Do you 'free feed' your cats, or do they have set feeding times?

[Flaxbee]

I have always just left dry out for the cats to 'graze', but one of my babies has developed a serious weight problem... and I'm going to have to (somehow) switch to structured meal times.

Anyone have any suggestions to transition the cats (six of 'em) to set meal times with the least amount of trauma?

(Also seems to me it'll cut down on food waste ..)

[DainBramaged]

1. I have had dozens of teh furbabies through the years

always left food out. had skinny ones, BIG ones, REAL fatso ones (like my beloved Picasso who passed in 2008 from a jaw tumor) and my Roscoe who weighed 25 pounds and lived 18.5 years. I wonder if the weight isn't from eating maybe something else?


<----------Picasso :cry:

[Flaxbee]

2. I just lost one of my beloveds, too. Well, back in February.

But it doesn't hurt any less.

Novi just is a nervous eater -- she was a single stray momma who brought us her three girls (we kept the family) and I think just has food availability issues. I'm going to start putting the food up at night, at least, to cut down on volume.

[DainBramaged]

30. Good point, this way she isn't pigging out at night

[dysfunctional press]

21. we lost our 13-year old siamese she-ra to the same thing last year...

the vet found the tumor while doing about $1000 worth of dental work. she had to be put down less than 3 weeks later, when she stopped eating.

a couple months after that we lost our grey tabby, xena, to a different type of tumor, on her front shoulder.

she-ra's tumor was a very aggressive one, and she went quickly from it- xena's was much slower acting- it just kept getting bigger for almost 3 years before it took it's toll.

but- we got two new girl kittens to take their places- a tortie named sasha and a muted tortie named malia.

our red tabby, mars, and fredda katz- our feline-averse black lab round out the family.

[Kali]

3. do it gradually

and preferably when you aren't home - for instance feed a small amount in the morning so they finish and are "out of food" until you get back at whenever. Feed a small amount then, and then I would probably fill over night for a while or they will start interrupting your sleep or getting you up rather early:P

[Flaxbee]

5. We're evil kitteh parents, putting them all downstairs in the rec room

(finished basement / garage) at nighttime. My husband's workspace is down there, and then there are about a zillion cat beds, the washer/dryer, and 6 litter boxes. We think they party all night long :D
without us boring old adults around.

So, until Ivan starts banging his large solid boycat head against the door in the morning (he's considerate, usually waiting until 10 a.m.), we get uninterrupted sleep.

[Kali]

10. oh hell - that's perfect

starve the little monsters! bwahahahhaha (just kidding)

[madinmaryland]

4. Our two male cats are grazers, but Sonia is training them to be fed their

canned food. She just got up and acknowledged that. She starts about 5 am and spends the next hour or two cha-cha-ing over us until someone gets up and feed her. I think it's a Mainecoon thing, as our previous cat (who was 25lbs) would do the same thing. He was black too!

Roosevelt worships the dry food (well just about any type of food he will worship). Sonia is a dedicated wet food (loves tuna) and will nosh on dry food. Panda is primarily a nibbler of whatever is out.

[Flaxbee]

7. Roosevelt's the big bruiser, right?

And wasn't your previous black cat named Truffle?

Three of our cats are very slim and trim, Ivan is a big ole' boy, Novi is too heavy by almost 5 lbs (she should be 9 lbs, she's 14) and little Inga is pretty solid, but doesn't eat compulsively the way Novi (her mom) does.

Thanks for the info on the Metro passes in my DC thread, by the way.... :hi:

[madinmaryland]

18. The funny thing is Truffle was an all black Mainecoon like Sonia,

and they both have the same eating habits! The stomach goes off about 5am. Sonia isn't quite as bad as Truffle was though. He we would get himself so worked up in the morning if we didn't feed him "RIGHT NOW", that he would barf, just to gross us out!

[LeftyMom]

6. They have a gravity feeder that holds several days worth of kibble at a stretch.

None of them have any trouble with overeating.

[Flaxbee]

8. I've never had this issue until our vet's eyes popped out

when we took Novi in. Sigh.

[LeftyMom]

12. Three of my four are on the slight side.

The fourth tends a bit to fat, but not enough to worry about. Anyhow, she's not an overeater, she's just spectacularly lazy even by cat standards, she thinned up quite a bit while there were kittens in the house.

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. Used to free feed, but somewhere around 13 yrs old they started to really chub out. Once the boy cat

developed hyperthyroidism, we switched to grazing on a small amount of dry kibble all day and a 1/4 of wet food for for each kitteh at bedtime. Seems to be the right formula because at 15 they are now looking nice and svelte. :) (Actually, the switch was originally due to me trying to hide his pills in his nummies, but he got wise to that. We stuck with the eating plan, though, and I just started making a towel taco out of him to get the pill down his throat.)

[Flaxbee]

11. hm. that sounds do-able.

Bedtime wet food treat, with limited dry during the day. Novi and Ivan are the only two who get to go out (daylight hours only) so I could manage my other girls who don't have weight issues easily... and keep Novi eating less, gradually so she doesn't freak out.

Lol. Towel taco, I know that maneuver! I ended up buying a pill syringe (about $3) and it is a miracle device. Still need the towel taco, but at least I don't worry about my fingers getting bitten off...

[GreenPartyVoter]

13. Lucky for me Pretzel is rather placid so I very rarely get chomped or scratched. :^)

[Flaxbee]

14. it's interesting - my boys have been soooo easy to medicate, but

the girls are horrific (except for Clarisse, and you wouldn't expect her to be docile about pills since she's a terror about everything else).

My usually lovey-dovey girls turn into devils when pills or even liquid medicine is involved. Sigh.

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. Pickles would be a holy terror to have to pill. She's my wild child. LOL

[zanne]

16. I free feed them dry food...

Then I feed them canned food twice a day, followed by treats at night. (And if they happen to like what I'm eating, they'll usually get some of that, too).

[kedrys]

17. They have kibble on tap, and get fed wet food four times a day

Plato has an atomic clock in his head - if the 6pm feeding is two minutes late, he's in the living room stabbing me in the leg and hoisting up a little sign that says "The service continues to suck."

Socrates' weight is starting to bug me. He used to be the size of his head - now he weighs almost 25 pounds. The kicker is that the 7-pound cat (Neutrino) eats at least as much as he does, and she's large-squirrel size, very slender and quick. If I knew where she puts it, I'd be rich.

Quark and Evie seem to keep their 12 pound weight pretty even. Plato weighs 18 pounds, but he's long, not wide like his brother.

It's been suggested that I cut back on the kibble to help Socks lose some weight without pissing off the other 4 cats.

Good luck!

[dysfunctional press]

19. things changed when we got a black lab...

we used to free-feed, but that doesn't work so well with a hungry dog around- so now it's set(kinda sorta) feeding times for all.

[charlie and algernon]

20. My cat has set feedings

She's overweight at 16 pounds and the vet has her on a 1/4 cup dry food twice a day schedule. Hasn't really lost any weight, but she's at least stabilized at 16 pounds. She doesn't graze, she gobbles everything down in about 30 minutes.

[tabbycat31]

33. my 16 yo's the opposite

He's underweight (currently on an appetite stimulant) and he gets fed freely all the time. When the food's gone he gets more.

[hedgehog]

22. We free feed all our animals. I've noticed that some of them would chunk up

in the Fall and slim down again in the Spring. Our dog Pooka has some food anxiety; sometimes he's apt to gobble and then barf his food later on to chew it properly.

[Bertha Venation]

23. Both.

We free-feed two kinds of kibble, and at around 4:00 PM each day they split six small cans of wet food.

[applegrove]

24. I just started free feeding my cats a few months ago. So far neither one has gained weight

so it works great. Except that my Monster will complain that the bowl is empty when there are at least three meals left. He gets really anxious and herds me into the kitchen to top up the bowl. LOL!

[Orsino]

25. Set feeding times. *Evening* feeding times...

...so that the little fuckers aren't trying to wake me in the morning.

[Arkansas Granny]

26. I free feed my cat and my dog. Whenever I notice the dish getting low

or empty, I fill it up to the top. They are both spayed females, 7 and 10 yo respectively, and neither one has a weight problem. They only eat dry food so there is no spoilage problem. If I don't notice when their dish is empty, they are quick to let me know.

[kaehele]

27. I'm dealing with the same problem

Flax, I did free feed my three catniks until one of them turned into a 21-pounder. What I am trying to do now is give each a can of Fancy Feast in the morning with no dry food left out. Around 5 in the evening they get another 1/2 can and a bit of dry and later on an additional 1/2 can and dry. Eventually, the 3rd half can will go as will all but the morning dry. I'm trying not to reduce the fat one too quickly and bring on assorted other problems.

Good luck!

[Flaxbee]

31. Moist food just has soooo many calories (so my vet said)....

I think it's healthier if cats have some of both, wet and dry, but I'm trying to really cut back on the wet, esp. with the chunky one. They all get a spoonful of wet in the morning, with some dry left out during the day, and then another spoonful at night.

The other cats really regulate their intake, but Novi is just a neurotic eater, poor girl.

[elocs]

28. My cats have never had the magic food bowl that is always so marvelously filled.

They clearly understand that I am the source of their sustenance. Because of that I do not have fat or diabetic cats or cats who cop an attitude with me. They clearly understand that I mean food. I've also never had a cat that starved with food in its bowl. When they are hungry enough they will eat what I give them. So they are happy and healthy.

I feed my cat now small amounts of dry cat food throughout the day since if I give her more she scarfs it down and then pukes it up.

[GoCubsGo]

29. Something that might help

The treat balls slow them down and keep them busy for a while. You can buy them through Amazon.com and numerous other on-line retailers. I have also seen them in places like PetSmart and Big Lots. There are other versions of them, including one with a recording device so you can talk to your cat while it "hunts" its food. I have one who bolts his food. These slow him down so that he doesn't go after the other one's food.

As for transitioning, just do it. Go cold turkey. That's what I did when my cats developed a weight problem. It wasn't nearly as traumatic as you'd think it might be. They'll adapt quickly.

Have you considered giving them wet food for one meal? It's more filling, since it's full of water. Odds are, they'll forgive you for cutting back their food if you start giving them canned food. If you decide to stick with dry, don't go by the recommendations on the bag. It's too much. Mine do fine with the equivalent of half a cup per day. I feed twice per day, but they also get some wet food in the evening. They both get "light" food, even though one of them doesn't need it. He's not starving by any means.

Another thing I suggest, if you can afford to do so, is put kitty on the "Catkins" Diet--go grain-free. There are a number of grain-free kibbles out there (Indigo Moon, Blue Buffalo, Serengeti...), and some of the canned food from the grocery store also fits the bill, including some of the Fancy Feast varieties and many store brand versions of it. Some of PetSmart's "Authority" canned food also are grain free, as is the "Pet's Choice" from Target (I think--it might have rice in it.)

[Flaxbee]

32. They get both wet and dry... I used to feed them super high quality

moist but it ended up being too much of a burden on my budget with six cats, so they get super high quality dry (Indigo Moon, Artemis, Nature's Balance, etc.) and then a spoonful of Fancy Feast in the a.m. and p.m. Am going to have to cut Novi's nighttime moist food out, then stop leaving dry out during the nighttime.