Terra the Cat demands to be fed early

[thefishyone]

Should I give in or wait until her regular feeding time. I feed Terra twice a day, once at 8 AM, and again at 4 PM.

Also, do any of you know how much Iams Healthy Adult I should be feeding a 14 lb female cat who leads a fairly sedentary life to maintain her weight? She’s 8 years old, if that helps.

Thanks!

 

[maggie101]

My cats are fed only wet 3x a day. So if you can, more often smaller meals. She will maintain her weight by giving her canned, not dry

Catfooddb.com

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. The 'standard rule of thumb' is somewhere between 20 - 30 calories per pound of weight. Although Feeby is nearly twice the age of your cat (15+yo), I am shooting for 20 calories per pound as she is very sedentary. So, if I were to want to keep Feeby at 15 pounds, that would be the equivalent of 300 calories per day. That can be a combination of dry and canned if need be, understanding that dry is generally higher in calories than canned.

But, I think going from 4pm to 8am might be too long of a stretch between meals. Try to move it closer to 12 hours in between; you can gradually do so over a period of several weeks (8 - 5, 8 - 6, 8 - 7, etc.). Or, if you are able, doing 3 meals a day might work better. If you can't move the times or add a meal, calculate your total desired calories per day, and leave a portion of dry out for overnight.

Keep in mind, if you are wanting her to lose weight, you can't just cut down the calories to the desired weight amount all at once. That would also have to be done gradually. A little bit of a decrease over time, and then you would need to keep track of her weight. If you want to keep her at 14 pounds, then once you calculate the calories, check her weight weekly to ensure that she can maintain that weight on the calculated calories - it is possible that she may need more than 20 calories per pound. Either buy a pet scale, or weigh her with you on your own scale, and then weigh yourself without her to see what her weight is. It is all a science/math, and it takes time to get used to it all. Tbh, I started trying to figure this all out over 6 months ago and am still working on it!!!

 

[Twylasmom]

I do 3 small wet meals (7 am, 5 pm and right before bed). Both cats get a measured amount of dry food as well.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

I do three meals per day also. 8 a.m., 3 ish, and 10:30 p.m. All wet food. My boys only wake me up if they didn't finish up their 10:30 meal for some reason. I agree that from 4 p.m. to 8 a.m. is too long between meals.

 

[daftcat75]

I do four scheduled meals (6am, 9am, 6pm, and 10pm) with timed feeders to cover the daytime and overnight. All wet food. She doesn’t eat much at one time so I just keep food always available to her. At 15 with IBD, her kibble days are over. And her kidneys are still in good shape because of that. That and the high amount of moisture she gets daily from the food she eats at regular intervals throughout the day and night.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

I do 7:30 am, small snack at 12:30 pm and dinner at 4:30 pm. These are feral cats and observing them, I noticed that they concentrate on their own bowls when hungry. If not hungry they play. So they pretty much set their own times. I don't free feed anymore. I do a mixture of wet and dry.

 

[CatLover49]

I feed my boy Snowball...Wet in morning...Wet mid afternoon...n put out a small amount of dry not alot...for him to nibble on through the night...

 

[CatLover49]

I do 7:30 am, small snack at 12:30 pm and dinner at 4:30 pm. These are feral cats and observing them, I noticed that they concentrate on their own bowls when hungry. If not hungry they play. So they pretty much set their own times. I don't free feed anymore. I do a mixture of wet and dry.

Lol ure feeding schedule is ALMOST like mine...

 

[Willow's Mom]

This baby (Willow) can't make it to sunrise unless she gets a bedtime snack and sometimes not even then. My previous cat had kibble out 24/7 but he still couldn't always wait until morning.

 

[cheesycats]

If you can’t add another feeding at least move the 4 pm feeding to 8-9 so she’s going less time without eating. You’d prob be hungry and mad about it after 16 hours too.

 

[thefishyone]

Thanks for all the feedback, guys!

I think the problem was that I was not feeding her enough. I was feeding her ~1/3 cup of dry food per feeding, and slightly less than doubled it, and now she seems happy. Her vet swears that 14 lbs is close enough to her ideal weight as to not matter, as she has a large build to her.

I would put her on wet food, but not only would I have problems affording it, Terra also MUCH prefers crunchy food to soft food. She won’t eat Temptations, because they don’t have that satisfying crunch she loves. If I thought Terra would eat it, I would find a way to afford wet food.

I will likely just push her dinner back to 6 PM, and add a 3rd feeding at noon. Thank you all for your input.