Should I be feeding my cat more?

crissy89

Hello Ladies!  Will post pictures of Kiki soon I promise!

The vet told us to feed her about a 1/4 cup twice a day. I've been doing one in the morning and one at night. However, she repeatedly wakes me up before my alarm goes off because she is hungry and always seems to be hungry mid-day. Now, she only weighs about 6 lbs and from what I've read 1/2 cup a day is pretty standard for a can or her size (she's a little over a year old). The vet also mentioned that 3 Tbs. wet food should be given as a treat only once in a while. Because she seems to be hungry mid-day I will give her 1-2 tsp. of wet food as a "snack". 

Should I be feeding her more? Thoughts/ideas?

 TIA!  

niemand88f

The quantity really depends on which food you feed, and really varies from cat to cat. View your vet's recommended amount as a starting point to find the right amount for your cat. For a food with many fillers like Science Diet, Friskies, etc, you need to feed more (and not recommended). Higher quality foods with less fillers, you don't need to feed as much (like Wellness, Innova, Taste of the Wild, etc).

Wet food is actually very good for cats, so I give a side-eye to your vet for that statement. Many cats don't drink enough water on their own so wet food helps them stay hydrated.

 You can try adding a little bit more food to each meal and just watch your cat's weight, if she starts gaining weight back off on the amount. Some cats just seem perpetually hungry , mine never let me forget a mealtime, and they're at their ideal weights. 

ndolehan

I think if you continue giving her the wet food as a "snack", keeping with the same amount - it should be fine. After you give her the snack is she fine until dinner time?

As for waking you up in the AM, is there anyway you can feed her dinner a bit later? 

It's also possible she's adjusting to her new "schedule". 

If she is a high-energy cat, she might need a little bit more calories in her diet - therefore more food. Is she very active? 

crissy89

Um... it really depends on the day. Normally I feed her breakfast around 7:30-8ish (before I leave for school) and then dinner around 6-7ish. She was fine the first couple of days we brought her home and now it just seems like she's hungry all the time!! I don't mind feeding her more, I just don't want her to gain a ton of weight, nor do I want to starve her either!  I will try to feed her her snack on a regular basis and see if that helps. 

I could always try feeding her her snack later int he afternoon and dinner later at night before we go to bed.

Kiki is well... it depends. She definitely has her lazy moments where she will sleep for a couple of hours at a time, but seems to be MUCH more active at night. Take last night for instance, she was literally bouncing off the walls and finally calmed down once I went to bed.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As far as feeding her later, I could try that and maybe push her "snack" back until late afternoon.

 

Kaiene

niemand88f:

The quantity really depends on which food you feed, and really varies from cat to cat. View your vet's recommended amount as a starting point to find the right amount for your cat. For a food with many fillers like Science Diet, Friskies, etc, you need to feed more (and not recommended). Higher quality foods with less fillers, you don't need to feed as much (like Wellness, Innova, Taste of the Wild, etc).

Wet food is actually very good for cats, so I give a side-eye to your vet for that statement. Many cats don't drink enough water on their own so wet food helps them stay hydrated.

 You can try adding a little bit more food to each meal and just watch your cat's weight, if she starts gaining weight back off on the amount. Some cats just seem perpetually hungry , mine never let me forget a mealtime, and they're at their ideal weights. 

Ditto.  L is smaller than S, but she eats more because she is way more active.  S sleeps literally all day.  I suggest feeding a high quality food if you aren't doing so already.  That will help her feel fuller, longer.   

mommyof4boys

We're only a month into having cats but I can tell you we do a 3 ounce can and 1 cup of dry every day.  It took a bit of experimenting as to how much to feed our cats.  They are almost 5 months old.  We were told to do wet every day as well as dry.  I also noticed the same as others said.  The previous owner had our cats on Meow Mix which is like McDonalds for a cat.  We switched to California Natural and recently to The Taste of the Wild.  They ended up liking that more than the Meow Mix!  They eat a bit less which works itself out considering it's about 4 dollars more per 5 lb bag.  If I give the girls the 6 ounce can all at once of the wet food they don't eat as much dry.  Our kittens wrestle for part of the day and sleep for the rest.

LuckyAngel07

mommyof4boys:

We're only a month into having cats but I can tell you we do a 3 ounce can and 1 cup of dry every day.  It took a bit of experimenting as to how much to feed our cats.  They are almost 5 months old.  We were told to do wet every day as well as dry.  I also noticed the same as others said.  The previous owner had our cats on Meow Mix which is like McDonalds for a cat.  We switched to California Natural and recently to The Taste of the Wild.  They ended up liking that more than the Meow Mix!  They eat a bit less which works itself out considering it's about 4 dollars more per 5 lb bag.  If I give the girls the 6 ounce can all at once of the wet food they don't eat as much dry.  Our kittens wrestle for part of the day and sleep for the rest.

Kitten require more food than adult cats do because of their growth rate. OPs cat definitely does NOT need to be eating an entire cup of dry food a day, hahaha! She'd chub up for sure!

My cats get 1/4 C dry in the morning and ~1/8 C dry with a spoonful of wet in the evening. I know they're getting adequate nutrition because they're not dropping weight, but they still always act like they're starving, especially starting an hour or two before mealtime. On the weekends when we sleep in a bit later, one of them starts meowing outside the bedroom door on and off, "reminding" us she's out there and wants her breakfast! Hahaha. They've been eating the same amount/type of food for nearly a year now, so I know I'm starving them .