Is My Kitty Eating Enough?

[motylek]

Hi everyone,
I am a little concerned about my kitty's eating.
So she is about 11 months old and I would say she weights 9-10 lbs. We took her to a vet in December and she weighted 8lbs. So I am not sure how much she weights today. We also got her mid December and we feed her 3x 3oz of wet food. and she used to eat it all. And now we feed her 2x a day 3oz of wet food and in a treat ball I put dry food, for the day while I am at work as a snack. I try to feed her wet food every 12 hours so its balanced. I do give her treats and she has the dry food in the ball during the day and sometimes I put some during the night time, it is not a lot since its a small treat ball. but she doesn't seem to eat so much anymore as for the wet food, I tried changing the flavors of her food but she just doesn't eat the way she ate when we first got her. is this something I should be concerned about ?

and I want to keep her on an all wet diet with the dry food in the treat ball so she can interact with it if she wants to get food, but I do believe she likes the dry food better then the wet food.

any answers will be very appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[orange&white]

Some cat become kibble addicts and prefer dry food to wet. The canned food is healthier for her, so you might want to limit the dry food and treats to a certain number of calories per day, so she'll be hungry enough to eat the canned food.

As for her eating enough, you need to determine that by her weight and body condition. You can hold her when you weigh yourself, then subtract your weight to figure her weight. My vet said, "Measure calories every meal, and weigh the cat once a month. If she's losing, then add a few calories; if she's gaining, then reduce a few calories."

 

[motylek]

Some cat become kibble addicts and prefer dry food to wet. The canned food is healthier for her, so you might want to limit the dry food and treats to a certain number of calories per day, so she'll be hungry enough to eat the canned food.

As for her eating enough, you need to determine that by her weight and body condition. You can hold her when you weigh yourself, then subtract your weight to figure her weight. My vet said, "Measure calories every meal, and weigh the cat once a month. If she's losing, then add a few calories; if she's gaining, then reduce a few calories."

Thank you, I will try weighting her today and see how much she weights. and then calculate her calories.

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi - another way to think about her weight is that if you can lightly feel her ribs with a thin layer of fat over them, and if when you're standing over her while she's walking, you can see a waist (easiest if she's shorthaired LOL), then you're ok. There are adult cat body charts on the internet.
A couple other thoughts is that she might be getting tired of that wet food even though you tried different flavors - have you tried other brands? Just a note, there are a lot of folks here who leave wet food out for 12 hours with no problems of it going bad, just in case that becomes something you'd want to do.
One other thing is that it's possible she was catching up a bit regarding food, in other words she wasn't fed as well before as she is now with you. Or, she has attained her mature size and growth and perhaps doesn't actually require as much since maybe she's more in maintenance mode now.
Thanks so much for coming here and for paying such close attention to your cat!

 

[duckpond]

Often a new cat will eat more at first, if she is a rescue she may have been hungry before? Now she knows she doesn't have to worry about starving? And also she is getting older, they do tend to slow down a bit as they hit that 1 year mark.

You might, if you have not, try different brands as well as different flavors? different textures as well, pate, minced, shreds? i have cats that prefer different ones. and i do give some variety so they don't get tired of the same thing.

I just watch my cats, but they are 2 and 3 so they shouldn't be changing much. if someone seems a bit "fluffy" i pull back on the food, just a little. if someone is a bit skinny looking i try to get them to eat more. And i keep up with their yearly vet visits. He weighs them, and we discuss that.

 

[motylek]

Hi - another way to think about her weight is that if you can lightly feel her ribs with a thin layer of fat over them, and if when you're standing over her while she's walking, you can see a waist (easiest if she's shorthaired LOL), then you're ok. There are adult cat body charts on the internet.
A couple other thoughts is that she might be getting tired of that wet food even though you tried different flavors - have you tried other brands? Just a note, there are a lot of folks here who leave wet food out for 12 hours with no problems of it going bad, just in case that becomes something you'd want to do.
One other thing is that it's possible she was catching up a bit regarding food, in other words she wasn't fed as well before as she is now with you. Or, she has attained her mature size and growth and perhaps doesn't actually require as much since maybe she's more in maintenance mode now.
Thanks so much for coming here and for paying such close attention to your cat!

to be she looks normal, my boyfriend keeps saying she's getting fat but I don't think so.
I didn't try any other brands because I want to make sure the food is good quality and I found that blue buffalo is pretty good but they don't have a big variety for kittens food. can I start feeding her adult food ? she's gonna be a year in a month and 3 days. what other brands are good?
I also noticed yesterday when I got back from home and was cooking, and she was meowing and sitting on the table where her bowl is so I gave her half of the can of her wet food but she ate a little bit and then gave her the rest before going to sleep. and when I feed her in the morning then her food stays in the bowl until she eats it or when I get home from work and clean it.

 

[motylek]

Often a new cat will eat more at first, if she is a rescue she may have been hungry before? Now she knows she doesn't have to worry about starving? And also she is getting older, they do tend to slow down a bit as they hit that 1 year mark.

You might, if you have not, try different brands as well as different flavors? different textures as well, pate, minced, shreds? i have cats that prefer different ones. and i do give some variety so they don't get tired of the same thing.

I just watch my cats, but they are 2 and 3 so they shouldn't be changing much. if someone seems a bit "fluffy" i pull back on the food, just a little. if someone is a bit skinny looking i try to get them to eat more. And i keep up with their yearly vet visits. He weighs them, and we discuss that.

Yea I started giving her different flavors, like chicken one day and salmon the next and tuna the next next day and back at it again.