Restricted feeding, day 2. in Another Open Diary refugee
- July 7, 2014, 6:03 p.m.
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- Public
The cats seem to be taking to their restricted diet remarkably well... seems as if they're a lot more tolerant of these crazy humans than I ever thought they would be. Every time I get food for myself, they're all at my feet begging for scraps, but I'm just saying 'no'... I think I know why Tessica is so skinny now - she's hardly eating anything when I put their bowls down for them! I'm not sure if she's protesting, or if she really eats that little, but she hasn't had more than 1/4 cup a day, plus the chicken I cooked for them. If she had her way, she'd be eating meat only, but I refuse to go there... I am NOT going to mess around kitty vitamins etc and worry about her getting enough taurine in her diet just because she wants to be finnicky and try to hold out for person food, and I am even more NOT going to switch to raw food. I'll do a lot for my babies, but I have my limits... Yesterday I offered food four times because they didn't want to eat the first two, but the cat sites all say they only need to eat twice a day, so today they got breakfast when I got up, and dinner at six. The only bad thing about this new regimen is that it's going to be broken when we go away for the weekend... I'll either have to leave kibble down and hope they don't gorge, or get somebody in to feed them twice a day!
elaine2 ⋅ July 08, 2014
My cats have access to dry food and water 24/7. They do not gorge. The average cat seems to be a self-regulating unit.
Silverkitty elaine2 ⋅ July 08, 2014
Unforunately, in the four months since we moved house and turned her into an indoor cat (so she has 24/7 access to the kibble and she's around to beg for extra treats), Zho-Zho has 'regulated' herself to be about two pounds heavier than she was, and she had already plumped up nicely... now she can't groom her back/butt because she can't reach any more! We have three fat cats and only one naturally skinny one.
Everything Good Rebecca ⋅ July 08, 2014
I watched quite a bit of My Cat From Hell on Netflix when I was concerned about our three cats (and I'm stil not a cat person, not really). I did learn that he says cats need to hunt/play to use their energy and he suggests one of those toys on a stick and a string so the cat can pounce on the toy and win. Then, he says after play time (which is bonding time that your cats probably aren't lacking like one of ours is), comes food time. Hunt/play then eat then sleep. That seems like what our cats generally do, too, but yes, we have one especially who wants to eat whatever meat I'm eating and she'd rather snitch dog food out of the dog's dish than climb to the higher spot where we keep the cat food (out of doggie's reach). I've found our cats are self-regulating, yet one of them is significantly fatter than the others (yes, the one who gorges on dog food and people food). Good luck with your new regimen!