Hello, all!
I have a question about free feeding vs. scheduled meals. Here's the background.
We have two cats: Sammy is 14 months old and probably around 12 lbs or so (he's very long). Lola is 9 months old and around 6 or 7 lbs (she is VERY small is body length and height, and I do not expect much more growth from her, as she looks like a clone of the mother right now - same height and only slightly shorter in body length). Anyway, when I got Sammy, he was free fed. When we got Lola, she was just over 3 months old and recently recovered from a pretty devastating bout with panleukopenia (feline dystemper) at 6 weeks. During the illness, she had basically lost all her body fat and stopped growning for a bit while her body struggled to fight the disease...........Since then, she's always been normal as far as growth RATE, but a little behind on the timeline (aka when she was 3 months old she was the approximate weight and size of an 8 week old kitten and grew according to that timeline).
I free fed her along with Sammy, making sure she had as much to eat as she wanted so she could keep up with her body's attempt to make up for lost time. They were on a special, vet prescribed low residue food, because Lola had some residual GI issues from her illness. That worked very well........she grew very consistantly and remained a healthy lean size (normal kitten pudge, of course
). About a month ago I gradually switched them to Natural Balance, which they both like very much.
Now, however, she seems to have stopped growing and is getting a little pudgy around the midsection. Sammy has also thickened out since he left kittenhood. I'm thinking the best thing for them would be to switch to a feeding schedule so that I can better control how much food each of them is getting. I don't want them getting obese because Sammy is already a huge cat and Lola has a tiny head and would look ridiculous, not to mention the obvious health risks of obesity.
Before I switch to a schedule, though, I wanted your opinions on a few things:
1. Do you think I'm right to do this now or should I wait until August when Lola will be 1 year old? She really seems to have stopped growing, but I want her to have the nutrition she needs.
2. What's the best way to go about this? I want to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible for all three of us.
Thanks in advance for your responses!
I have a question about free feeding vs. scheduled meals. Here's the background.
We have two cats: Sammy is 14 months old and probably around 12 lbs or so (he's very long). Lola is 9 months old and around 6 or 7 lbs (she is VERY small is body length and height, and I do not expect much more growth from her, as she looks like a clone of the mother right now - same height and only slightly shorter in body length). Anyway, when I got Sammy, he was free fed. When we got Lola, she was just over 3 months old and recently recovered from a pretty devastating bout with panleukopenia (feline dystemper) at 6 weeks. During the illness, she had basically lost all her body fat and stopped growning for a bit while her body struggled to fight the disease...........Since then, she's always been normal as far as growth RATE, but a little behind on the timeline (aka when she was 3 months old she was the approximate weight and size of an 8 week old kitten and grew according to that timeline).
I free fed her along with Sammy, making sure she had as much to eat as she wanted so she could keep up with her body's attempt to make up for lost time. They were on a special, vet prescribed low residue food, because Lola had some residual GI issues from her illness. That worked very well........she grew very consistantly and remained a healthy lean size (normal kitten pudge, of course
Now, however, she seems to have stopped growing and is getting a little pudgy around the midsection. Sammy has also thickened out since he left kittenhood. I'm thinking the best thing for them would be to switch to a feeding schedule so that I can better control how much food each of them is getting. I don't want them getting obese because Sammy is already a huge cat and Lola has a tiny head and would look ridiculous, not to mention the obvious health risks of obesity.
Before I switch to a schedule, though, I wanted your opinions on a few things:
1. Do you think I'm right to do this now or should I wait until August when Lola will be 1 year old? She really seems to have stopped growing, but I want her to have the nutrition she needs.
2. What's the best way to go about this? I want to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible for all three of us.
Thanks in advance for your responses!
