new cat tips

[cansu]

I picked up our new cat today. He is lovely and friendly. He has spent most of the time exploring and has also sat on my lap and next to me purring and being fussed. He has eaten and is very greedy. I intend feeding him twice a day. He had one pouch and some biscuits and is still hanging around his bowls! We will be keeping him in obviously for a few weeks. Any tips welcome especially around feeding. He is a big cat (4 year old male) but was getting fed two pouches a day at the rescue.

Pics, or it didn't happen.

Them's the rules!

Congratulations! Yes you have to post photos here, it's the law.

Do you know how much he weighs? The food will say on the packet how much to feed based on a cat's weight.

I found that my old cat pined for food much less when she started getting lots of cuddles.

Here we go..

Aww! Does he have a name yet?

I feed wet and dry food and would normally feed wet twice daily, but the biscuits are left down constantly for them to graze.

It may help him to feel more secure if he knows there is no shortage of food; you can always monitor his weight and rein things in if needed, although mine tend to be fine with constant access.

Yes we are sticking with his original name as he responds to it nicely : Coco.

He's a beauty, I love a black cat, they all seem to have lovely personalities. :)

Can you weigh him? Average sized moggies are normally around 4-5kg. You can check if he's a good weight by having a feel of the ribs. You should be able to feel them easily through a layer of fat. If they're very prominent then he could be underweight.

2 pouches plus crunchies should be about right. There should be a feed guide on the packets which will give you a rough estimate of the right amount for the weight of your cat.

If he's getting the right amount of food but is still acting like he's starving all the time then you can try splitting his food across 3-4 meals a day or switching his dry food to something with a higher fibre content. My hungry boy is on a different dry food to my other cats and I feed them 3x a day, this has significantly reduced the constant begging.

I also leave dry food down and feed wet a couple of times a day

I would switch to a higher meat content rather than higher fibre. Cats don't need grains as they are carnivores

He might calm down about food once he settles in. Definitely play with him, get him running around the house and enjoying himself. Get him a catnip toy. The Bunz loves the Cosmic catnip bananas.

Awww just seen your photo he's gorgeous! 😍

I forgot to say, some cats don't do well with constant access to food. They're designed to eat little but often and a greedy cat will lean towards over eating if they have free access to crunchies. I had some success with a slow feeding dog bowl as fat boy wouldn't bother unless he was quite hungry but my other boy realised he could eat crunchies all day so there would be none left when he was ready and I'd get badgered for food anyway...

@dementedpixie Good point, I should have said they're already on high meat content food.

What brand are you feeding him - some foods don’t fill them up as much.

But it does sound like he is settling in brilliantly. Mine goes off her food at the first change in routine - coco is clearly happy and content😺

Thanks all will weigh him soon and check amounts. He is very confident. Was just making our lunch and he was there like a shot, purring and jumping up and straying into the pantry (was removed from there sharpish!) I have shown him his litter box a few times but nothing so far. Maybe will calm down on food as he settles in.

Bought Felix pouches. Are these any good? Rescue lady said they use supermarket own brand.

Cat food is a mine field - and lots of people have very strong opinions!!

I feed my little monster grain free brands - because they don’t eat grain naturally and it’s just a filler.

Felix is okay - but not great.

If you go to pets at home or online at zooplus you can get better quality food at good prices.

There is also a raging debate about wet versus dry food. I feed mine both - but do realise wet is better for them.
www.petforums.co.uk/threads/what-is-it-about-felix-cat-food.227052/

This is a good site

However, if he is happy and eating well, I would be tempted to stick to what works😀

We went for high quality grain free dry food and lower quality (but well liked) wet food as in our house they eat much more dry food than wet. We have girls though and there are some advantages to males having a differed diet. Just do what's right for you :). Also he looks gorgeous but I have a soft spot for black cats.

I also do high quality dry and more average wet stuff. DH bought Aldi cat food once in an emergency and it took me ages to get them to eat anything else, they loved it.

He may not have liked the value stuff so much and now he's had a taste of Felix he's probably over the moon and excited for more.

Mine eat Encore dry which is 80% meat and then sheba and gourmet wet food. They won't eat felix/ whiskas or the really good high meat stuff so I give them mid range wet food

Mine has unfortunately developed expensive tastes!! She loved Lily’s kitchen for a while - but will now only tolerate thrive or meowing heads wet. My own fault I know.

Dry is applaws - which she loves for midnight snacks

Aww he is gorgeous. Black cats are the best! Remember you do not own him. He is your master and you must obey his every whim.

Him nice boy! It sounds as if you are feeding him a reasonable amount. I agree that giving him lots of attention may help with the hanging around the food bowls.

Our cats have access to dry food all the time and receive wet food on occasion as a treat. Gatsby is our smallest cat but he is not underweight. Apparently he thinks he is, though, as he likes to see what his hoomans are eating and if there is some available for him. I swear, you could have a peanut butter sandwich and he'd be going, "You has food? I like food! I has no people food. I can has food?" (Fortunately he is easily fobbed off.)