I feel like I’m starving my cats and they aren’t happy with me

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

They’ve just turned 1 so making the switch from kitten food to big boy food and they are NOT happy. The kitten food stated 100g per day for an 11 month old, the adult food is 55g per day so they are furious with me and charge to the food as soon as I fill the bowls and eat like they’ve never eaten before!

I have adult cats.

Sometimes I buy kitten food by accident and I can always tell because they scarf it down and ask for more.

That having been said, the amounts are guidelines.

I always leave some dried food down for mine as well as wet as my appetite varies from day to day and so does theirs.

I've always tended to feed according to condition rather than guidelines. Wet they share a pouch twice a day, but dry is down 24/7. I've just changed which dry formula they are on if weight is a problem either way.

Basically, if you feed more & they don't put on weight, don't worry.

Give them more. They are teenagers and still growing with lots of energy.

I'm not surprised they are unhappy if you've suddenly halved their food. Surely it should change more gradually?

I dont weigh out dry food and leave some down all the time. Wet food a couple of times a day

They don't miraculously go from needing 100g in food daily to 55g overnight. The pack has guidelines not carved in stone feeding schedules.

My adult cats (10 - 15 years) get two wet pouches/small tins a day and there is always complete adult dry food down for them. Some days they need an extra feed, other days they don't empty their bowls. Feed to your cats needs.

I don’t weigh food. 6 year old cat has one small tin or pouch each evening, then an auto dry food machine which means there’s always dried food available 24/7. Sometimes he eats more other days less. He’s never been overweight.

Our cat was eating 400g a day of grain free wet food at that age. 450g if he could convince dh I’d forgotten to feed him.

What food are you using? Kitten food is generally more calorie and nutrition dense. The cheap adult cat food isn’t great.

I have a one year old cat. Everyone will have an opinion on the best brand but for what it’s worth we went for 1 100g pouch of Meowing heads high meat content per day plus he gets one spoonful of Scrumbles dry for his teeth.

55g sounds tiny!

Jealous of the slaves who can leave food in bowls all day. Haribo hoovers it up in one sitting. He's not a grazer.

My neighbour grasses him up for all the naughty things he been up to including stealing her cat's food. When she caught him she said "I'm going to tell Mummy what you've been up to". He looked at her, snatched another mouthful of food and ran off. Yes, he's a chonk.

Are you only feeding them dry food?

Honestly, it sounds like they need more of it and ideally wet food too, especially if they're boys. A dry only diet can contribute to urinary blockages.

My vet told me cats need to eat little and often so I feed mine about 5 times a day, half a pouch a time, and they tell me when they’re hungry. None of them are overweight. It sounds like yours do need more food!

I'm now worried I'm overfeeding.

I reduced mine and they were severely underweight.

Now almost 14 months and more than doubled their low weigh in 3 months.

Sturdy boys now.

They have 2 pouches each (1 morning and 1 about 8pm) and some cooked chicken around 3.00 when I come in from work. Plus some dried food sitting all day in case I'm delayed.

I feed my three exactly the same as you, including the chicken! My two large fluffy boys are 12 and both weigh just over 5kg, my little cat is approx 14 and eats the same and has always weighed approx 2.2kg!

My cats get two 85gr pouches a day each PLUS a constant supply of dry kibble. The male eats loads but is a healthy weight and the female, if anything, is on the skinny side. They are three years old.
Give your babies more food!

Maybe see what the vet thinks? All humans have different appetites .Surely similar for cats too .I have had 3 dogs all have eaten differently. First dog would rush to the door for walkies even if food there .2nd would scoff everything in sight including ours! our present doggy defo likes snacks (carrots cucumber etc)Purina have info on their website .or there are little snacks you buy as well the pet shop will have info on these

@Icequeen01 thanks, that makes me feel a little better.

They are still indoors until they build up confidence and do lots of zoomies so definitely burning energy.

Thankfully they've stopped being greedy with their food and will happily walk away and come back later

Cats are grazers. Unlike humans they aren't designed to eat at set mealtimes but to 'hunt' for food at intervals. Leave 'boring' dried food down during the day. It's usually much less interesting to them than wet food so they just nibble when hungry. Then give them the wet food twice a day as you're already doing.

If as they get older either develops a weight issue when you have to be mindful of diabetes, you could reassess, but as they're young they'll be active, so will almost certainly be fine.

This is correct. Cats are grazers and eat throughout the day/night. There should always be dry food left out for them.

My one year old cat has been on raw food until recently when she went off it and it was too expensive to keep throwing away! We moved her to pouches and I've noticed a massive difference in how hungry she seems to be, so maybe give raw a try if they have big apple tires because it really does fill them up more. We used Luna & Me and it's really not as gross as you imagine.

That said, my old boy who died last year was on about four to five pouches a day and weighed less than 4kg his whole life. Meanwhile my old girl eats dry food and not much of that either and is overweight! They all have different metabolisms and some cats need more food than others, especially when they are growing.

Appetites not apple tires!!! Bloody hell...

I have no idea how much wet food my cat eats, tbh.

I know it's lots. She stands at her bowl or yells at the nearest human, and is fed on demand.
There's always fresh water and dry food down, just in case a human isn't available.
Most cats eat what they need and it sounds like yours are being under fed.

Op you do know about dcat tax right?

Indeed cat tax
I only came on here to see your angry looking cats!