How much/often do you feed your cats?

[HunterXHunter]

Maybe this belongs in the food forum, but...

As some of you may know from my other post "Should I adopt a cat?", that well...I adopted a cat!

He's 4 years old and about 10.5 lbs. As per the instructions on the cat food (Royal Canin), I feed him 1 cup per day. In addition, I give him some treats throughout the day too. But Bogart always seems to check his bowl for more food every once in a while and yesterday I gave in and gave him a little more.

I don't want to get him overweight or anything, but should I not give him more? Do your cats do what Bogart is doing and look in their bowls for more food every once in a while like they're still hungry?

Thanks.

[Frenchy]

I feed Monsieur le chat twice a day , as per instruction in the bag too, 2/3 a cup per day. He usually leave some in his bowl. He's 12 pounds.

[rainbow]

I feed my two in the morning and at supper time. They split a 156g can of wet food a day and I put 1/2 cup dry in their bowl twice a day which they share.

BTW, Royal Canin is not a very good kibble to feed. I would switch to Orijen, Felidae or Innova.

[HunterXHunter]

Oh ok thanks rainbow. Royal Canin was what he was eating at the time. I was looking to switch it to Nutrience (maybe holistic?), but I guess I'll look into those brands you mentioned since you've had cats longer

[rainbow]

Nutrience isn't any better that Royal Canin. Look at the ingredients on the Royal Canin bag then look at the ingredients here:


Orijen:

http://www.championpetfoods.com/orij...gredients.aspx


Felidae:

http://www.canidae.com/cats/chicken_and_rice/dry.html


Innova:

http://www.innovapet.com/products/default.asp?id=2


Innove EVO:

http://www.evopet.com/products/default.asp?id=1500

[mona_b]

My cats are free fed their dry.And they get canned twice a day.I have them on a holistic dry.And my cats are 3 and 3 1/2 and 6.

[sissani]

My cat gets a big tablespoon of canned (Merrick) for breakfast and about 1/4-1/3 cup kibble (Innova Evo) for dinner.

[Maya]

I feel cats should be "free fed". It also depends on the individual cat since they all have different requirements based on activity, size, age, metabolism, and what they did that day etc. They tend to eat when hungry unless they've been restricted a lot, which can lead to binging and weight gain/slowed metabolism. I think wet twice a day as the main meal and a good quality crunchy for snacking regularly is a pretty good guidline.

[edit]To add I always took checking the bowl to mean "still a bit hungry" must need a little more, and my kitties were all quite lean. I think its possible some cats will over eat if they just don't have enough else going (or once in a while when they REALLY enjoy a meal) but otherwise I think they do mostly eat only when hungry. If excessive eating did start happening I'd look into medical reasons before considering restricting anyway.

[Lissa]

All of my cats have been free-fed and have never been overweight...Okay Minnow was a chub-chub for a year but she's skinny now! I still free-feed her, I just took her off RC Siamese!

[trippincherri]

I think it really depends on the cat.
Some cats eat more then others.

All 3 of mine are free fed, they have a huge bowl which we only fill when it gets empty and none of them are very overweight. (I thought they were, but I just had them in at the vet and she said they look excellent!! PHEW )

They get treats usually once a day, and canned food MAYBE once a week.
I kind of weaned them off the canned food, I found it was making them chubby.

Maybe just try filling a small bowl for him and leave it there and see if he makes a piggy of himself or if he grazes at it. If he is a grazer (eating periodically throughout the day) then I would free feed him.
But if he tries to gobble the whole bowl maybe he'll need some restrictions.

[Scott_B]

Three cats. Two males and a female. The three split 3/4cup of Evo in the AM and at supper the Female gets 1/4cup of Evo dry and the two males get usually 2/3 can of Evo wet. the female wont eat the wet