 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsGeneral TopicsCat AnecdotesHealth and BehaviorRescue CatKB.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Cat Forum / General Topics / January 2006How to manage a wet food diet for cats
I've decided to put my four cats on a diet of wet food only, as I think it'll help me control their weight and keep them hydrated. My vet agrees that wet food is a good idea. In my hand is a 5.5 oz can of Science Diet turkey and giblets entree. It says to give a 10 pound cat 1 1/3 to 1 3/4 of a can per day. That seems like an awful lot of food to me. If the cats only eat twice a day, they're going to have some big meals. If you put even half of one of these cans in a dish, it's big pile of food! And some of my cats are big, weighing far more than 10 pounds. Judging from the feeding instructions on the can, they'd need at least a couple of cans per day. I don't mind providing this much food for them, but can they honestly eat that much food? I started giving them wet food a couple of days ago and I've been following the instructions. After each meal time, there's a ton of food left over. So, again, I have to wonder about the feeding instructions provided by the folks at Science Diet. Can someone give me some guidance, please? My cats are big and fairly senior, with the activity levels of senior cats. Many thanks. Steve wrote: > I've decided to put my four cats on a diet of wet food only, as I think > it'll help me control their weight and keep them hydrated. My vet [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > Steve The food recommendations on the cans are insanely high for sedantary indoor cats. My cats are big too, from 12 to 21 pounds, and they're still getting some dry food too. If they were only eating canned, I'd guess about 1 can Science Diet per cat per day would keep them at a healthy weight. > wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 27 lines] > about 1 can Science Diet per cat per day would keep them at a healthy > weight. My two cats have maintained their weight from the time I brought them home from the shelter not quite two years ago. They weigh in at 9½ & 10¾ pounds. They have access to two types of dry food at all times and both split a 3oz can of wet food twice daily at 6am and 6pm. As far as the wet food goes, they will not eat the same flavor twice in a day. The vet says, "Cool, it's working for them." The two dry foods are, Meow Mix Hairball Formula and Flint River Ranch, out of California. Stone Some pic's http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/stoneman72/my_photos > I've decided to put my four cats on a diet of wet food only, as I think > it'll help me control their weight and keep them hydrated. My vet [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > Steve I think manufactuers of most pet foods give reommendations that are far in excess of what is needed. Following their recommendations is a good way to cause obesity, especially for fairly sedentary cats. I am feeding canned food exclusively (Eagle Pack and several varieties of Wellness). Each cat gets 1/3 of a 5.5 oz can twice a day, fed on a 12-hour schedule. That has maintained their weight perfectly. Holly weighs a little more than 9 pounds, and Duffy is slightly over 8 pounds. I open one can for one meal and use 2/3 of it, divided between the two cats; then repeat the process for the next meal. This will leave 1/3 can in two separate cans for another meal. I refrigerate the "leftovers" for the third meal and microwave that for a short time to gently warm it. A can of Wellness has approximately 190-200 kcal per 5.5 oz. can. This means that my cats get approximately 65 kcal per meal, and their weight has been very stable on that amount. Holly will be 11 years old in June, and Duffy is approximately 7 years old. MaryL Photos of Duffy and Holly: >'o'< Duffy: http://tinyurl.com/cslwf Holly: http://tinyurl.com/9t68o Duffy and Holly together: http://tinyurl.com/8b47e this is the amount of food my two on wet food get (they have had UTIs) One is completely content on it, and the second is always screaming for food, but then again I could give him a 20lb bag of food, he'd eat the whole thing then scream for more. >> I've decided to put my four cats on a diet of wet food only, as I think >> it'll help me control their weight and keep them hydrated. My vet [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > Holly: http://tinyurl.com/9t68o > Duffy and Holly together: http://tinyurl.com/8b47e > this is the amount of food my two on wet food get (they have had UTIs) One > is completely content on it, and the second is always screaming for food, [quoted text clipped - 47 lines] >>Holly: http://tinyurl.com/9t68o >>Duffy and Holly together: http://tinyurl.com/8b47e I put my five elderly cats on a wet diet several months ago. The guideline I found on the internet was that a healthy cat needs 6 ounces of wet food a day, hence they each get a 3 ounce can twice a day. I have a male who was very heavy. He has lost some weight and is a lot more active. The other four are more active also. My vet endorsed the move and said that wet food is much better for them. : I put my five elderly cats on a wet diet several months ago. The : guideline I found on the internet was that a healthy cat needs 6 ounces : of wet food a day, hence they each get a 3 ounce can twice a day. I : have a male who was very heavy. He has lost some weight and is a lot : more active. The other four are more active also. My vet endorsed the : move and said that wet food is much better for them. And both my vets say premium dry is better... ? I like to give both because of tartar control. Wet is better if the cats drink too little. If my dog has to lose weight, it works best with wet food, but she needs to get a chewing bone, otherwise she starts smelling out of her mouth. carola Thanks to everyone who's replied. Anyway you look at it, it sounds like I'm going to have to experiement to find the correct amounts. Today I gave the cats way more food than they ate. However, when they walked away from their food, I disposed of whatever food was left over. I guess I'll continue this practice until I learn how much they're eating at the average sitting. Of course, once it sinks in that I'm going to throw away any remaining food, I figure they may start eating more at meal time; but that's okay. I suspect they'll still eat considerably less than they do when food is sitting out for them all the time. Steve It's been a rough few days. Some of my cats seem angry at me all the time now because of the switch to scheduled feedings of wet food. At first I was concerned because they didn't seem to be eating enough. So, I started letting the wet food sit out for about half an hour before I took it up. That way they could eat, rest a bit and then eat some more until they were full. This has helped some. They're eating more....still not as much as they should, I suspect, but close. They still act hungry and ticked off at me a few hours later, but I keep reminding myself that this is for their own good. Steve |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.