Here's a link to my staving cat :  :))

http://picasaweb.google.com/highpurity/Pete02?authkey=lKx0VyQZ6e8

It really ruins using this place as a sounding board for me anymore,
I've been coming here for over 15 years when I was still a unix sysop
and always found people
who knew how to answer questions not PREACH and RANT, INSULT AND
FLAME. Why can't a simple question be answered without going into a
diatribe
about how YOU want EVERYONE to raise THEIR cats and only according to
your criteria. Your a raving extremist idiot/moron CYBERCAT and
according to your posting
history..totally without a life!!

...your DISCUSTING.

One bit of thanks though..I found a wonderful forum where people
actually know how to answer questions without insane rants aka:
Cybercat-ing

Actually the automatic feeder doesnt bother me any other than it's normally
only seen when one has several cats and they are fed only dry.

A *lot* of people new to cat keeping do not know this is bad and if it's not
presented right, they might feel they are being 'beat up' instead of
listening and learning.  Hence, I tend to a milder response.  I *try* (not
always succeding but try) to be mostly educational as it's usually a first
time cat owner.

Grin, meamie!  Funny but mean!  (and possibly right if he/she doesnt get a
hint and ask more if the thread was not clear).

Still, if I track it right the origional question wasnt that bad.  It was
like one I posted in a dog echo for my new dog.  I didnt know how much was
'right', told them he was a beagle mix (not purebred, mixed) and per even my
inexperience, underweight and validated by the vet as such.

My confusion may be similar to this OP?  The advice I got was *horrendously
bad* and I got castigated something fierce (left the group as a bunch of
clickish idiots).  Little known to me my vet lurks there to see what bad
advice some might get so she has a better understanding of her client's
possible misconceptions.  (I found this out next visit after I left the
group but never bothered to go back and say anything nasty in the group,
just left it turned off.

Example:  I was told that even 1/4 cup feeding twice a day was way to much
and put him on a diet immediately as he weighed 35 lbs.  This is a MIX.  I
clearly told them you could distinctly count up 7 ribs when standing (up to
his shoulders when laying down) and his backbone was visible.  I later
thougt to add his height and that the vet's best guess is he's part beagle
(with beagle looks to a neophyte predominant until you measure points) and
the other part seems Bull Mastiff.  Ever seen a Bull Mastiff?  NOT a small
dog.  We get a guilty giggle wondering just how the parents worked out the
logistics of that one!  Anyways, you should have heard the hue and cry when
I asked if 3/4 cup dry twice a day was enough!

Longish story but I'll cut to the chase.  Cash is now at proper weight and
holding.  Like most beagles or beagle mixes, he will eat until he throws up
so can't be reliably free feed.  That makes knowing how 'much' pretty
critical.  He is now 55lbs and gets 2/3 cup *quality* (Eukanaba currently)
dry in the morning, and 1/2 cup dry mixed with 1/2 can wet, at night.  He
gets a small to medium dog biscuit about 6 times a day.  He varies like we
do, up or down about 1 lb a day for the past 2 months on this level.  He
gets (just like our cat) frequent feedings of leftover (salt free) bits of
our dinner which in his case may take the place of his 'wet treat' or part
of it.

Possibly!  Not sure if he's still here. Unless someone quotes him, I'll not
know.  Meantime, if i recall right, his question was like mine for my dog
(first time I'd had a dog and knew only to feed quality foods).  'How much
seems right'.  My answer is about 2.5 oz wet in morning before work and
another about 12 hours later.  A little quality dry is ok but try to swap
the cat to wet over time if they are used to only dry.