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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.

Original poster

Cats never eat food all at once!

41 replies

Sunshine49 · 11/04/2018 12:55

Hi everyone!

I feed my two new rescue cats twice a day - once in the morning and once at night. For breakfast they have one pouch each of James Wellbeloved wet food with a very small handful of Thrive dry food, then the same again at night. They're both quite small cats and their weight seems to be holding steady.

Whenever mealtime comes around they get quite excited, sitting in the kitchen, watching me prepare the food and meowing etc. However, once I've put the food down they'll eat about a third then mooch off, before picking at it throughout the day until just before dinner, by which time they'll have usually polished off the lot.

I've tried them on various different foods (Royal Canin and Purina as well as James Wellbeloved) but they seem to act the same whatever the food is. In fact, the only thing they did polish off in one sitting was a lamb chop Hmm

Despite not scoffing down all their food straightaway, they'll hassle me quite a bit when I have my lunch - the ginger male cat just jumped on the kitchen table a few times when I was eating a sandwich for example - and they'll follow me into the kitchen and watch while I'm making my food.

We do feed them about 15 Dreamies each a day too as treats - I'm a little worried that this has put them off normal cat food and they're just after the Dreamies!

Is there anything wrong here or is it just normal cat behaviour?

Thanks!

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 11/04/2018 12:58

Sounds normal to me. One of mine mooches about looking for food but when I put it down he sniffs it then goes outside before coming back later to actually eat it

dementedpixie · 11/04/2018 13:00

I do keep dry food down all the time though so if there is no wet left they have dry food available

Original poster
Sunshine49 · 11/04/2018 13:00

Hi Dementedpixie, thanks for your reply and for putting my mind at rest!

OP posts:
Dodie66 · 11/04/2018 13:02

I put food down for my cat and she eats it through out the day. When I out some down In the evening she eats a bit then has some during the night

Original poster
Sunshine49 · 11/04/2018 13:06

Thanks Dodie - sounds like ours are pretty much normal then! Smile

OP posts:
Lonecatwithkitten · 11/04/2018 13:22

You may be making the very common mistake of thinking hassling behaviour is for food when in fact it is most commonly for attention.

Original poster
Sunshine49 · 11/04/2018 13:26

Lonecat - do you think so? It only really coincides with lunchtime though, when I have food out. If I'm not eating, they're not particularly interested as they like to snooze quite a bit during the day, or play with their toys together (although ginger boy did jump up for a fuss this morning... aw!)

OP posts:
Aprilmightmemynewname · 11/04/2018 13:29

No pics op?
Don't even believe you have cats tbh!!

ineedamoreadultieradult · 11/04/2018 13:31

I leave dry food down constantly and only give a small amount of wet food which is eaten in one go. I wouldn't leave wet food down for them to eat through the day as in the summer it will get covered in fly eggs!

Original poster
Sunshine49 · 11/04/2018 13:42

Ineedamore - eek, fly eggs! I didn't think of that! Confused I may have to change their eating arrangements when the weather gets a bit warmer in that case.

April - I posted a thread with some pics of my two a while ago Grin can you see the post if you click on my profile? (Sorry, I'm a bit new to all this so not sure!)

OP posts:
Wh0Kn0wsWhereTheT1meG0es · 11/04/2018 14:13

Maybe a whole pouch is a bit much at once? Mine only have half a pouch at a time (two cats, fed twice a day, so they share one each time). They wolf it down and very rarely leave any. They also get a scoop of dry food to share once a day.

Original poster
Sunshine49 · 11/04/2018 14:24

Thanks WhoKnows - that's a good point. Perhaps I'll just divide one pouch in half and see how they go! I'd then need to up their dry food a bit to make up the difference I guess.

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 11/04/2018 14:57

I've been giving my two cats 3 pouches a day - breakfast, lunch and dinner. Half a pouch in each bowl. Dry is out all the time

YetAnotherSpartacus · 11/04/2018 15:20

April - I posted a thread with some pics of my two a while ago grin can you see the post if you click on my profile? (Sorry, I'm a bit new to all this so not sure!)

New and fresh photos are required in every thread. Just saying.

SimonBridges · 11/04/2018 15:25

New picture for all threads.

Anyway. It’s standard for most cats. They eat until they are full then slope off. Unless you are my cat who has to have very carefully measured portions otherwise she eats everything.

Cats never eat food all at once!
TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross · 11/04/2018 15:26

How come your cats aren’t all the size of Garfield? Our vet has been disapproving of our cats’ weight for a couple of years now and they have nowhere near as much as the cats on this thread. How do you all keep yours at a healthy weight? Our male ginger never seems to lose an ounce Sad

minniemoll · 11/04/2018 15:30

My three have a pouch each, morning and evening, and graze at it through the day. They have unlimited dry food too. I have the microchip operated cat bowls so they can't steal each other's - they all eat different things, for various reasons.

None of this stops them begging for food every time I so much as look at the kitchen - after all, there may be chicken, or ham, or steak, which are all vastly superior to cat food. I can show them the onion or potato I'm actually cutting up as often as I want, but their hopes are still up there....

Original poster
Sunshine49 · 11/04/2018 15:33

Hehe - sounds exactly like my two, Minniemoll! I think I might try splitting a wet pouch between them at breakfast and dinner, then leaving two separate bowls of dry food down all day and seeing how they go!

OP posts:
Original poster
Sunshine49 · 11/04/2018 15:40

And here are some new photos of my two! They're a ginger brother and tortoiseshell sister, just over one year old. The black mark on the boy cat's paw is a result of jumping in some ash while I was cleaning out the fireplace...! The other photo is quite apt for this thread actually - that's them waiting to be fed! Grin

Cats never eat food all at once!
Cats never eat food all at once!
OP posts:
BringMeCoffeePlease · 11/04/2018 15:47

That sounds completely normal OP. Mine too eat as much as they want in the morning and go back to it throughout the day.

However, I don't think Dreamies every day is necessary. I would personally add a bit more dry food instead of the Dreamies.

ineedamoreadultieradult · 11/04/2018 16:06

Most cats self regulate if they only have dry food, I have two cats and just leave one big bowl of dry food down constantly. They are ideal weight. Cats tend to only over eat when they are faced with something too irresistible to leave.

Wh0Kn0wsWhereTheT1meG0es · 11/04/2018 16:59

I agree with cutting down on the Dreamies, mine get a pack each at Christmas Blush and occasionally in between but not as a daily treat.

stupidlybroody · 11/04/2018 17:05

Sounds very similar to my two! We have only had them a couple of weeks so relieved their eating habits are similar to other people's cats. Girl cat has a pouch of wet minting and night, which she'll eat in 2-3 goes. I've stopped putting wet out for boy cat as he never eats it. He seems content picking at dry food throughout the day.

KirstenRaymonde · 11/04/2018 17:08

Totally normal, mine are the same. They have dry food put out in the morning that they pick at all day, and then a can of Thrive each in the evening that they then pick at in the evening. Both healthy weights, though one is starting to verge on chubby as he eats his brother’s food as well...

Original poster
Sunshine49 · 11/04/2018 17:11

Thanks for the advice everyone! Are Dreamies quite bad for cats then?

OP posts:
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