Cat hungry in the middle of the night (weight, canned food, meowing)
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I work from 4pm til somewhere between 3-6am. I always give him some organic treats when I get home. He eats at around 9am and again at 9pm. By 4am he's hungry. On weekends when I don't work, he's in our room or in the living room howling and meowing for food. He eats only wet food. Would it to detrimental to him to put out 1/4 cup of dry food at night when my wife goes to sleep? I don't really want to wake up at 4am on my days off. Feeding him wet food is a challenge since I'm sure he'd LIKE it 3-4x a day instead of 2. I work 55-70 hours a week so I'm not home to do it.
Get a timed feeder, put a portion of his daily quota of canned in it and set it to open at the time you want it to open.
12 hours is really too long between meals for a cat. They need to eat every 8 or 9 hours, 10 max. Their tummy starts to fill with bile, and they get a tummy ache, if they go too long.
Don't feed dry food. It's just that bad for him, you do not want to get started down that road.
Get a timed feeder, put a portion of his daily quota of canned in it and set it to open at the time you want it to open.
12 hours is really too long between meals for a cat. They need to eat every 8 or 9 hours, 10 max. Their tummy starts to fill with bile, and they get a tummy ache, if they go too long.
Don't feed dry food. It's just that bad for him, you do not want to get started down that road.
He had nothing but dry food when I adopted him. Link to this automatic feeder?
First thing is to be sure he is on grain-free wet food: 4 cans of wet food every 24 hours is a lot and once you switch to grain-free, he will be satisfied longer. That said I agree 12 hours is a long time for a cat to go without food. It.s common for owners to go thru lots of cheap canned cat food (Fancy Feast, etc.)and their cat is starving all the time.
I don.t think it.s the worst thing in the world to put out some high quality, grain free kibbles during the night. Once you switch to grain free you will notice a huge difference in your cat. It.s a tad more expensive but will pay off in his overall health. Mine does get some treats that aren.t grain free so I am not too strict.
Also I play with my cat every nite before bed so he is a bit tired out. He may be bored as well, just like mine.
He had nothing but dry food when I adopted him. Link to this automatic feeder?
I know, I remember.
I researched them a few years back when I thought I was going to need one. I used to have a lot of them saved in my 'save for later" page but here's the only one I see at amazon right now:
I agree with earslikeacat about ensuring he is getting enough interactive play time with you. Often a cat will act hungry when what he really wants is your attention, (but not always, sometimes he is hungry .)
I do not agree with earslikeacat that
Quote:
" I don.t think it.s the worst thing in the world to put out some high quality, grain free kibbles during the night."
There is no such thing as "high quality dry". It's all horrible for cats. All of it.
I am feeding him fancy feast. The only ones I feed him are the classic ones. I put a lot of water in it also, so it's like a soup. Plenty of water for him. I'm not ready for raw food, but what kind of canned food should I try for him if fancy feast classic is bad? I read it's low in carbs and diabetic cats eat it. I'm still new to all this stuff, but I want to do what I can within financial reason for him. He's 11.8 pounds, is that too much? Judging by pics he is healthy.
Last edited by tonybarnaby; 03-14-2016 at 12:52 AM..
The fancy feast can is 3.5 ounces. It said feed one can per 3 pounds of body weight. So my nearly 12 pound cat needs 4 a day? I can't believe that.... if so I've really been depriving him, but I think 4 is insanely high.
The fancy feast can is 3.5 ounces. It said feed one can per 3 pounds of body weight. So my nearly 12 pound cat needs 4 a day? I can't believe that.... if so I've really been depriving him, but I think 4 is insanely high.
You're right that is an insane amount for an adult cat. Two 3 oz cans a day is most likely adequate for him. The "guidelines" on these cans are only "guidelines" and almost always tell you to feed too much.
Just divide the same amount of food into three meals instead of two meals.
Healthy weight depends on the individual cat. My cats are 7 pounds, 8 1/2 pounds and 9 1/2 pounds which are just right weights for their bones and size.
You should be able to feel his ribs when you run your hands over them, but not sticking out. There should be a light padding over them, but still able to feel them. He should have a slight indentation at the hips when looking at him from above.
Exercise is just as important as the amount of food.
The fancy feast can is 3.5 ounces. It said feed one can per 3 pounds of body weight. So my nearly 12 pound cat needs 4 a day? I can't believe that.... if so I've really been depriving him, but I think 4 is insanely high.
I agree with catsmom--try 2 cans per day, split into 3 meals. Our oldest cat weighs about the same as yours and does fine with 2 cans of FF classics per day.
Wife already fed him twice today. I'm going to feed him when I get off work tonight.
10am
6-8pm
2-4am
Sound right?That way he only goes 8 hours between meals. On days I get home at 6am he will have gone 12 hours, so I'm not sure what to do. My wife wakes up around 7 with the kids.
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