Do you feed your cats at the same time each day and if not how do they respond?

[Itsfab]

In term times I am not home until 4.30 so they get fed between 4.32 and 5pm.

BoyCat is already here at 4.10 asking for tea. I have been trying to make sure I feed them between 4.30-5 but it feels mean really, especially given he obviously remembers being starved but then I don't want him to get used to being fed at 4 and having to wait again once school is back. I may be over thinking this .

Late FABCat asked earlier and earlier for her tea and in her last few weeks would appear at 2.30 chancing her paw .

Mine know that as soon as I'm up they will be fed. In term time this is 5:30 (ugh) but in the hols it's been about 8:30 (yay).
Similarly, they know as soon as I'm home from school they'll get fed too but this can vary hugely.
So really, they're quite good actually!

A fairly tight routine here because that seems to be what suits them. (Any uneaten food is dumped and fresh food put down at the right time.) The timings are fairly well aligned with human activities though: eg breakfast is when I get up and not a set time such as 07.00 - it doesn't vary wildly, though.

I don't get complaints if I'm late for some reason - maybe a touch of The Look but that's it.

Mine get fed when I get up and when I get in from work. On off days they always seem to leave a few grains (dry food) in their bowl in case I oversleep But if I'm late they will eventually start knocking things off the bedside table until I get up.

They tend to eat in small snacks throughout the day but they still want to see me put fresh food in twice a day, even if they don't them immediately eat it

OMG BoyCat ran in, straight to GirlCats dish where she grabbed the biggest mouthful she could and ran off, dropping it all over my floor. He managed to get a bit before I separated them while she finished and then when I opened the door they ran to each others dishes to see if anything was left.

They have been like this for a couple of days. I am wondering what is going on.

BoyCat has been staying at home a lot more than usual since we came back from holiday and it is usually the odd occasion that GirlCat goes nosing in his dish.

My cat turns in to a huge pain in the arse for food when she needs worming.

Actually they are due so I will call the vet tomorrow. Thanks.

My cat gets fed between 6-8 am and 4:30-6:30 in the evening.

Its always been like that here and she never complains at the changing times.

She wont wait later than 6:30 for her tea though she will sit at her bowl and give you pointed looks till you fill it

whenever we get up is breakfast, but they do tend to ensure we're up by eight and it's normally around 7:30.

Dinner is 6pm on the button, which means that from about 4:30 they become increasingly affectionate, or in mad-cats case, increasingly mad.

At first we thought it meant they needed feeding earlier, but a reduction to five pm meant they just started the routine at 3:30 so we went back to six.

Omg you have schedules? I am in awe! Mine get fed pretty much whenever they demand it Not a problem with Portia as she is tiny and fussy and doesn't ever over eat, but Morph was a real 'Six dinner Sid'

I am going to attempt a schedule when the kittens arrive!!!!

So, in conclusion?

Buy some earplugs - you need to be Top Cat in your own house - and align their feeding to the routine they'll get during term time. And stick to that.

They'll adjust.

I just leave dry food down all day for them to pick at and then feed them a sachet of wet food each for tea. But me and DS graze a lot as well on healthy foods.

Fat cat lost a lot of weight this way. If she was hungry she would over eat.

Abandoned cat has a better relationship with food this way as well. He was terrified that I was going to abandon him and starve him like his last owners and would eat all his food and all the other cats food until he threw up and then eat his own sick

Now he comes inside, runs to the bowl for a quick look, has one bite, is content that the bowls are full and wanders off for a nap

That wouldn't work as the other cat would scoff the others food!

I know I'm not TopCat though . I know my place.

My cat gets her food split into three meals (with a little dry left during the day) I try to hold off till 10pm ish (or sometimes later of I'm out) for her last meal as she wakes me up early, but if I'm in usually from 8.30pm she'll start demanding it! 4.30 ish for dinner & she's like a clock for that one! In summer she starts wanting breakfast pretty much as soon as the sun is fully up....lately it's been 5.30am, I put her back to bed till about 7am....she's verrrry persistent.

My cats sleep in the utility room so n jumping on our bed in the morning. This started with FABCat as we had hamsters and we have kept on with it. Good job given that BC and GC like to bring in gifts.

CatBach has access to dry food all day long as I just keep her bowl topped up. She gets her wet food when it's bedtime, which varies wildly from 9pm to midnight. She doesn't seem to care that it varies, but will scream if I forget ??

Mine get breakfast when I get up (I sometimes have to go and wake R-Cat up, if he's been out on the tiles, but T-Cat is always there waiting for me), and tea when I get in from work. It's funny because DH gets in before me, but they never bother him.

They have dry food down all day. We've always done this, and they don't overeat although one of R-Cat's 'other women' came round last night to make sure we were okay with her feeding him chicken during the day when we're out at work, so no wonder he doesn't bother with the dry food I leave down

Mine only eats dry food so its always there

It changes things if they've been strays and known the pain of extreme hunger, our rescues were both very food driven compared to the ones we'd had from kitten hood.

We used an autofeeder for fluff cat but he learnt how to open it I threw it away and gave him a bigger breakfast instead.

Mr Cory is a bloody nightmare. He gets fed four times a day (it's meant to be twice) and is entertained between meals with a selection of: snacks, titbits, biscuits, seconds, special expensive milk, treats and my food.

I am run ragged with the animal's alimentary needs. I haven't the faintest idea how people cope with children. Or an office job.

He jumps on me to get me up at 5:30, clawing my back so badly the doc thought I was a victim of domestic violence. I am.

I am not allowed to go to bed until I do the night feed, which is at 10pm sharp.

On the upside, I always know roughly what time it is by the arrival of The Snack Stare. And he is so swooningly appreciative that it's beyond worth it.

We were told two different stories by the RSPCA. One was abandoned in a house and the second one found when they went back to the house, and also that they were found lost and injured.

In the first few weeks GirlCat ate a piece of cooked broccoli and I think she has eaten cheese as well.

They totally know when it is roast dinner day and the guilt I felt this week when I did gammon... We will be having chicken every Sunday from now on .

I think all cats are different and you just need to do what works best for your household.
Our cat is an indoor cat (for various reasons) so we often put her food (dry because she's got issues) in a rolly ball feeder. She has to swat it around and jump on it in order to get her food out. It keeps her active but it is bloody annoying if you accidentally kick it at 3am in the dark and send food flying out all over the floor.

Best she loves the fast food though!!!

Haha! My cat has one of those balls...I quite often kick it across the kitchen leaving a trail of food...which of course she doesn't want to eat then...