Big Paws Only Dog Forums
BPO Off Topic Forum => Anything Non-Dog Related => : jesday November 27, 2008, 08:51:16 AM
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With all the blended(dog & cat) BPO families, I thought who better to turn to for my daughter. She recently adopted two 6-month old kittens. They each get 1/2 cup dry kitten food per day. They are displaying their intelligence by managing to get into every container they store the food in.
Her question is how much food should they be getting? Are they starving or just little pigs? Her vet tells her to get them self-feeding soon. I know most vets do not recommend this for dogs but perhaps different for cats?
The issue with the self feeding is one cat will eat as long as there is food the other is more shy. She is afraid the one will eat too much and the other won't get any.
Like most good mommies she is worried they are hungry all the time, hence the determination to get into the food.
Suggestions??
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I free feed my cats. I tried feeding them a couple of times a day but there would invariably be fights between the more outgoing, bossy cats and the shy ones. So free feeding has helped out with stopping the nasty behavior over food. She can place multiple bowls out so that each cat has their own bowl and the shy guy has a chance to eat in peace. Hope that helps some.
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I've always free fed our kittens. They do have a habit of pigging out for the first week. Once they realize that their bowls will always be full they will slow down and self regulate.
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we have an auto feeder for our 4 cats... it seems to be much easier :)
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I free feed my cats. I tried feeding them a couple of times a day but there would invariably be fights between the more outgoing, bossy cats and the shy ones. So free feeding has helped out with stopping the nasty behavior over food. She can place multiple bowls out so that each cat has their own bowl and the shy guy has a chance to eat in peace. Hope that helps some.
I do something like this as well...I put food in their bowls once a day and they eat as much as they will. I have 2 bowls for 2 cats.
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Thanks all. The suggestions were great as usual. I let my daughter read them first hand. She also looked up the site of the kitten food to see recommended amounts. According to it they were a little on the low side. She wants to try the free feed when they get home. Mainly for some stress relief. They don't get home until late some evenings and all she can think about is her hungry kitties.
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I've always free fed my cats. For me, the biggest concern is putting the food where the dogs can't get it. Cats seem to be pretty good about regulating how much they eat. Currently, my cat has free reign to dry food and we feed her wet food 3 times a day (she's elderly and doesn't eat much dry food).