ago - was just wondering if I was giving him too much.... he drinks plenty of water just prefers dry food.
Has he had freeze dried chicken for a topper instead of dry?
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- #6
Nope - the lil bugger is picky as heck... lol He was doing great up until a couple weeks ago - I'm wondering if the warm weather could have anything to do with it
Surprised that doesn't make him more thirsty.
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- #8
I know what you mean - but this is the 3rd cat I've had who preferred dry food & they've all done just fine. I'm just wondering if he's suddenly not as hungry due to the warm weather. The vet says he's fine health wise.
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- #9
Oh believe me - we tried the fountain.... lil bugger wanted nothing to do with it... LOL I knew about the urinary probs - but the vet says as long as he is drinking plenty of water, he's fine. I was giving him wet food as well, but he stopped eating it <sigh> Thx for the input
Yes, the weather can affect appetite. Personally I wouldn't give in to the cat and offer dry food. That just reinforces the cat to hold out on eating until you give dry food. You can try making the canned food more appealing by adding toppers or feeding it cold instead of room temperature. A trip to the vet isn't a bad idea to rule out any underlying health issues that may be causing the lack of appetite.
