Reassessing Delilah's diet

[ladytimedramon]

How often do you reassess what you are doing food wise with your cat? I've now had Delilah 9 months and I'm considering some changes, particularly since I will be home for 2 weeks with winter break coming up.

Delilah has gone from 7 pounds when I adopted her to about 10 pounds. The vet said she was still in good body condition and I shouldn't worry. She moves fine, gets her crazies (usually when I'm getting ready to leave for work). I've been feeding her about 225 calories per day based on her weight. I've been feeding her a rotation of Krave, Sheba, and Nutro wet (portioned containers) and Krave indoor dry. 3 of the wet portions average about 35 calories each, so that's 100 calories or so, and about 1/3 of a cup of the Krave dry is about 120 calories or so. Her food is scheduled out so she's not free feeding (I have a timed feeder).

1 container wet about 7am
1 tbsp dry at 10
1 tbsp dry at 1
1 tbsp dry at 4
1 container of wet about 5:30 (depending what time I get home)
1 container of wet about 8
1 tbsp dry at bedtime (usually around 11 pm)
1 tbsp dry at 3 am.

I'm probably totally overthinking feeding her. But when I give her one of the wet portioned containers, she acts like she's still hungry. I thought spreading the meals out over the time while I was at work would keep her more satisfied.

Should I give her fewer, larger portions? I've been thinking about going all wet, or just dry for late night. Or is what I'm doing ok? I just don't like when she seems to be hungry right after giving her what is supposed to be a portion.

 

[PuffandPercy]

Well, I'm lucky that I have a cat that doesn't constantly harass me for feeding, but I have had food-focused cats before, and that can be tricky to judge.

Keep in mind, although she's put on weight, she's still growing. number's to me have never really mattered, you can tell more from physical shape. Don't focus on her tummy pouch, if she has one, but more on her width from above. I found this better to judge, when my cat's in the past started getting wider, there was cause for concern.

With my food focused kitty, she would constantly pester me. I would feed her what I would judge a decent portion, maybe half a can of food, or a scoop of biscuits, and wait. I'd get to know when she was genuinely hungry, because she wouldn't stop and her meows would be persistent, versus a bit of hopeful bothering, which she would soon drop when it became apparent there wasn't food for her (mostly when I was in the kitchen making my own food).

I can't offer advice on the quantity/frequency, just my experience, but there seems to be plenty of people here that are knowledgeable about the numbers side, so hopefully they can help

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Does the Vet think she's now at her perfect weight? If so, then what you are doing seems fine. If your Vet thinks she either needs to gain or lose weight, then you should probably adjust. Many people feed small, frequent meals, and many people don't. I think it's more to a cat's natural instinct to eat smaller, more frequent meals. If they are outside in the wild, they might eat a cricket, and then an hour or two later, catch a mouse, (if they are lucky), then a couple hours later eat another bug, etc. (or so I've heard)

BTW, you didn't mention how old she is. You've had her for 9 months, but is she a kitten, or an older cat, or what? How much a cat should eat is based on their age, and their activity. Typically they would eat between 20 - 25 calories per pound of their ideal weight. Growing kittens would eat more. Very inactive cats would eat slightly less. You should monitor her and make sure she doesn't lose or gain, unless you want her to.

 

[ladytimedramon]

She's about 3 years old, based on her papers.