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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

What do you feed your cats and how much?

50 replies

VeganCow · 09/05/2013 19:41

My 2 have about 150g of canned wet plus about a desert spoon of dried food each a day, split over two meals. They are neutered boys and even on that little amount could do with losing around 1lb each.

Do you find that the recommended amounts of food is two to three times higher than they actually need?

OP posts:

Lonecatwithkitten · 09/05/2013 21:14

The feeding amounts are double what most cats required. My cats get 25g of dried food each in the morning (vet essentials young adult) and 1 Waitrose essential pouch each at night. They are lean mean racing machines, I can't bear for my pets to be overweight.

Original poster

VeganCow · 09/05/2013 22:18

It's surprisingly little isn't it?
I want to get mine leaner than they are. Is it true that once they get the hanging pouch under their tummy it never goes?

OP posts:

usualsuspect · 09/05/2013 22:23

mine has a bowl of dried food down all the time and one wet pouch a day.

Hes quite a skinny cat though.

chocolatespiders · 09/05/2013 22:25

My beautiful grey tortoise shell 18 year old girl has 2 pouches a day and some complete food it she is pestering me for more. She is slim as she has always been.

FunnysInLaJardin · 09/05/2013 22:29

mine get whatever they ask for. Tonight between them they have eaten some dried food and 2 pouches of whiskers. They have a tiny breakfast and mostly Max the boy cat isn't around until night, so I think that is average for the day. But they will only eat the one with the jelly, nothing else oh no otherwise they will refuse and miow me to distraction. They are average weight and about 5yo. It really varies though as we live in the country and in the summer they eat a load of wild food which supplements their diet.

Lonecatwithkitten · 09/05/2013 22:34

Once the flobber arrives (technical term) it is very hard to get rid off - cat cellulite.

My boy cat would like to eat a lot more I am hardened to his cries.

usualsuspect · 09/05/2013 22:35

Mine will only eat some fancy chicken whiskas pouch.

Toughasoldboots · 09/05/2013 22:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bonzo77 · 09/05/2013 22:55

1/2 a pouch morning and night. Handful go cat at night. Occasional dreamie plus what she can scavenge from plates / dishwasher. Very small female neutered cat, 3kg.

verygentlydoesit · 09/05/2013 23:04

I've got two cats. One can't tolerate wet food, the other panics if the food bowl is empty and bolts the lot as soon as he is fed, which makes him sick.

So, on advice from our vet they have dry food only, and the bowl is kept a quarter full to avoid the panic food bolting.

One is very slim, the other a little overweight but he's monitored by the vet who says he's fine.

NeoMaxiZoomDweebie · 09/05/2013 23:08

My Siamese boy can't take wet food unless it's fresh chicken he throws pouches up. He has a bowl of dried food (v good brand for seniors) out daily...he tends to eat it all but it's not a big bowl.

ZebraOwl · 09/05/2013 23:20

Mine get 70g Almo tinned food in the morning & 45g of Almo dry food in the evening.

Do not know how much the cats weigh, but they both still need kitten-sized collars (& have lots of growing room left!) & blond!cat, in particular, is Very Fluffy Indeed so I have to watch (esp as he is a very active little boy) that he's not getting too skinny.

crazydrunkevilhamster · 09/05/2013 23:20

My Boys both have 2 maybe 3 pouches of Felix a day & some biscuits last thing at night .
My Girl has just had kittens so she is averaging on five a day as she won't eat biscuits .

After trying loads of different makes I ended up going back to Felix as its the only one that doesn't give them a bad gut .

Hope im not over feeding them

VerySmallSqueak · 09/05/2013 23:28

I feed mine dry food as he wants it.
There's always food available to him.

Have also done this with previous cats and I've never had an over weight one.
I always thought they self regulate their intake - I realise now that it isn't always the case that they do,but mine always have.

Dry food is much better for their teeth.

If puss wants wet food he can catch the bloody mouse in my kitchen .

I do give him a tiny bit of milk every so often though.

basildonbond · 10/05/2013 09:09

my slightly chubby tabby has 40g of Hills tooth diet split into two meals, morning and just before bed and a dessertspoonful of wet food when we have our evening meal with the occasional treat when dd's trying to teach her a trick!

She lives for food and it does seem really mean to give her such a little amount but she is gradually losing weight and only has a little way to go until she's reached her/our target

I'd always thought that cats self-regulated but she would quite happily gorge herself until she threw up so we got her a food maze which means she has to work a bit to get the dry food and unless she's actually hungry she won't bother

cozietoesie · 10/05/2013 09:15

Seniorboy is allowed to eat at will. Two thirds of a pouch at each of breakfast and tea (for his meds), a cooked meat treat at lunchtime and half a pouch for late supper. I've started adding some Crunchy dry food to his supper bowl to see if that will counteract a very gradual weight loss and that has gone down very well.

DeepRedBetty · 10/05/2013 09:16

I refill the bowl when it's empty. BettyCat used to get a pouch of wet food every day, but I knocked that on the head as it was getting expensive and she was getting picky. There was a week of bleating, but now she's used to dry only. Currently working our way through an enormous amount of IAMS from when it was on 3-for-2 last autumn. She looks pretty good, she's three.

cozietoesie · 10/05/2013 09:17

PS - I'd say he leaves about a quarter of his pouch bowls as soon as they get at all dry He does like his food very fresh.

FunnysInLaJardin · 10/05/2013 10:34

same here Usual Only the chicken one, so I buy a mixed box of the Whiskas in jelly and make them eat the other flavours. Fucking things will happily chew through a field mouse leaving only the kidneys but try to get them to eat beef Whiskas..............

I love them but they drive me bonkers.

cozietoesie · 10/05/2013 10:43

usual

Try the Co-op Gourmet chicken chunks in gravy if you have one near you. It's probably cheaper and is the top favourite here. (It comes in single pouches so you only need to try one.)

QueenStromba · 10/05/2013 10:54

We feed ours on Butcher's Classic tins. She gets through 200-300g a day plus a bit of cat milk. She was skin and bones when we got her from Battersea though.

We were leaving Whiskas biscuits down for her but her sickness episodes seemed to correspond with her having eaten more of them than normal so we've stopped giving them to her.

issey6cats · 10/05/2013 12:27

my four get one tin of butchers classic between them Am and in the afternoon they get half a mug of feline fayre dry and the odd treat like if im making a ham sandwich they can have half a slice each and wheight wise the tuxedos are small as in about 2.5 kgs each the gignga ninja wheighs about 6kg and the half siamese thug wheighs 4.5kgs all of them are the right wheight for thier bone structures so i guess they are getting the right amount

Dolallytats · 10/05/2013 12:46

My two have half a tin of wet cat food each a day, split in the morning and evening. They don't have dry food as it makes them sick. One cat is tiny and sleek and the other is round and fat-she also has the shortest legs ever and I sometimes wonder how they hold her up. She looks like one of those cottage loaves!!

They get fed exactly the same, so I assume cat shapes vary as much as humans!!

Original poster

VeganCow · 10/05/2013 15:26

Butchers Classic is one of the better tinned foods, mine love it.

OP posts:

GreenShadow · 10/05/2013 16:02

Agree Dolallytats. Our two brothers eat much the same, but one is a skinny little thing and the other, while not being fat/overweight, is definitely on the rounder side.

They share a tin of wet food a day (most in the morning) and then fill up on dry with occasional treats of fish/chicken/egg etc

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