Pet Feeding Schedule

[HurricaneHeather]

Tips? Suggestions?

We have been trying to get our cats used to eating twice a day instead of munching here and there all day long. We are planning on switching them to a raw diet soon, but we have to get them to eat twice a day on their kibble first before we can try and get them on raw.

It's been hard because they are so used to having the '24 hour kibble buffet' and so they don't eat but just a little bit when we put it out.

We have been only leaving it out for a short while in the morning and then in the evening. And the cats are miserable. I started feeling so guilty yesterday when I was cooking dinner because they both looked so pitiful standing over by where their food usually is. :(

Is this something that will just take time? I realize that they have been used to eating anytime they want their whole lives, so not only are they mentally not sure what to do, but I'm sure that their bodies are little confused too.

We are going to stick with this because we have to if we are switching to raw, but man they are breaking my heart right now :(

[Cutty72]

Figure out how much food they should get in a day, split that in half.

Give the first half in the AM, and second half in the PM.
Just leave it there till they finish it.
Would they eat that fast enough, or would there still be some "morning" food left by the night feeding?

Sorry I can't be more help, my dog has always been on a twice a day schedule, if you gave her the "buffet" style, she'd eat the 40lb bag of food in one sitting!!

[azoomm]

I vote to just go cold turkey... literally.

[Cutty72]

Or you could quit feeding them entirely. they can hunt for food.
They are only cats afterall.

[HurricaneHeather]

Figure out how much food they should get in a day, split that in half.

Give the first half in the AM, and second half in the PM.
Just leave it there till they finish it.
Would they eat that fast enough, or would there still be some "morning" food left by the night feeding?

Sorry I can't be more help, my dog has always been on a twice a day schedule, if you gave her the "buffet" style, she'd eat the 40lb bag of food in one sitting!!

There would be some left in the evening if we just left it there all day. They just nibble here and there all day. We are trying to curb that and make them eat in a 30 minute window in the morning and then again in the evening.

[HurricaneHeather]

Or you could quit feeding them entirely. they can hunt for food.
They are only cats afterall.

:lol:

If they ever went outside we could make that work, but they are city, apartment, third floor cats. We thought about buying mice and letting them run around the apartment. :lol: One of the cats would go for it. The other would run and hide. Cats.

[Cutty72]

:lol:

If they ever went outside we could make that work, but they are city, apartment, third floor cats. We thought about buying mice and letting them run around the apartment. :lol: One of the cats would go for it. The other would run and hide. Cats.

Open a window, let 'em catch birds. Just hope (provided you like said cats) that they don't go diving out the window to catch the birds. :lol:

[HurricaneHeather]

I vote to just go cold turkey... literally.

:lol: That just doesn't work for cats. Dogs will eat what you give them. The cats will look at it, look at you and say....uh that isn't what I ordered. :lol:

All the info I can find about a raw cat diet say that you have to ease them into it. They just won't eat raw food if they have been eating nothing but kibble their whole lives. :idk:

[HurricaneHeather]

Open a window, let 'em catch birds. Just hope (provided you like said cats) that they don't go diving out the window to catch the birds. :lol:

Yeah, we have a tree right in front of our balcony. There have been a few times we thought the hunter cat might think he could make it to the closest branch if he jumped with all his might. Yikes. :lol:

[azoomm]

:lol: That just doesn't work for cats. Dogs will eat what you give them. The cats will look at it, look at you and say....uh that isn't what I ordered. :lol:

All the info I can find about a raw cat diet say that you have to ease them into it. They just won't eat raw food if they have been eating nothing but kibble their whole lives. :idk:

Hmmmmmppphhh. And, they call DOGS bitches

:lol:

[Kaneman]

Cats are dirty evil little creatures so I'm not sure if the same techniques will work on them that work on a dog but...

When I switched to raw diet for my dogs they were a little confused at first. I sat their food down and when they didn't show interest in it I picked it back up, then set it back down again at night. They pick up on it pretty fast once they get hungry.
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[unknownroad]

Raw food? :scratch:

Our cats have a 24-hour kibble buffet, and we also give them canned wet food once a day in the evening. We started doing the wet food about a year ago. One of our cats was 9 years old at the time, and he's now the most assertive about making sure that mealtime doesn't slip by without us noticing.

I would recommend giving them both foods at once- give them the raw food at one of your planned feeding times, and less of the kibble, then keep reducing the amount of kibble, add the second raw feeding, etc. I think "changing your eating schedule so that we can change your diet later" is too complex a concept for cats- right now you're just taking away their food and they don't know why :(

[Particle Man]

I feed my cat when she shows up during the day. She eats her cat food (that's all she will eat) and then she goes off and terrorizes the local birds, chipmunks, etc all day.

[Method]

I feed out cat 2x a day at 8am and 8pm. He gets half a can of wet food and a heaping 1/8 cup of dry food at each serving. It took a little while to get him adjusted to the schedule, but they'll adapt.

[Dave]

we do kibble once a day (as in i fill them once) with bowls appropriately sized to both cats (the kitten is still far to active to grasp the concept of sleep when daddy sleeps) seems to work out so far. Max is pretty bulky but hes not really fat. hes always been pretty muscular for a cat

[HurricaneHeather]

I feed out cat 2x a day at 8am and 8pm. He gets half a can of wet food and a heaping 1/8 cup of dry food at each serving. It took a little while to get him adjusted to the schedule, but they'll adapt.

Did he eat just a little bit when you would put out the food at first? Ours are just eating a teensy bit when we put the food out and are hungry a few hours later of course.

[cuttle]

just feed them at a certain time, and take it away when they are done.
The next time you feed them they should be hungry enough to eat a decent meal - take it away again after they stop eating. They'll get the message very quickly.

Oh - and get some earplugs for the first night...

[marko138]

Figure out how much food they should get in a day, split that in half.

Give the first half in the AM, and second half in the PM.
Just leave it there till they finish it.
Would they eat that fast enough, or would there still be some "morning" food left by the night feeding?

Sorry I can't be more help, my dog has always been on a twice a day schedule, if you gave her the "buffet" style, she'd eat the 40lb bag of food in one sitting!!
Mine too. As soon as his bowl hits the floor...food...gone.

[Rider]

My cats graze all day but my dog is fed twice a day. Seems to work out well. Sometimes the dog will let the food sit in the bowl for a little while before he touches it. I give him 20 minutes, if it's not all gone I pick up the bowl.

[Particle Man]

Oh - and get some earplugs for the first night...

and if they still have their claws, pick up anything you actually like (read: everything) :lol:

[HurricaneHeather]

just feed them at a certain time, and take it away when they are done.
The next time you feed them they should be hungry enough to eat a decent meal - take it away again after they stop eating. They'll get the message very quickly.

Oh - and get some earplugs for the first night...

We've been doing it for a week now and they are still eating just a little bit each time we put it out.

Man they are a lot of work. :lol:

[HurricaneHeather]

and if they still have their claws, pick up anything you actually like (read: everything) :lol:

My cats don't tear things up when they are mad. One of them will go and splash in her water bowl when she doesn't get her way. It's pretty funny actually.

My roommates artistry about the problem:

[Particle Man]

My cats don't tear things up when they are mad. One of them will go and splash in her water bowl when she doesn't get her way. It's pretty funny actually.

My roommates artistry about the problem:

my cat fell in the tub once (was playing with the water and slipped into the tub) ... I swear she didn't touch the floor a single time from the tub to the floor to the stairs to the first floor and behind the couch :lol:

needless to say she doesn't play in the water anymore

[OneSickPsycho]

My cat got super fat on the buffet style diet... So I fed him about 3/4 cup of food once daily per my vet's instructions. Then he started waking me up at all hours in the morning to be fed so about 5 months ago I moved to a night feeding schedule. All is well but in the morning when I go downstairs he still thinks I'm going to feed him. That said if he was in the wild he may only eat once a day if he was lucky. Most likely he would eat once every couple days or so... Don't feel bad or personify your animal... Remember they are cats...

[the chi]

Curious as to how it REALLY works...check this out...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090713/sc_livescience/catsdocontrolhumansstudyfinds;_ylt=Ak34_sd1.p9wSHy BIJ7iwOQDW7oF

I can vouch for the accuracy, the kit does the same thing...drives me NUTS!!

[Dave]

i wonder how much money she got for this badly controlled study