How fast (or slow) does your cat eat?

klunick

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 22, 2020
Messages
4,358
Purraise
12,150
It has always seemed like Boone and Gracie finish their meals really fast. I would put the food down, walk away, and about five minutes later one or both would be done. So fast that I would literally check to see if they even ate. Bowls were always empty.

So this morning I stood in the kitchen and watched. I put the bowls down at 0757. Boone had completely finished his and walked away at 0801. Gracie walked away at 0804.

What is interesting is that Boone doesn't gulp down his food. He just methodically powers through it at a constant pace. Gracie takes her time but also just consistently eats her food at the same pace.

Just curious if other's cats eat like this. Very rarely does it take Boone and Gracie long to finish. There are some that they don't particularly like as much but even those are gone relatively quickly (~15 mins).
 

Maurey

Maine Coon Madness
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 21, 2021
Messages
1,592
Purraise
1,822
Mine can be done within a minute or two (and they have 75-100 grams for their meals), which would sometimes result in regurgitation. Thankfully, after working on it for a while (and working on their feeding stations so they no longer felt they had to eat as quickly to not have meals stolen), they take closer to 5-7 minutes to finish, which means no vomit and they seem to stay full for a bit longer, though that might be my bias haha.

Elevated bowls help a lot, as do various puzzles and licki mates, if you’re concerned about them eating too quickly.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

klunick

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 22, 2020
Messages
4,358
Purraise
12,150
Mine can be done within a minute or two (and they have 75-100 grams for their meals), which would sometimes result in regurgitation. Thankfully, after working on it for a while (and working on their feeding stations so they no longer felt they had to eat as quickly to not have meals stolen), they take closer to 5-7 minutes to finish, which means no vomit and they seem to stay full for a bit longer, though that might be my bias haha.

Elevated bowls help a lot, as do various puzzles and licki mates, if you’re concerned about them eating too quickly.
No, not concerned at all. Just surprised they eat that quick.
 

sivyaleah

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 16, 2011
Messages
6,259
Purraise
5,222
Location
New Jersey
Luna takes hours to finish a wet food meal. She's a grazer. I usually put down breakfast anywhere from 6am - 7am (depending on how long they allow us to sleep!). She gets a pouch of wet food. Will take a few bites, walk away, play, come back eat a bit more, etc. I never used to leave food down more than an hour or so, but she's on a kibble kick. She is a very good water drinker so I'm not overly concerned about this; but I want to be sure she eats at least half the wet food. Once she does, I put down some kibble and she will continue to graze on that too. Same schedule for her dinner.

Cocoabean on the other hand, will eat a whole (3 ounce) can within a few minutes,. Might leave some behind but once she's done at the bowl that's it usually until her next meal. She rarely poaches from Luna's bowl and she's not into kibble much, so no grazing on her part.
 

Lari

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Nov 18, 2017
Messages
10,995
Purraise
45,426
Sparkle is a vacuum that finishes within minutes! Lelia is a grazer who will eats bits here and there over hours, unless she's really hungry. That's why she has the microchip feeder.
 

suzeanna

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Mar 29, 2021
Messages
268
Purraise
472
Susan usually eats her meals in 5 minutes or so (e.g., 25g wet food with 45g water). Her nighttime wet food meal is extra big and only a few hours after the prior meal, so she usually eats for 5 minutes, takes a break, and goes back to finish it ~15 minutes later when she remembers to.
 

Juniper_Junebug

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Oct 21, 2020
Messages
626
Purraise
1,844
Juno usually eats a little at first then grazes for anywhere between 30 minutes and three hours. At least with wet food. I feed her a small handful of dry at night and she scarfs it down like she thinks it might disappear at any minute. (She never did that with the Purina kitty kibble; must be something about Dr. Elsey's).
 

game misconduct

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 1, 2020
Messages
5,383
Purraise
19,309
Location
westcovina california
:lol:graycie takes hours to finish she is a total nibbler,few bites here and there until she finishes also wants to play during her breakfast:rolleyes: wants to chase da bee around eat a few bites of food while she gets a breather:lol:its like a kid that has to have that favorite toy around and wont eat unless they get to play with said toy during meal times:flail:these days i notice its those gameboys etc.or a parents cell phone even for you tube or disney:lol::lol:the days of a hot wheels car or doll etc are gone now
 

Juniper_Junebug

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Oct 21, 2020
Messages
626
Purraise
1,844
:lol:graycie takes hours to finish she is a total nibbler,few bites here and there until she finishes also wants to play during her breakfast:rolleyes: wants to chase da bee around eat a few bites of food while she gets a breather:lol:its like a kid that has to have that favorite toy around and wont eat unless they get to play with said toy during meal times:flail:these days i notice its those gameboys etc.or a parents cell phone even for you tube or disney:lol::lol:the days of a hot wheels car or doll etc are gone now
My Juno has the same habit. She will be begging for food like she is starving, then take a few bites, then demand to be played with. Even if we've already recently played.
 

Tobermory

“What greater gift than the love of a cat.”
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
Dec 13, 2017
Messages
9,137
Purraise
25,932
Location
Pacific NW
My three have changed their habits over the years. They get two meals a day of wet food. Lily, 17, used to be a giant sucking black hole; she'd inhale her meal and then try to eat the others' food. Now she's very slow and deliberate, and I have to stand there to make sure she gets to finish before someone else tries for it. Her littermate, Iris, is the exact opposite: She used to be a slow, dainty eater, and she weighed only about 8 1/2 pounds. Oddly, early last year she started to put on weight and to become obsessed with food. She now eats faster than Lily and Mocha, and then tries to steal their food. Again, I hover to keep everyone in line.

Mocha was a shelter cat, and when I adopted her four years ago, she came with a shelter cat's focus on finishing her food before the others and then trying to get theirs. (She once inhaled her food so quickly that it instantly came back up again...on my foot. She looked shocked. :lol:) Now she just eats calmly and steadily until it's gone. She has learned to wait politely for Lily to finish and then she'll lick the bowl clean if she's left anything.

Because of Iris and Lily's extreme arthritis, I have little homemade platforms to elevate their bowls.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #12

klunick

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 22, 2020
Messages
4,358
Purraise
12,150
My three have changed their habits over the years. They get two meals a day of wet food. Lily, 17, used to be a giant sucking black hole; she'd inhale her meal and then try to eat the others' food. Now she's very slow and deliberate, and I have to stand there to make sure she gets to finish before someone else tries for it. Her littermate, Iris, is the exact opposite: She used to be a slow, dainty eater, and she weighed only about 8 1/2 pounds. Oddly, early last year she started to put on weight and to become obsessed with food. She now eats faster than Lily and Mocha, and then tries to steal their food. Again, I hover to keep everyone in line.

Mocha was a shelter cat, and when I adopted her four years ago, she came with a shelter cat's focus on finishing her food before the others and then trying to get theirs. (She once inhaled her food so quickly that it instantly came back up again...on my foot. She looked shocked. :lol:) Now she just eats calmly and steadily until it's gone. She has learned to wait politely for Lily to finish and then she'll lick the bowl clean if she's left anything.

Because of Iris and Lily's extreme arthritis, I have little homemade platforms to elevate their bowls.
When Boone and Gracie were little, Boone would eat his food and then shove Gracie out of the way and eat what he wanted of hers. I used to have to sit and watch while they ate and shoo Boone away if he tried to go for Gracie's. He doesn't do that anymore. He will eat his and leave. Gracie, though, will occasionally eat part of hers, go over to whatever Boone left and eat that, and then go back and finish the rest of hers. :lol:
 

Heart For Cats

Cat Lover Forever
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 27, 2021
Messages
605
Purraise
441
Location
Florida
Juno usually eats a little at first then grazes for anywhere between 30 minutes and three hours. At least with wet food. I feed her a small handful of dry at night and she scarfs it down like she thinks it might disappear at any minute. (She never did that with the Purina kitty kibble; must be something about Dr. Elsey's).
She must think Dr. Elsey's tastes a lot better than Purina.
 

Juniper_Junebug

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Oct 21, 2020
Messages
626
Purraise
1,844
She must think Dr. Elsey's tastes a lot better than Purina.
She must. One day, as an experiment, I gave her more to see if she would stop eating when she'd had enough (since she sometimes won't finish her wet food, so I thought maybe she was good at self- regulating). She did not stop even after I gave her what I thought was an unreasonable amount. 🤷‍♀️
 
Top