Cats - how long between feeds?

fullerand

Hi,

We have a 1.5 year old cat who is half&half indoors/outdoors kind of fella: he'll either go play outside overnight then sleep in the house during the day or vice versa. Foodwise we typically put down some tinned food for a treat in the morning, then let him free-eat on dry stuff.

If we're out of the house for more than half a day we typically get a friend to come over once/twice a day, let him in/out of the house and top up his food. I'm starting to wonder if this is too much tho, what do you think?

For example we're off to a wedding tomorrow, leaving the house around 9am and coming back around 1pm the following day. If this was your cat, would you fill him up in the morning, then just put food&water out for him to mind himself for the rest of the time?

/sound like a worried parent with their first child, I know

Thanks

Our man in Havana

Feed him the tinned stuff in the morning - then make sure he has plenty of dry food & water & he will be fine! He may be a tad annoyed at being left but he will not starve etc.

squarah

My vet told me that letting cats have access to food all the time can cause tummy upsets. It should be fine now and then when you are away for a day or two. Basically it's better to give them their food, and take it away when they've eaten. Also he recommended dry food rather than tinned food. Your vet should be able to tell you what's best tho.

AntiVirus

squarah wrote:

My vet told me that letting cats have access to food all the time can cause tummy upsets. It should be fine now and then when you are away for a day or two. Basically it's better to give them their food, and take it away when they've eaten. Also he recommended dry food rather than tinned food. Your vet should be able to tell you what's best tho.

I would change your vet! :eek: Thats complete bull

stovelid

AntiVirus wrote:

I would change your vet! :eek: Thats complete bull

I don't know about tummy upsets but one of our cats is a bit of a gannet and will eat her own food and polish off the other's leftovers if unattended.

We once left about 2 days worth of food for her as we were going that morning and would not be back until the next evening.

When we got back, there was a lot of sick around; a result, I guess, of her eating as much as she could in one go?

AntiVirus

stovelid wrote:

I guess

A cat wouldn't change there eating habit over night. Any cat owner should know theirs own pet eating habit.

stovelid

AntiVirus wrote:

A cat wouldn't change there eating habit over night. Any cat owner should know theirs own pet eating habit.

Are you being deliberately provocative?

I feed her every day.

It was the first time we tried leaving so much food in one go and one of the first times I remember her being sick. Ergo: I guess that overeating to that extent may have caused it.

lubie76

stovelid wrote:

When we got back, there was a lot of sick around; a result, I guess, of her eating as much as she could in one go?

Sounds like your cat is bulimic:)

stovelid

lubie76 wrote:

Sounds like your cat is bulimic:)

I keep telling my wife not to leave fashion TV on when they are in the house.....

FlutterinBantam

fullerand wrote:

Hi,

We have a 1.5 year old cat who is half&half indoors/outdoors kind of fella: he'll either go play outside overnight then sleep in the house during the day or vice versa. Foodwise we typically put down some tinned food for a treat in the morning, then let him free-eat on dry stuff.

If we're out of the house for more than half a day we typically get a friend to come over once/twice a day, let him in/out of the house and top up his food. I'm starting to wonder if this is too much tho, what do you think?

For example we're off to a wedding tomorrow, leaving the house around 9am and coming back around 1pm the following day. If this was your cat, would you fill him up in the morning, then just put food&water out for him to mind himself for the rest of the time?

/sound like a worried parent with their first child, I know

Thanks

It says on the back of this Whiskas pouch"Average adult cat reqs 3 to 4 pouches per day, serve one pouch per meal"

So based on that every 4 hours or so

You can get these timer feeders from good petshops.....

galah

fullerand wrote:

Hi,

We have a 1.5 year old cat who is half&half indoors/outdoors kind of fella: he'll either go play outside overnight then sleep in the house during the day or vice versa. Foodwise we typically put down some tinned food for a treat in the morning, then let him free-eat on dry stuff.

If we're out of the house for more than half a day we typically get a friend to come over once/twice a day, let him in/out of the house and top up his food. I'm starting to wonder if this is too much tho, what do you think?

For example we're off to a wedding tomorrow, leaving the house around 9am and coming back around 1pm the following day. If this was your cat, would you fill him up in the morning, then just put food&water out for him to mind himself for the rest of the time?

/sound like a worried parent with their first child, I know

Thanks

This is basically how we feed our cats as well (one pouch wet food in the morning, one pouch in the evening (between the two, not each!), and inbetween as much dry food as they want). I would leave my cats alone overnight for one night, provided that there's enough dry food, and water. They will not starve (they might be a bit miffed until they get a 'welcome home' treat), and as long as there's enough fresh water it should be ok.

echosound

*most* cats won't overeat, it's dogs that are the notorious gannets normally. Any cat we've ever had will eat what they need to fill them, leave the rest, and toddle back to eat whatever's left when they're next hungry.

The automated petfeeder is a good idea if you're worried though, or a helpful family member/friend to pop in the once, but in all fairness, if you're only gone overnight for one night, your cat should be fine (although possibly a bit peeved alright!) at being left with enough food to do him for the duration plus kitty litter if he's staying indoors for the duration.

If he is staying indoors though just make sure there's nothing he could get up to mischief with alone - we left our cat overnight once (from about 8pm to 8am the next morning), and got back early the next morning to find the git decided snoozing in the embers of the fire would be a fine idea, he had pulled down the fireguard to get at the (quenched before we left) fire, snuggled up on the embers which were still luke warm, and when they lost all heat proceeded to snuggle up in various spots on couches, rugs, etc, leaving lovely sooty marks everywhere. Our snowywhite pristine cat was a furball of soot and it took a lot of persuading (and scratched arms) to get him into the bath to wash it off.

galah

same goes for pot plants and anything that can be pulled down, pushed down or knocked over...(cats are unbelievably resourceful in wreaking havoc when the owner's are not around...) ;-)

piskins72

we have left our cat on a good few occasions over nite for 1 night (any longer he goes to cattery) and hes always been fine, hes used to sleepin in the kitchen with his basket next to the rad,if he wants to watch the world go by he will sit on the window. so once he has his litter tray, mostly dry food and fresh water hes normally grand, usually leave a few of his toys around for him as well, and I know it mite sound mad, but we also leave the radio on, so that there is some noise, it seems to settle him better for some reason, normally when we come back hes out for the count asleep

stovelid

Has anybody used an automated feeder before?