Does your cat /older kitten graze or eat twice daily?

[stirling]

I previously had a straightforward cat who ate two regular meals a day morning and night.
Current madame will have a nibble and swan off to groom herself and go exploring. I only put out spoonful of wet and a bit of dry, but she literally grazes as and when.

I have tried removing the plate after thirty mins but she just meows.

Diabetes risk?
I know she's still little (enormous at 7 months old) and up to five meals a day recommended but what do you do?
Thank you

I leave dry down and give wet food 2 or 3 times a day. My 2 are 5 now

I'm sure it's normal for cats to graze rather than eat big meals all at once

My cat is 13, and she grazes, always has done.

She eats every half an hour before I leave for work (probably 4 teaspoons) then once the kids get home at 4pm she tops herself up every half an hour.
She’ll go back to bed from about 5:30, then appear at 8pm to top up before bed.

I’ve tried feeding her larger meals less often, but she leaves the majority and once she’s walked away from her bowl, she won’t to back to that food.

It's normal for my cat to eat a ginormous full meal as often as he can convince some mug to fill his bowl. He will howl in pain if he encounters an empty bowl 🎵🎵🎵 oh the inhumanity 🎵🎵 Even if there is a mainly full bowl right next to the empty one. Even if there is a full bowl of biscuits next to the empty food bowl. If he could call the RSPCA he would do so.

My boy grazes on dry and gulps down wet enough to fill his belly right then.
My girl is an eat a few mouthfuls and come back. For more later

Departed Bengal had 4 meals a day and a bit of dhs dinner if it was cat safe. Current cat has a small tin our gourmet over 3/4 meals plus biscuits.

Their all different but 7m olds are still filling out so I’d just feed her as she likes. She’s obviously got firm opinions on the matter.

Everyone thank you, this is really reassuring to read.
I'm worrying unnecessarily then. IntemperateSpirits that made me laugh

Both boy cats eat large portions quickly and not that frequently.

Girl cat definitely a grazer.

Ours is a greedy wee madam and was getting fat with dry food always being available. Now she gets wet food morning and again about 7, plus one portion of dry split into breakfast, lunch, and supper, carefully measured. Dishes are always licked clean.

I never want a row from the very nice vet again - he actually made a comedy sad face under his mask when he told me what she weighed!

We leave dry food out 24/7 and then they get wet food morning and night.
We adopted them as kittens and when they were young they wanted the wet food constantly but would only eat tiny amounts at a time. Gradually we've stopped putting it out so frequently, so now they just have the wet food every 12 hours.

Thank you again all

Mine both graze on dry food all day and have wet food every other day

Mine are all grazers.

We feed wet food twice a day which they wolf down and then they have a big bowl of dry for them to pick at the rest of the time.

Our 4 are all grazers. We put two pouches down whenever their bowls are empty - or on demand. They also have dried food available all the time Between 4 cats they get through 8 to 12 pouches per day.

My 2 only get ½ a pouch each a couple of times a day with dry left out. They like a bit of chopped chicken too

Sorry to highjack OP's thread, but people who feed wet food as meals and leave dry food to graze, how much dry are you leaving?

I give half a pouch of wet to my two in the morning and then again in the evening, and give the recommended amount of dry mid morning but they will eat it straight away in one go, not sure if I should be giving them more or if they would just eat everything I gave in one go regardless?

I'm giving them the recommended daily amount so cautious of them getting overweight if I left a bigger amount of food down, but not sure if they're actually just really hungry and could do with more food or if they're just greedy! They're male bengals if that makes any difference

Mine gets a pouch at breakfast and one early evening. Sometimes she wolfs the lot, sometimes she hardly touches it and then grazes, sometimes she eats half and saves half for later. Sometimes she barely touches the breakfast pouch, takes herself off to sleep for the day and then polishes it off at about 4pm and then immediately demands dinner as if she hasn't been fed for weeks.

She always has a bowl of dry food available, which she also grazes at (but only if the wet food is gone).

I like the unpredictability of it all - we're not tied into any particular routine which makes it much easier if we're away/out late as the cat feeder can come at any time and the cat doesn't have a specific time when she MUST be fed by.

Ours is 6 years old and only has dry food (allergies so vet diet) and she grazes. She'll eat about a third at "breakfast" but the rest of the time is small amounts. She did initially eat as two meals when she came to us from the cattery 2 years ago but has settled into doing this.

Grazing is not a sign of diabetes. If your cat drinks much more than usual, eats normally but appears to be losing weight - that's a sign.
My cats eat wet food twice a day, sometimes eating it all, sometimes eating half and coming back, and dry food if they suddenly appear giving me meaningful looks in the middle of the day. They are six months.

My pair (7yo ish) are grazers mostly. I have dry down 24/7 which they both go back to multiple times a day. They get a total of 1.5 pouches a day of wet over 2 meals, which they alway go to when I put it down but again leave most then go back a few times until the next food time. For the dry, I just top up the bowl at wet food time so they have as much as they want.

They are large cats, but not fat at all.

I get the impression they are eating the dry for nutrition etc, and the wet is just a tasty treat now & again from their point of view.

My boy eats 2 pouches a day as fast as possible. If I leave out dry food as well he also eats that, as fast as possible. I I leave a bowl of half eaten cereal on the counter he will eat that, as fast as possible (you get the picture).
If I left small amounts of dry food in his bowl "to graze" he would eat it as fast as possible and spend the rest of his day by his bowl looking at me with accusing eyes that say "where is the rest?"
They definitely are all different!

I think it’s just easier to go with the flow with cats. They are willing to make your life difficult if you don’t.

My two are grazers. Dry food down all the time.

Sorry to highjack OP's thread, but people who feed wet food as meals and leave dry food to graze, how much dry are you leaving?

I just fill up the bowl when it's empty, which is normally every day or two. We have three cats who weigh between 3kg and about 8kg lol.

I’ve got a Poundland plastic American cup measuring set for baking, I use a cup size that equates to half her daily recommended amount for dry.