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How often do you feed your pets?

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zoebartlett

zoebartlett

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Just curious. We have two cats and one of them constantly whines for food once it hits 4:00. Our former vet said that we were feeding both of them too much so we had to cut back. We went from feeding them four times a day (6Am, 4PM, 6PM, 10PM -- 1/2 cup total, spread throughout the day for both cats) to feeding them twice (~7AM and ~7PM -- 1/4 total for both per day). It''s really hard to listen to the pathetic cries of our female kitty for three hours without caving in and feeding her early just to make her stop whining. We were told to stay with dry food as wet food isn''t as good for them (their teeth?), so we''ve been feeding them IAMS natural. I asked our former vet which brand he recommends and he didn''t say. When I mentioned what we had been feeding them, he seemed okay with our choice. We haven''t gotten a new vet since moving but it''s on our list of things to do.

The whining won''t stop and it''s driving me batty! Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!
 
once a day.

The kitty is on a diet, and she still cries, but is now down 1# so I know it is working. It is tough... but I think if you give in... they''ll remember... and cry more!
 
Cat gets fed whenever the bowl is empty, but I don''t have any weight problems with him, so I''m no help.

Dog gets fed once a day, in the evening.
 
Thanks Tlh! I know giving in is not a good choice and we haven''t yet. It''s just so hard because she''s sitting here next to the computer and crying constantly. I could lock her out of the room but the crying won''t stop. We''ve tried that before.
 
My dog is diabetic so he is fed twice a day: 6am and 5pm. This helps to control constant blood sugar levels throughout the day. I imagine it would be a good recommendation for all pets for that reason.
 
We feed the dog twice a day, 5:30am and 5:30pm.

The 3 cats have a self feeder that we keep full of dry catfood, and that''s all they get. None are overweight, but they sure let you know if it runs dry!

Maybe feed her the same times you used to, but just much smaller portions?
 
twice a day for our dog, we have to or else her stomach makes these horrible growling noises and they won''t stop for hours and then she won''t eat at all. so we try to keep her on the schedule. but her meals are not big and she has never had weight problems (knock on wood). i also treat her during the day 1-2x with a liver or chicken strip so she has something a few times a day. i know some people say 1x a day only etc, but she doesn''t have any health or weight issues and she is very active and 5 years old so we figure why fix something that isn''t broken. if your cats aren''t overweight, why would your vet care when you fed them? maybe just feed them less 4x a day?
 
I closely monitor my cat''s food. What helps is switching brands sometimes. I notice if the food tastes really yummy, He will continue to beg for food. If it is weight restrictive, then he doesn''t beg so much. Right now, He''s eating science diet active longevity and he seems to be staying under control. If it doesn''t get better, though, my vet prescribed Hill''s R/D for a calorie restrictive diet. I have been feeding him less as well.

Another option: Chase them around the house with a hatchet
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Twice a day - 8am and 6pm.

They are siamese cats and have a habit of stealing and begging all day anyway. They have wet cat-food (our vet doesn''t like a dry-only diet) and the Iams as treats - they go crazy for them!
 
Date: 7/23/2009 5:44:08 PM
Author: MustangGal
We feed the dog twice a day, 5:30am and 5:30pm.


The 3 cats have a self feeder that we keep full of dry catfood, and that''s all they get. None are overweight, but they sure let you know if it runs dry!


Maybe feed her the same times you used to, but just much smaller portions?
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Thanks for the suggestion MustangGal! We currently feed both cats 1/8 cup at their morning feeding and again in the evening. I''m not sure we can go much smaller than that.
 
Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

Mara, our female cat (the one who cries constantly) is overweight and our male was on the border when they went to the vet in June. Neither one is very hefty but Zoe could definitely stand to lose a few. The odd thing is that although we''ve cut their food to half of what they''ve been used to, neither has dropped weight. Granted, they don''t have as much room to run around at the moment but I did think they''d lose a few pounds because their portions were cut in half.
 
The parakeet, once a day. The turtle and lizard, whenever my husband thinks of it.
 
I feed my dog (Lhasa Apso) 3 times a day, his stomach makes wierd noises if I don't, he'll sit by his food bowl and bark for food
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ETA: I do however take him running everyday, or for long (1-2hr) walks, or play with him in the yard for a couple of hrs per day, so he's pretty active, and is not overweight.
 
Why did your vet recomend feeding them less in the first place? Are they overweight? If it was for weight management then I don''t see why he recomended dry food only as the dry food is much much higher in calories and fat. They should have some dry food in their diet for their teeth but the wet food is fine too. If they are overweight and you wish to carry on with the dry food I would go for a lower calorie food such a Hill''s R/D as heraanderson suggested, vet clinics and pet stores will have lots of options.
 
Date: 7/23/2009 6:03:33 PM
Author: Fly Girl
The parakeet, once a day. The turtle and lizard, whenever my husband thinks of it.
Click to expand...

My birds have food in their cage all day long. They eat whenever they want. They are healthy and very fit, because they fly around quite a bit. Unless your bird has some special health issues, he should have food at all time because birds have very active digestive system.
 
We feed our cats three times per day at 7 AM, 5 PM, and 11 PM.

DH gives them a certain amount of calories each per day based on their weight, and he weighs them every few weeks to make sure they aren''t gaining or losing anything.
 
Date: 7/23/2009 6:06:55 PM
Author: 4ever
Why did your vet recomend feeding them less in the first place? Are they overweight? If it was for weight management then I don''t see why he recomended dry food only as the dry food is much much higher in calories and fat. They should have some dry food in their diet for their teeth but the wet food is fine too. If they are overweight and you wish to carry on with the dry food I would go for a lower calorie food such a Hill''s R/D as heraanderson suggested, vet clinics and pet stores will have lots of options.
Click to expand...


Well, one of them is overweight (not hugely so but enough) and the other one was on the border of being a little too heavy. When I asked the vet what type of food he''d recommend we use, he just asked us what we had been doing. When I mentioned that we''d been feeding them dry Iams healthy naturals, he said that was fine. Thanks for the recommendation!
 
I feed them twice a day. I have two cats, so I put 1/2 cup of food out each feed (so each cat gets 1/2 cup of food a day). I would make sure you are not giving them kitten food by accident. Any food that is for all stages of life is really kitten food and too calorie dense for an adult. It also seems to taste better, at least in my experience. Their regular food is a type they are not found of. That kind of regulates them. I have that food, and then I have another bag of something else to give them a little variety. I give them wet food about once a week.
 
Demand feeding here I''m afraid, for both cats. That is unlimited dry food (vet prescription due to HIS dicky bladder, which gets expensive) and she has a can of wet food for dinner, but he doesn''t. They are both a little tubby, but if we tried to limit HIS food, he would drive us absolutely nuts. He gets a bit freaked out when he can see the bottom of the bowl, let alone if we tried to limit it to 1-2 ''meals'' per day. Yep, they make the rules and run the house, we just dole out the food.
 
I feed my little piglets (kitties) at 7:30 am when I leave for work, and that''s it until 7:30 am the next day. I didn''t want them to become overweight, so I cut their feeding to 1x/day. I do have two bowls that I fill 1/2 c each (I have 3 kitties). They have learned to spread their food out, though, so they usually have a little bit remaining the next morning.
 
My little guy gets fed three x''s a day. We measure out his food for the day in the morning. He gets 1/3 at bfast, 1/3 in the early evening and 1/3 later on as his "snack". He gained some weight last year, so we''ve cut down his daily portion, but still portion it out during the day.
 
Our human, Diamante Blu, never ever feeds us. That is why we are all so thin.
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I let my two graze. I keep their food bowl full and they eat whenever they want. I feed the Purina One Complete Formula. I ae one big cat and one runty cat. Their weights are right where they should be and I never have problems.
 
we feed our two cats twice a day. once in the morning before we go to work, and then again in the evening. our boy kitty gets 3oz of raw food each feeding, and our smaller girl gets 2oz. it takes a while to gauge how much and how often to feed your pets. as long as they''re currently at a proper weight, i''d stick with the total amount you''re giving them per day and divide it up in however many feedings you''d like.

i feel you with the whining...it''s just not pleasant at all! i think it''ll get better once you stick to a strict feeding regimen. our cats always whine when they know it''s time to eat too.

i will have to say that feeding them just dry food doesn''t sound right to me, but i''m a huge advocate on feeding a raw diet anyway. i won''t get started since that''s a whole other thread....
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We have two kitties, Harlow and Audrey.

I leave two bowls of dry biscuits out for them in the morning and feed them at 6pm chicken/turkey/mince etc... I tend to overfeed them a bit but they aren''t overweight, just cuddly
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Thanks for chiming in everyone. I''d love to be able to get an automatic feeder if I did, our female would be as big as a house.
 
We feed them 2x per day.

How long has it been since you cut back the feedings? It can take a looooong time to extinguish a learned behaviour. Weeks or even months!

Most mass produced brands of pet food have a lot of filler and little nutrition. I don''t know of cat foods, because we have dogs, but you could try finding a brand that had a better nutritional content. They cost more though! Someone here who is a cat lover can probably recommend a brand.

You can perhaps try supplementing their food with somthing to fil ltheir bellies with no calories too. Our breeder recommends using carrots for our dogs when they need a diet. Maybe there is something equivalent for cats?
 
Mine always have food out and luckily they''re able to regulate themselves. I''ve never had kitties who haven''t been able to just self feed in a reasonable way. (Knock on wood!) When I first got my newest kitty from a shelter, she packed on a little weight but then she went back down to her regular weight after several months. She''s a bit of an anxiety eater so I''m sure that''s why.

Did your vet say the amount of food you were giving them was enough? 1/4 cup a day seems like not enough, but if I think about it my cats probably don''t eat much more than that, so who knows!
 
We feed our two dogs once a day, at 3:00pm when DH leaves for work. My lovebird always has food in her cage, she picks st it as she sees fit and is a very healthy little specimen. I give the dogs bones to chew on, which doesn''t fill them up but keeps their minds off their stomachs
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They would eat all day if we let them!! They are tiny, and so can get VERY porky if we aren''t careful.
 
I feed my pug twice a day- 6:30am and 5pm- 1/3 cup each time.
 
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