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Old July 7th, 2005, 09:00 PM
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Tracy Martinez Tracy Martinez is offline
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Little Piggy!

Is it normal for cats to eat constantly? My cat Boots wants to eat everytime I walk into the kitchen! And he eats every bit, every time. He's not overweight, if anything he's on the skinny side. I even wormed him a couple of months ago, just in case. Just wondering!!
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Old July 7th, 2005, 09:13 PM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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How old is he, and how much and what do you feed him?

For a cat to be eating constantly and be skinny would worry me a bit.
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  #3  
Old July 7th, 2005, 09:36 PM
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Tracy Martinez Tracy Martinez is offline
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He is 1 year old and he's eating Kitten Chow. He's getting neutered this weekend so I can talk it over with the vet, I was just curious as to if anyone else's cat does this.
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Old July 8th, 2005, 09:30 AM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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A 1 yr old tomcat doesn't need Kitten Chow.

Put him on a good quality diet of adult canned food and some dry too if you wish.

Good thing you're getting him neutered. You're lucky he hasnt' started spraying in your house yet!
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Old July 8th, 2005, 09:34 AM
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Is he an outdoor cat? If so, then a regular worming program is needed. Just eating one mouse or bird can bring back the worms. As you are already taking him to the vet for his neutering, I would suggest you ask him to do a thorough going over with fecal analysis during his short stay. Thanks for neutering him!
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  #6  
Old July 8th, 2005, 11:19 AM
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Tracy Martinez Tracy Martinez is offline
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Well, too much canned food gives him diarrhea, and Kitten chow is about the only thing he likes. He's VERY picky! He would rather not eat! (BTW, my vet said that cats should only have about 1 spoonful of canned food/day)
Ever since I've had him he's been "slender" (also on the small side) and he's not exactly an "outside cat", he'll sit on the porch occasionally but prefers to stay inside. He came from a house where the owners let their cats breed practically out of control, and as a result he was born with a deformed tail. So, I'm going to make sure he's examined from head to stub, and hopefully he's alright. I've only just recently started becoming concerned about him after he hit the 1 year mark. I figured he was a growing kitty and was just hungry!
Yeah, thankfully he goes in tomorrow morning, he's going to be really upset with me later though, because he can't have any food or water from 10 o'clock tonight on...and trust me, he'll want some.
And yes thankfully he hasn't sprayed anything!
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Old July 8th, 2005, 11:56 AM
Lucky Rescue Lucky Rescue is offline
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Quote:
(BTW, my vet said that cats should only have about 1 spoonful of canned food/day)
What is his reasoning for that? Most vets are medical doctors and surgeons and are not nutritionists. Often they recommend whatever is lining their shelves, even if it's poor quality food.

You can gradually change him over to canned food. This is very important for neutered males, if you don't want to have him getting blockages or stones.

Cats, unlike dogs, are strict carnivores and in nature get most of their moisture from their prey, since they eat only flesh. A dry diet is very unnatural for a cat. If you're feeding Purina Kitten Chow, you can't give a diet much worse than that.

A dry diet combined with not drinking enough ( a problem for most cats) enough causes very concentrated urine which can result in crystals or stones.

Canned food is about 80% moisture, so urine can remain properly dilute.
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  #8  
Old July 8th, 2005, 04:55 PM
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Tracy Martinez Tracy Martinez is offline
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Wow, thanks for all of the info, I didn't know all of that. I have no idea his reasoning for the 1 spoonful, but that's what he's told my whole family, and so we all do it. What kind of wet food is really good nutritionally? I'm not able to spend BIG bucks on his food but I'd like for him to be healthy. I have a feeling he's eating so much because his body is trying to get the nutrition he needs. My poor little guy! What's wrong with Kitten chow? I feed my other kitty that as she's a nursing mom, and I heard it's good for the kittens. Should she be getting something else also? Thanks for all the help.
Tracy
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Old July 8th, 2005, 10:27 PM
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CyberKitten CyberKitten is offline
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Wow, I;d have to disagree with that vet. I know I am a bit extreme but I see dry food as junk food - it has so much stuff cats do not need. I prefer only wet food made with human quality food and ingredients. Wellness is one brand but there are others. Not sure about Hills Science - it seems to be prescribed often by vets but if they are all like yours, I don't know????
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  #10  
Old July 9th, 2005, 09:19 AM
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Tracy Martinez Tracy Martinez is offline
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I told my sister what I learned on here and she's completely confused. Her cat is pretty "hefty" and she's still going to take the vet's advice. I personally believe it's up the owner.
As long as I keep the water fresh, the cats drink plenty. I have to re-up their bowl at least 5 times a day! So I decided to gradually switch them to mostly a wet diet, so their systems don't go all out of wack! Not to mention the fact they LOVE the canned food. I always fed it to them as sort of a treat. I never knew how important it was. I guess you learn something new everyday! At this very moment Boots is getting his surgery and all his shots, and also getting wormed. I felt so sorry for him this morning, he ran to his bowl meowing for food. But hopefully he'll make it through with flying colors!
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