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Overfeeding cats vs. budget?
Three cats: 12-14 year old male (rescue stray, age uncertain) 18lb, well padded but by no means fat, big kitty-8 month old female very small but not skinny-7 month old male not skinny, not small for age but gaining fast.
Right now they get all the Iams Kitten kibble they want and 1oz each of Science Diet canned food apiece each morning.
It's more a treat than anything but it would be cheaper to buy the 5oz cans and I know canned food is really less calorie dense than dry food, but I don't want any of them to become overweight. All three are quite active, even the older guy, especially now with the kittens around.
Yes, they are all spayed/neutered-I've lived with cats all my life and am a long term HSUS and ASPCA member. ALL my cats are rescued in one way or another. I know the kittens ages because they are both children of barn cats-old guy just showed up at my sisters house, obviously not taken care of-he was like 8 pounds, worms,ear mites, fleas-and purred and licked my hand while I treated him! The sweetest cat I have EVER seen. He has let these kittens rule and just loves them. I hate to deny him his daily treat.
The question may seem stupid, but for an older cat or voracious kitten, an extra 1/2 oz of food a day could make a difference.
Poppy and Lori, my cats drink plenty of water and pee a lot-and see the mention of the older cat being quite active? Yeah, he's not getting fat and six months of kitten kibble isn't going to hurt him
as much as feeding the kittens adult food for six months would. They each eat about 1/2 cup of kibble and the one oz of canned food each day. In 4 months they'll all go on adult food.
The question WAS, will feeding each of them an extra 1/2 oz canned food be enough to cause weight gain? Should I switch to every other day?
4 Answers
- ?Lv 58 years agoFavorite Answer
Are the 7 and 8 month old cats spayed/neutered (I hope so, because sooner rather than later, your female is going to go into her first heat and the male CAN get her pregnant)? If they are, they can be switched to adult food. Try meal feeding them rather than leaving kibble out all day, it sounds like they're all eating too much. Meal feeding a high quality food will not only be cheaper for you in the long run, it will help you effectively manage each cat's weight. Unless your older male cat is a Maine Coon or Ragdoll or other large breed of cat, 18 pounds sounds like he's exceedingly overweight (maybe not, but that's awfully large for a cat). Look at this chart to help determine if your cat's are at a healthy weight and adjust the amount you feed them according to their body condition score: http://www.pvahosp.com/sites/site-1526/images/Body...
EDIT: It is absolutely NOT true that only wet food has taurine.
- 8 years ago
Hi - this is Lori and I have worked at Hill's (Maker of Science Diet) for 20 years now. My main concern is feeding kitten food to a cat that is 12 -14 years old. Kitten food has the nutrition that supports growing, energetic kittens. For older guys, that means a little too much fat and other nutrients that kittens need and it could lead to weight gain. It is a good idea to meal feed cats that is measured out - that helps with the budget! It's not always easy to feed different foods to cats - I agree!
- •Poppy•Lv 78 years ago
Wet food is better for cats because it contains liquid. Simple. Cats (ideally) get a lot of their liquid from the meats that they eat, which is why cats on dry food sometimes have problems like UTIs.
Switching your cats to an entirely wet diet won't hurt them - it should benefit them.
As for the kind of wet food - feed them food made for adults, not kittens. Kitten food is what would cause them to gain weight more so than eating canned food.
ADD: Not that you will see this, as I'm sure you chose to give me the TD (why ask a question if you just want people to agree with you?) but I DID NOT say that your cat was fat. I said that in regards to weight gain, it would be the kitten food that causes it, not the canned.
I'm sure this may be too much for you to comprehend - but you CAN feed them separately, ensuring that they are eating *different* foods. Adult for your adult cat, kitten food for the kittens. Simple (not that the kittens need kitten food right now anyway; it's fine to transition to adult).
As for drinking water? Of course they drink water. They should. But the BULK of their water should come from their food source. They may drink a bit more to compensate for the loss - but they may not. Again, I'm not sure why you are choosing to throw a hissy fit in that regard, since YOU ARE THE ONE who wants to switch them over to a wet diet -- which is good. I literally applauded your intelligence and you still chose to throw a fit.
- 8 years ago
It sounds like their diet is where it needs to be. Personally I wouldn't change it. Most people don't know that there is Taurine in wet food that is not in dry and cats need that to be healthy. The shelter I used to work at serves each cat an ounce in the morning and an ounce in the evening. It not only helped them eat better and it kept the cats happier. Think if all you had every day was oatmeal for breakfast and dinner and a nice little hambuger was your lunch then suddenly all you had was oatmeal for lunch too.
