I have 2 female cats, a 4yr old Himalayan & a 10 month old American shorthair. They both are pretty active (the younger one, moreso obviously). But I have them on an automatic feeder that dispenses 1/2 a cup of dry food twice a day at 4:00. Yet around 2:00 pm they both seem to be very hungry – especially the little one. Am I not feeding them enough or should there be one more feeding a day?
The older one does have a little more meat on her and I don’t want her to get fat to the point that it’s unhealthy. Would you suggest a larger feeding at twice a day or one more smaller feeding a day? Thank you so much for all your advice.
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{ 20 comments… read them below or add one }
the youngest cat should be feed more often. Is it a 1/2 cup per cat or a 1/2 cup total? Your cats also need wet food in their diet. Are they waiting 12 hours between feedings? 4am and 4pm? The kitten has a smaller stomach and will burn the food faster as it is still growing. Cats eat when they are hungry, unlike dogs who will eat if there is food. Cats do not need a food dispenser, these items are for the convenience of the owner who might not be around enough for regular feedings. If you insist on the food dispenser, make it more often with slightly smaller quantities.
It should be 1/2 cup per cat, per feeding, or a cup per day per cat. We feed ours in the morning, one cup per cat.
feed them once more a day
I’d feed the little one, once more about 1/2 way between feedings. The older one probably isn’t getting enough either, so I’d include her. Good Luck!!
I heard that kittens and puppies need 3 square meals a day, don’t overfeed them though. They’ll become obese. You really don’t want that.
Make sure to put more food out for them. The nice thing about cats, is unlike dogs, they usually (except in rare cases) will not over eat. You can put food out and they should be pretty self-monitoring on how much they need. If you would still like to measure how much food they will need you can simply see how much they seem to be eating and they just start giving them that amount.
yes i think
I also have 2 cats. I was told it was 1 cup of dry food per day per cat.
Well it really depends on their size, but most cats can eat about 1 cup of food per day. The vet recommended 1 cup per day for my cats (a Ragdoll/himilayan and orange tabby) and they weigh approx 10 lbs. each. I think you should add another feeding.
u should be feeding them that each, especially the younger one.So make it a whole cup (each meal – two meals a day) as there’s two. Also try mixing the dry food sometimes with sachets of food it will fill them up more or even add little bits of ham to it. It will be more intersting for them.
I just have one cat, a 2 yr old ASH. I feed her about the same as you were saying and she seems to stay hungry. But, if I feed her more than that she gets really lazy and fat. So I just keep it at a cup, to a cup and a half a day, and her energy level seems to stay up. And they say an active cat is a healthy cat. Hope this helps.
It depends on body weight and age also by individual kitty. Generally the rule of thumb is 1/4 to 1/2 Cup per cat a day. As long as they are active there’s usually no harm in giving more to younger cats.
You are doing well. Cats don’t need to eat as much as most people feed them. A bigger problem is over-feeding. Cats always act hungry.
They can be persistent, though, so just distract them by playing with them, or ignore (harder to do). Sometimes a little milk (very little) will satisfy them for a while.)
If your vet says their weight is good, be glad and don’t start overfeeding them. Good job.
I feed my cat 1/2 a cup in the morning and leave it out all day. I was feeding her 3/4 a cup, but she started gaining weight.
Half a cup should be enough for the adult, but if she is still hungry I would feed her 3/4 a cup of cat food. The kitten should be getting more though. Maybe 1 to 1 1/2 cups a day. Kittens need more food than adults, because they are still growing.
On the back of the cat food bag, there should be the recommended amount of food cats and kittens need. You can follow those guidelines. Or the next time you go to your vet. Ask them what is the best amount of food to feed your cats.
Here are some sites with more information on feeding cats.
http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/feedcats.html
http://www.cathealth.com/feedingcats.htm
http://www.homevet.com/petcare/feedingyourcat.html
Maybe the big one is eating all the food and the little one doesn’t get any. I feed my cat twice a day.
Cats typically eat several small meals a day, how do you determine if they’re hungry at 2? Are you at home at this time? Are their bowls empty from the 4:00am feeding? Most food packaging tells you the amount of food based on the cat’s weight. If your cats are over 8lbs 1cup is too little.
I have 10 year-old American short hair and had 4 persian cats, 1 sham, and 2 stray cats. They lived almost 15 to 20years. My American short hair eat many times a day, and my policy is to feed cats whenever they want to eat. I feed mainly canned tuna, chicken, and other seafood (dry food always there). I feed raw fresh fish, too. They are animals, but they feel taste. I recommend you to feed them more variety of food, not only dry food…and do not decide (not be strict about meal time) feeding time! They are not hungry = they are less stress > live longer!! From my experiences.
Oh, and cats like american shorthair and persian do not eat too much, so they do not get fat. Some times of small meals a day is great.
What is the recommended amount to feed them stated on the cat food package? Different brands of food have different amount of nutrients, fillers, etc and therefore require different amounts of food. You also need feed a cat according to its weight. There should be a chart on the side of the bag/can.
Usually you should feed kittens kitten food. I imagine that you are feeding just adult cat food. In which case you will need to feed a little bit more than recommended for the 10 month old.
No, I do not think that that is enough food. You should not use an automatic feeder. You should get two sets of cat dishes, one for each cat.You should feed them each one cup of food a day, instead of using the same dish. When you use the same dish your cats may not be getting an equal amount of food each. Hope I helped!
I free feed my 3. I give them a dry food with no grain…. either Orijen or Evo, depending on which one the store has in stock when I’m there, and they eat what they need. When I was using food with grain in it I had 1 overweight and 2 skinny cats. Since switching to grain free, the fat cat has lost 2 pounds and the other 2 have gained a bit and all 3 are now at healthier weights. Since they have the food in the drop feeder all the time, they are secure that when they’re hungry the food will be there and so feel no need to gorge when the food is first put out…. it’s worked out well for me. They also get the occassional cat of wet food as a treat (maybe twice a week), and they’re now in the habit of eating a little and not feeling compelled to snarf out when there’s food in the bowl and that has carried over to the wet food…. I put down the can and they each eat a little and then go about their business.