What time do you feed you cat?

[Waitbytheriver]

I am just wondering what time you give them their last meal of the day and then how long do they go until breakfast? I feed mine dinner at about 5ish but then I feel like that’s a long time to go until 8am the next morning so I end up giving her more. I can try and feed her later in the day but she gets very persistent with me that she needs food NOW!

I know a lot of people will leave biscuits down overnight, but I am asking about the cats that don’t have this. Mine needs to lose weight and I have been advised not to leave food down at all times and just feed set meals. I’m just struggling with knowing what times to feed

We give half a pouch at 7 am & half a pouch at 7 pm. That’s the last meal of the day.

We do however, put down biscuits overnight and throughout the day. I know that’s not what you were asking.

Last meal at 9pm, then breakfast around 7am (later at weekends). They get lunch around midday and a treat around 4pm too.

They get half a pouch plus biscuits at each meal (mixed together) and the treat is some dreamies or a lick e lix, or some cat soup.

Hi Op, I have experience of cats needing to lose weight. Current cat has reached her target weight, but in order to maintain it I have to continue to be strict about her food. The total amount any cat can eat in one day, without gaining weight, will vary. I weigh my cat weekly and have learned what that is for her.

I give her wet food in the morning as soon as I get up, so the time varies but is around 8am. Wet food makes them feel fuller more quickly so is a good way to start. Then she gets biscuits at 3pm … she starts asking for them at least an hour before though ! When we”re having our evening meal, usually around 7pm, I give her a few more biscuits (about 10) and that’s it. I’ve also kept her on the same ‘diet’ food even though she’s at target weight, the vet advised this, it means she gets larger portions than otherwise.

When she was actively on a diet, I used the same timings. She was very obese when we got her, and had to lose almost half her body weight. My job was made easier knowing her health was at serious risk, it helped me ignore her pleas and be very strict about food. Hope this helps ! It isn’t easy so good luck with it !

I feed wet food on demand (small 50g pouches), he maybe has 3 a day. He has constant access to a complete dry food and water 24/7. He is not overweight and in perfect health. It's how I've always fed my cats and and they have lived long and healthy lives. My dog has regular, timed meals but my cat is self-regulating.

Edited to add - cat is neutered, male, not restricted to indoors (has catflap, can come/go as he pleases).

Mine is 14 and skinny. He gets a pouch of wet when we get up and probably another two through the day. Always a bowl of dry but he only eats them when desperate.
I used to stick to times but I give in to pestering now.

Breakfast when we get up. Then the other half of their food is divided into two feeds, around 6pm. and 9pm.

When I fed them just once in the evening the greedy one mithered us for food all evening and it was really annoying. He gets very loud!

Mine are on the lean side as they are ridiculously active still (almost 3 but hunt, climb trees all day).

Emily has a mid morning breakfast and then will eat twice in the afternoon/evening (4pm and about 8pm). She also eats a lot of mice and rabbits. She is out almost all day in all
weather. She’s very little and a bit mad. She’s not food motivated but is a hunting savage.

Toby has early breakfast at 7am, late breakfast at 10am, early lunch at midday, late lunch at 2ish, early tea at 4pm and supper at 8pm. He stays much closer to home and inspects his bowl every couple of hours. He hunts less than his sister but spends most of the day up tall trees. He lives for a pouch.

They both have ad lib dried food too.

When I am WFH I basically spend most of it feeding Toby and wondering where Emily is. She goes miles across the fields with the sheep.

Half a pouch around 8am then the other half around 4 or 5pm.

He always has a bowl of crunchies to see him through till morning.

Thanks so much, this is really helpful. The biscuits that you give her at 3pm, does she eat them straight away or graze on them and they last for a bit?

Would you say diet food is better than regular? I have tried her already on a couple of brands of the diet food and she will not eat them. She just doesn’t like them, and she’s not usually fussy. But she will leave them allll day until they go all horrible and I have to throw it away

Twice a day when I get up about 7.30 he has a sachet followed by a few biscuits then treats has to be in that order or he shouts about 4.30 for evening meal should be 5 but get get bullied by the roars.

So does your cat go from his last meal at 4:30 then to his morning meal? Nothing in between that?

7am and 7pm. Although my big fat gobby cat will appear in the kitchen at any point after 5pm and start demanding to be fed 🤣

1. Sometimes earlier. He starts clawing our legs so cannot be ignored. Then he's fine and happy until morning when he gets fed by the first person up so can be as early as 6am in the week or as late as 8.30 at weekends.

He has 1/3 of a carton of Bozita per meal. Her used to have half per meal but got fat due to his habit of supplementing his food with regular rodents and whole rabbits so he had to go on a diet.

He would be fed on the hour every hour if he had his way. He might get a few treats at night. He has a habit in the summer of going out in the sideway and roaring for food if he hears one of us going to the toilet. It is so loud that one day someone crossed the road to see what the noise was about. He also wants to get upstairs to see us. At about 6.5 kilos he isn’t starved

I have two cats with an auto feeder each. The boy is a bit porky! We now weigh out their dry food for 24 hours into separate containers plus they have a pouch each per day. Fed a combo of each at 7.00am and 6.00pm, with the remainder of their dry food for overnight snacking. Put down at about 10.30pm. They also get a grass stick each day.

Whenever they want, to be honest. Cats are good at regulating themselves. Ours always have a morning/evening meal but if they’re sitting at their bowl hungry in between then I have no issue with giving a top up.

Oh dear I think I am massively over feeding Marvin although he's still a mean lean jumping machine. He gets half a pouch of wet between 6.30 and 7.40am and a second breakfast of half a pouch at about 11 if he's still hungry. I excuse myself with the thought it's Felix so has limited nutritional value and he needs more. About 4pm he gets his tea - another half a pouch plus some dried food. Between 8 and 9 he gets his dinner - half a pouch of higher protein food plus a refreshed bowl of dry food with protein toppers (freeze dried chicken hearts). This gets left down over night along with a small portion of wet food in a timer. Feel free to tell me I am breeding a furry Mr Creosote. My poor boy Elton wouldn't eat much at all (CKD) so I am probably over compensating. To be fair he's not greedy and is good at self regulating but I'm aware that may not always be the case.

3 X a day and before bed . Wet only no dry food.

We have dry food freely available any time. Wet food twice day.

Mine demands a sachet about 0600 , then again about 1600 and a final sachet about 1900 with a small supply of kibble at all times. He’s a big boy but not fat 4.9 kg at last vet visit.

Ours are fed three times a day. Half a tin/pouch each per meal.
Breakfast at 6am on a work day or around 7.30/8am on a weekend.
Lunch at 1pm
Dinner at 6pm

We leave a bowl of biscuits out that they can graze on overnight, if need be. They have the rare treat such as a licky lick.

Both girls. Nearly two years old. Indoor cats and a healthy weight.

My previous cat was a small, fussy little madam. I fed her on demand.

Hi Op, I’m afraid she wolfs down everything we give her immediately ! I had to get her a slow feeding bowl which really helps, it takes 6 mins for her to eat all her biscuits now, here’s what I have: Trixie slow feeding bowl

It’s a useful tool for a dieting cat as it can trick them into thinking they’ve eaten more as it’s taken longer, they are a bit of a pain to clean after wet food though.

It was a condition of us adopting her that we use only diet foods. Once she hit her target weight I was going to switch her to ‘normal’ food but the vet advised against it. So I’ve kept her on the same and still weigh her every week. She is not a fussy cat though, I believe she would eat anything ! So she still gets just as excited about the same food every day. We don’t eat meat but if we’re having fish I give her some instead of the evening biscuits. Here are the brands I’m using. The rehoming centre advised to alternate each day between 2 brands of pouches, as it apparently improves their metabolism and keeps them interested. I use Hill’s Prescription Diet Feline Metabolic and Royal Canin Light Weight Carewet pouches, and Royal Canin Light Weight Care biscuits.

Have you seen the thread ‘Wet food for fat but happy cat’, I’ve been replying to that one also, you may find some of the chat on there useful also.

Mine was also severely overweight and wolfed all food down the second it appeared. He also was food-seeking the rest of the time and remarkably intelligent - he broke open each puzzle feeder and worked out how to knock over the food container to get the lid off. it was a constant battle.

Smaller meals helped a bit with the demands, but he was still a right pain n the arse.

My cats have me on schedule to deliver:
1/2 Tin of untamed at 7:30
15g of Lilly’s kitchen dried at 12:00
1 tube of lick e licks at 3:00
1/2 tin of untamed at 5:00
5 dreamies at 8:00

God forbid if i am late!

About 4pm. They have kibble out all the time though. Breakfast is any time between 8-10am.