He is on an all wet diet finally, but

[cinderflower]

He acts so hungry. I bought the small bag of Earthborn Holistic Primitive today and thought I would give him about 1/3 cup for the day to snack on. He gets a 5.5 can of Earthborn Holistic wet per day. Split in to two meals. He is at a good weight now, but is constantly meowing when I get home.

i think you already decided he probably needs more food.  actually i don't know if this is too much trouble, but keep a chart (like on a hanging calendar) of how much you feed him and his weight.  i think sometimes it's hard to go by whether or not a cat "acts" hungry because i know when i was working that at least one of my cats started eating out of boredom.  the problem with kibble sometimes is that a cat will decide to prefer it and not eat the canned food.  or it might be like someone with a healthy weight child asking a doctor, "but he's so hungry all the time.  will it hurt to let him eat cheetos in between meals?"  probably won't hurt him, but it's not very nutritious.  i think kibble is primarily empty-calories.

my cats always had to wait 12 hours between feedings.  they got a relatively large amount at once (either 1/2 of a 5.5 oz. can or a 3 oz. can each) though, and as long as it isn't raw, i think it's okay to leave food out 12 hours.  i think they ate it long before that amount of time was up anyway.  i have one cat that will eat food as long as it's out.  i don't know why, he's just like that.  he will bug me for awhile but if i don't do anything he gives up when he isn't really starving.  if he's truly hungry, he jumps on me constantly.

 

[matts mom]

I was told it was safe to leave wet food out for no more that 2-3 hours, so you could put down whatever will be eaten in that time frame. It does not harm the cat to have a little dry food down, we have switched Matt over to wet, but he eats every few hours and small portions, so I put out dry food during the night when I know I can't feed him. I pick up what's left when I get up, and he goes back to wet for the day. I worked out how many calories he needed daily, then allowed for the calories of the dry food he'd eat overnight. I subtract that from his total and feed him the difference through the day. I'm still working on keeping him full though, because like your cats, he seems hungry often. I need to find him a denser food, I think the one I bought for his sensitive tummy may be digesting to quickly to hold him

 

[hobo08]

Hobo doesn't leave any wet food sitting. Lol he mows it right down and right away. He has gotten a little better on this new schedule, but still meows some and races to the room when I walk towards it. He is a 14 pound cat and slimmed down from 15.5 pounds. That is why I am feeding him 280 calories. 20 * 14= 280.

 

[emilymaywilcha]

I was told it was safe to leave wet food out for no more that 2-3 hours, so you could put down whatever will be eaten in that time frame. It does not harm the cat to have a little dry food down, we have switched Matt over to wet, but he eats every few hours and small portions, so I put out dry food during the night when I know I can't feed him. I pick up what's left when I get up, and he goes back to wet for the day. I worked out how many calories he needed daily, then allowed for the calories of the dry food he'd eat overnight. I subtract that from his total and feed him the difference through the day. I'm still working on keeping him full though, because like your cats, he seems hungry often. I need to find him a denser food, I think the one I bought for his sensitive tummy may be digesting to quickly to hold him

Who said 2-3 hours? I know you can't leave wet food out all day, but never heard how long it can stay there.

I always kept dry food out 24/7 until today. Now I will see how long it takes for Patricia to figure out she only gets three meals like me.

 

[just mike]

I could do tthat, but what are the cons to feeding a little amount of kibble?

If you spent so much time and energy converting your cat to an all-wet diet, you obviously know the answer: obesity and dehydration.

The major portion of the cats diet is wet Emily.  I doubt obesity and dehydration will be something that Hobo has to be that concerned about.  Hobo! 

Congrats on transitioning your cat to an all wet diet. Well, almost all wet 

Mine are on a mixed diet ratio of about 80% wet to 20% dry.  None of have experienced obesity, dehydration or a UTI.  You *could* try a timed feeder for the kibble and split the 1//3 cup into 2 or 3 feedings daily which would add more meals to you kitty's daily routine without adding any more kibble or wet.  Just my

 

[hobo08]

The major portion of the cats diet is wet Emily.  I doubt obesity and dehydration will be something that Hobo has to be that concerned about.  Hobo! 

Congrats on transitioning your cat to an all wet diet. Well, almost all wet 

Mine are on a mixed diet ratio of about 80% wet to 20% dry.  None of have experienced obesity, dehydration or a UTI.  You *could* try a timed feeder for the kibble and split the 1//3 cup into 2 or 3 feedings daily which would add more meals to you kitty's daily routine without adding any more kibble or wet.  Just my

 Mike, he is on an all wet diet and has been for a good couple months. I returned the bag of food that I bought in the beginning of this thread and bought more canned food with higher calories.

I am going to see how this goes for awhile. Thanks!

 

[just mike]

 Mike, he is on an all wet diet and has been for a good couple months. I returned the bag of food that I bought in the beginning of this thread and bought more canned food with higher calories.

I am going to see how this goes for awhile. Thanks!

Keep us posted Hobo!