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Cat doesn't seem to eat much but weight is normal. Help plz.

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Member Since 01/21/2013     Purred: Mon Jan 21, '13 7:58am PST  Hi, I'm new here. I have a 12.5 - 13 lb ten-year old female long haired cat and finally after about three months have transitioned her to wet food only. She was previously dry only (and is still a dry food addict--she goes completely NUTS for crunchy treats and will hold out for them). Vet recommended wet for weight, as she was getting a bit pudgy, and for kidney health due to her age. Here's the dilemma. She eats the wet food, but in seemingly tiny amounts, and it takes FOR-EV-ER. Every morning at least a 30 minute ordeal for me. The amount doesn't change much from food to food. She is eating probably 4-5 ounces of food per day. Her weight is absolutely fine, leveling off at about 12-13 lbs from 14 previously, and she never acts deprived. Still energetic. Is this cause for worry? Does my cat just have a slow metabolism? My male four-year old cat eats about 8 ounces of food per day and he weighs 12 pounds--perfect weight. Should I supplement her food with some powdered vitamin blend? I worry about calcium and other minerals. I thought about supplementing with a tiny bit of dry food but she will hold out for it if she knows it is there and I do not want to go through this battle again. Thanks!!! my posts [notify]

Brownie I'm the Alpha- cat!     Purred: Mon Jan 21, '13 11:30am PST  How many times a day do you feed them? Ours are feed at least 3 times a day. Sometimes even 4 times. They sometimes get hairballs and eat less until it comes up. So 3 small meal work for us with free feeding grazing of kibble. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Member Since 01/21/2013     Purred: Mon Jan 21, '13 12:08pm PST  I feed her twice a day. I offer up a half of a 6 oz can at each feeding but she never finishes it. So I figure total she is eating about 4-5 oz a day. my posts [notify]

BK Ambassador at- the Kitty U.N.     Purred: Mon Jan 21, '13 12:09pm PST  I think the amount she's eating is fine, especially if her weight loss has leveled off. In fact, the 8 oz. your male is eating is a lot more than a standard day's portion, but I assume he's just very active. The reason they make cans 5.5 oz. is because that's an average day's worth of food for most cats. my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Beep Butt-kicker of- all other cats     Purred: Tue Jan 22, '13 4:49am PST  I had a cat that, like yours, was a dry food addict (still is), absolutely nuts for dry food or crunchy treats, and it took me forever to transition her to canned food, but when we did, omg, she lost so much weight! In a good way, she was fat, and she looks like a different cat. We refer to her old pictures as her "fat" pictures, it's that noticeable. She also does not devour her canned food right away, she has always been sort of a grazer, but I don't worry about it too much. This cat, who is 10 years old and is about 9 or 10 pounds now (she was a whopping 13.5 pounds....and she is a small cat!), she only eats about 1/4 of a can in the morning, the tuna can size can of cat food, then she gets another 1/4 at night, and she does get a (very) small handful....I'm talking like 10 tiny kibbles, of dry at night before I go to bed. If I did not give her the dry, she would stalk me in my sleep and mew in my face all night if I didn't. I do give her a high quality dry, that tiny amount. But this small amount seems to be perfect for her. She does not seem starved and she is actually probably still a little chubby for her size, she is a very small cat, so 9 or 10 pounds is probably even a bit much for her. I think if your cat is inside and not very active, like my girl here, it's ok to feed less. It seems to work for us. My holistic vet was the one who convinced me to feed her entirely canned food and she also said to avoid the fish ones, I can't remember the reason why, but to stick with the chicken, beef and turkey ones. Once in a blue moon I give her, as a special treat, one that is mixed with salmon and she goes bananas! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Fluff Whatever it is,- I can break it!     Purred: Tue Jan 22, '13 8:59pm PST  It's Fluff. We went to all wet food last year. We were raised as kittens on mostly dry food--cheap dry food when we were small as we were ferals and not expected to become indoor pet cats until our momcat died. Then we went to good-quality dry food with wet food offered but rarely eaten. Two years ago we all went to grain-free dry food, because Stella had allergy issues. We still had access to wet food, because Delyte has always had it. Then last year, because we all were having vomiting problems, we all went to limited kinds of wet cat food. Since last year I apparently have lost either weight or just fat because I look very sleek and muscly now, and I was bulgy before. Since they cannot get me to the vet, I have not been weighed much, but I was as much as 18 pounds before. I am a big cat, but that was heavy. Everyone looks better now, except Delyte who is like a cat skeleton but he is 17 and has other health issues. His fur is much glossier and he has good energy for such an old guy. We are all still dry food addicts, and we get 4-5 pieces each a day as trests. None of us can seem to deal with digesting cat treats. We love to eat them but our person hates cleaning them off the floor! Do try feeding smaller amounts more frequently. Most cats seem to like it. Purrs! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Beep Butt-kicker of- all other cats     Purred: Wed Jan 23, '13 4:07am PST  Hi Fluff! I'm Beep! My mom thinks it's so sweet that you have been saved from the life of being a feral cat and that you now have a loving home and a mom that feeds you good food, she thinks that is the best thing ever when she hears stories like that. My mom took in a stray kitten, I guess he's my brother, Stephano, last month, and he is very tiny from being a feral and undernourished. She thought he was 3-4 months old, the vet said more like 5-8 months old and small. They said his teeth were worn down from being outside. Mom told me something that I'm not too happy about, she said that she thinks she is going to cut down on the crunchy treats....which I LOVE, because she thinks they are just not so good for all of us cats. She says they put something really tasty on those treats to make them so addictive (whatever that means) but that they are probably not good, especially for me, since I'm getting older. Mom is going to go to the good pet store in a few days and find something good to use as a treat. She bought something called "Stella and Chewy's" dehydrated raw food, before and that was really good, so I think she will get me that again. You just mix it with a little water and boy it is good! Mom even had to put it in the fridge because I tried to pry open the kitchen cabinet to get the pouches of that food! Anyway Fluff, just wanted to say that me and mom are so glad that you are not living the feral life any longer my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Fluff Whatever it is,- I can break it!     Purred: Wed Jan 23, '13 10:49am PST  It's Fluff. You have such a cute name, Beep! Our person is so good to cats. She was feeding our momcat for over two years and another cat outside too. Momcat had ten kittens over those two years, and she took three of them in, first Stella, then Queenie and me when Momcat disappeared and the coyotes were coming up to the house looking for more cats. She thought she would be able to find homes for us, but never did. Four cats in a small house are a lot. Most commercial cat food is treated with flavor enhancers which we find addictive, but probably are not good for us. Interestingly, we also find some kinds of people food treated with flavor enhancers to be equally delicious. They have to store things like that on top of the dishwasher where we can't get them, or in the small microwave. We've heard of cats that learned to open refrigerators, but none that can open microwaves. Purrs! my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Beep Butt-kicker of- all other cats     Purred: Thu Jan 24, '13 1:04am PST  Fluff, I love your name too. That would have been a great name for me, mom says I'm a little fluffy myself. Mom is just going to give me some tiny bits of weruva for special treats from now on, that stuff is delish! Or maybe the Stella and Chewy's, when she makes it back to the good pet food store. None of us had any crunchy's tonight we were all sad, but mom means business now after her sister in laws cat died Tuesday. She had a lifetime of meow mix, nine lives and every horrible whiskas cat treat you can imagine and died at the age of 12. They said it was congestive heart failure and blood clots that were shutting down her body. My mom wonders how much her diet contributed to this. 12 is not terribly old for a cat she says. I love my name to Fluff, thanks for noticing it! My kid, who is in college now, she named me back when she was in 5th grade, and we are never quite sure where she came up with the name but I have never met another Beep, so it's kind of nice having such a unique name my posts | my page | msg me | my family's posts | gift me | become friends [notify]

Member Since 05/15/2013     Purred: Wed May 15, '13 10:27pm PST  May be you can try offering her milk in powdered form. She will much calcium from milk. Edited by author Thu May 16, '13 6:23pm PST my posts [notify]