Questions About Feeding

[nwc]

I'm brand new to cat parenthood, and this thread is to ask two questions I often have while browsing here:

1. Aside from weight issues, how can you tell if a kitten or cat is actually hungry? Mine could be full, and will still start begging and sniffing his food bowl if he sees me go into the kitchen.

2. What would it mean for the cat to have a problem with dry food (I'm assuming kibble, and not freeze dried meats?) As others have mentioned so far, each company has a different formula. What would it mean for a cat to have a vomiting problem with dry food across the board?

 

[nwc]

Since this was moved to its own thread, I would like to clear two things up:

1. I am aware that you are not supposed to reward undesirable behavior, and so I stick to a schedule and do not feed whenever begged. However, I often see advice here to feed kittens infinitely up to a year. Which brings the next question,

2. This question isn't about my cat in particular. It rather refers to seemingly contradicting information I have seen throughout the forums.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

It kind of depends on how old the kitten is. young kittens need to have access to food very often. If it isn't dry food, which can be left out all day, then they should have access to wet food several times per day, and be able to eat pretty much as much as they want. After about 6 months it's probably ok to start putting them on scheduled meals, but still several meals per day, in my humble opinion. Maybe 4 or 5 still. Then by 9 or 10 months they should be able to go to 3 meals per day and by one year you should be able to cut dosn slightly on the amount of food you are feeding at those meals. (unless you have a large breed cat, then everything I just said timewise should be extended out)

I don't honestly know the answer to question 1. If they are not gaining weight, then you aren't feeding enough. If they appear extremely hungry, you probably are not feeding enough. But if they look like they are actually getting fat, and not really running around and playing crazily because they might be too fat, then you might be over feeding. I actually had two kittens at the same time (10 years ago). Both males, both the same size, one day apart in age. One ate like he was never going to see food again, the other I practically had to force to eat. Guess what happened? One is still very slim and the other was obese by his first birthday . Our Vet said he needed to lose FouR pounds!!! It took a long time, but we finally did it, but he's still our little pudge. We have to watch him like a hawk and at treat time he gets only the teeniest little bits while his brother gets huge pieces just to try to put a few ounces on. (one for you, three for your brother )

As far as question 2, I think diarrhea is the normal sign if there is a problem with changing up dry food. Vomiting usually occurs when they eat too fast or too much (or both) and if it's for that reason, it normally happens within 15 minutes or so. What I am describing is actuallly regurgitation versus vomiting. Is that what's happening with your little guy? If so, I'm thinking he may indeed be so hungry he's scarfing his food and then regurgitating it because of it. Try giving him smaller meals more often to eliminate that issue.

 

[nwc]

I don't honestly know the answer to question 1. If they are not gaining weight, then you aren't feeding enough. If they appear extremely hungry, you probably are not feeding enough. But if they look like they are actually getting fat, and not really running around and playing crazily because they might be too fat, then you might be over feeding. I actually had two kittens at the same time (10 years ago). Both males, both the same size, one day apart in age. One ate like he was never going to see food again, the other I practically had to force to eat. Guess what happened? One is still very slim and the other was obese by his first birthday . Our Vet said he needed to lose FouR pounds!!! It took a long time, but we finally did it, but he's still our little pudge. We have to watch him like a hawk and at treat time he gets only the teeniest little bits while his brother gets huge pieces just to try to put a few ounces on. (one for you, three for your brother )

Yeah, that's sort of what I worry about. But like I said, he doesn't have weight issues or anything. I just don't understand the whole "he was starving on X, so I went back to feeding him Y" thing, especially if both options are high quality nutrition. For reference, my guy is roughly 6 months, almost 7lbs, and the ideal size according to the vet. The cat shows no obvious signs of distress or illness; I mostly just want peace of mind.

As far as question 2, I think diarrhea is the normal sign if there is a problem with changing up dry food. Vomiting usually occurs when they eat too fast or too much (or both) and if it's for that reason, it normally happens within 15 minutes or so. What I am describing is actuallly regurgitation versus vomiting. Is that what's happening with your little guy? If so, I'm thinking he may indeed be so hungry he's scarfing his food and then regurgitating it because of it. Try giving him smaller meals more often to eliminate that issue.

Yeah, so the second question was more in response to the thread this was originally in. I personally don't feed dry food. I just found it confusing that a cat would have digestive problems related to the form, rather than ingredients, of the food.

 

[daftcat75]

Cats can vomit, not regurgitate, from dry food, and not have diarrhea. This is how my Krista's IBD started to present. She'd eat just fine but it could be two to four hours later when she gave it back. Then of course, she wouldn't eat for a day or two because vomiting, not regurgitation, made her nauseated for food. Sensitivities to various ingredients including the proteins, fillers, grains, gums, or other non-animal ingredients can upset a cat's stomach. Dry food with plant proteins (e.g. peas) and vegetable matter fillers (fruits, veggies, legumes, and grains) doesn't produce an acidic enough stomach environment like a meat-based wet food diet. Often these dry foods have acidifying ingredients added to make up for this. This isn't the same as being constructed from highly digestible meat proteins that naturally produce a sufficiently acidic stomach environment.

Another reason cats can vomit dry food is if they have dental problems, they may not chew the food enough (or at all.) A stomach full of minimally chewed food with lower digestibility in an insufficiently acidic environment can lead to a mess of minimally chewed and minimally digested soggy kibbles. This is how I found that Krista's teeth were going bad. Again, this would happen hours after eating, not in the "scarf and barf" window or the "this food went bad" regurgitation Krista has done before as well.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Thank you for that well thought out answer, daftcat75 !

 

[daftcat75]

I’ve unfortunately become something of a barf connoisseur with Krista. I’m learning the difference between IBD vomits, bad food/old food regurgitations, hairballs, and “other.” In general, if Krista wants to eat directly after, I call that a regurgitation. A vomit or hairball can set her off food for a day or two. This is why I keep a refillable prescription for an appetite stimulant.

 

[MissClouseau]

I will add,

There is some controversy about grain-free foods and I wouldn't oppose a grain-free diet (my own cat is on one due to grain sensitivities) but if you are going to add grainy foods, I suggest adding grain-free too. Like if the dry food is grainy, then try to make the wet food grain-free. I also suggest giving both wet and dry food every day so he can get use to both forms. Preferably more wet than dry.

Small meals throughout the day is the best for digestion. I think to prevent issues like eating too fast/overeating too. My Hima eats at least 4 meals within a period of like 14 hours. It's like wet food every 3-4 hours (half of 80 gram can at once), the rest is dry food. There is always some dry food on her bowl but she doesn't overeat.

Kittens need lots of food. I'm generally not a fan of strictly-measured portions as adult cats also don't need the same amount of food every day like us humans do. Like my Hima some days she eats less than average, some days she eats more than average. It depends on her appetite level, sometimes she's more active, etc Instead when the kitten gets older I suggest weighing him on the same scale the same day every week so you can intervene if there is an unwanted weight gain/loss. You will get an idea on how much food works for your cat anyway. The calorie calculations on the box and other people's aren't reliable, they just give some idea.