? Hungry cat--what is normal FF feeding per day?

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FranklinsMom

FranklinsMom

Member Since 2017
Franklin was diagnosed in August 2017 and with the help and knowledge of people here, I changed his diet and got him into remission fairly quickly. Sometimes I wonder if actually had diabetes or not. Recently he has been hungrier. I started to write a post wondering if he might have hyperthyroidism. However, in pulling the weight stats together, since both he and his sister have lost weight, I wonder if I am feeding them enough? He is always very hungry in the morning. Sometimes he will eat too fast and vomit. The current vet suggested putting a golf ball in his bowl to slow him down in eating. This has helped.

A previous vet had told me she wanted Franklin around 15 pounds but I'm not seeing her anymore. I don't remember the current vet saying anything about his weight at Franklin's last annual visit.

I did a curve on Franklin last Monday and it seemed fine.

His sister also seems to be hungry in the morning but she doesn't have the vomit issues. I have started feeding her in the bathroom with the door closed because he would nudge her out of the way to eat her food. Sometimes he hadn't finished his yet so I just assumed he was being a bully. Now he waits for the bathroom door to open and then he will clean her bowl. I have a third cat, Tennessee, who I took in when a neighbor abandoned him. If he leaves any food behind, Franklin will eat that as well. He did that this morning and tossed his cookies.

In January Franklin weighed 18 1/2 pounds and Ellie weighed 12.5 pounds. About a week ago, Franklin weighed 16.14 1/2 pounds and Ellie weighed 10.14 pounds.

Every now and then Franklin is constipated and does the scooting thing. So that and the occasional vomit from eating too fast or too much are the only symptoms I see. Sometimes I will put Metamucil in his food.

I currently have two part-time jobs. One is in retail so I have irregular hours. I try to feed them at regular times but some days that can be a challenge with my retail work schedule.

This is what I shoot for:

7:30 a.m. Split 1/3 can of FF among all three

8:00 or 8:30 a.m. Split 1/2 can of FF between two indoor cats. (Outdoors cat has headed outside.) I wait to feed the second serving to avoid Franklin vomiting by eating too much.

12:30 p.m. Split 1/3 can of FF between all three

About 5:30 p.m. Split 1/3 can of FF between all three

Anywhere between 9:00 and 11:00 p.m. split 1/3 can between all three. And sometimes Franklin and Tennessee will both tell me they are still hungry so I might split another 1/3 can between the three after this one.

Most days I am regular with the feeding times between morning and lunch. It's weekends and after 12:30 when my schedule can be a little irregular. So instead of 5:30 p.m., it might be 6:30 p.m. I seem to be falling into a pattern on the retail job of having to open on Sundays so I might feed them meal one at 5:45 a.m. and meal two around 6:15 a.m. just before I head out the door. Next meal might be 10:00 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. and then next one might be at 2:00 or 3:00. Weekends can through the whole day off.

So that is about two cans or a little bit more each day for Franklin. He gets a little more as he eats anything left by the others. Ellie eats most of her food but sometimes leaves a little bit. Tennessee is always in a rush to get outside in the morning so he doesn't always eat all of his breakfast. Tennessee also gets a little bit of dry food out in the garage.

How much FF should I be feeding them each day? And how worried should I be about the schedule of feeding them, especially Franklin?

Thanks and apologies for the long post.
 
I was reading this post https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/new-member-need-help.232277/ and saw a response from Chris & China in regards to how much to feed a cat each day. It looks like I am underfeeding him. Looks like I should be feeding him 3 to 3 1/2 cans a day of FF. So he will be happy to start getting a little more food a day. Because he gets sick by eating too much too quickly, it might mean more meals in a day as we get adjusted to this, perhaps extra food about 30 minutes after he gets fed when I am home to do that.

Once we get adjusted to the new amounts--even though he is in remission, how important is it to feed on that regular schedule--making sure he is feed every certain number of hours?

Thanks again for your help. Greatly appreciate it.
 
Cats are natural grazers It looks like a timed feeder is in your future. In a multiple cat households it may require the more expensive one where it works with chips and a collar chip. If there is a way to subvert that I dont know. I'm sure yours is not the only house here with like conditions so hold on for more replies!;):coffee:
 
FranklinsMom said:
Franklin was diagnosed in August 2017 and with the help and knowledge of people here, I changed his diet and got him into remission fairly quickly. Sometimes I wonder if actually had diabetes or not. Recently he has been hungrier. I started to write a post wondering if he might have hyperthyroidism. However, in pulling the weight stats together, since both he and his sister have lost weight, I wonder if I am feeding them enough? He is always very hungry in the morning. Sometimes he will eat too fast and vomit. The current vet suggested putting a golf ball in his bowl to slow him down in eating. This has helped.

A previous vet had told me she wanted Franklin around 15 pounds but I'm not seeing her anymore. I don't remember the current vet saying anything about his weight at Franklin's last annual visit.

I did a curve on Franklin last Monday and it seemed fine.

His sister also seems to be hungry in the morning but she doesn't have the vomit issues. I have started feeding her in the bathroom with the door closed because he would nudge her out of the way to eat her food. Sometimes he hadn't finished his yet so I just assumed he was being a bully. Now he waits for the bathroom door to open and then he will clean her bowl. I have a third cat, Tennessee, who I took in when a neighbor abandoned him. If he leaves any food behind, Franklin will eat that as well. He did that this morning and tossed his cookies.

In January Franklin weighed 18 1/2 pounds and Ellie weighed 12.5 pounds. About a week ago, Franklin weighed 16.14 1/2 pounds and Ellie weighed 10.14 pounds.

Every now and then Franklin is constipated and does the scooting thing. So that and the occasional vomit from eating too fast or too much are the only symptoms I see. Sometimes I will put Metamucil in his food.

I currently have two part-time jobs. One is in retail so I have irregular hours. I try to feed them at regular times but some days that can be a challenge with my retail work schedule.

This is what I shoot for:

7:30 a.m. Split 1/3 can of FF among all three

8:00 or 8:30 a.m. Split 1/2 can of FF between two indoor cats. (Outdoors cat has headed outside.) I wait to feed the second serving to avoid Franklin vomiting by eating too much.

12:30 p.m. Split 1/3 can of FF between all three

About 5:30 p.m. Split 1/3 can of FF between all three

Anywhere between 9:00 and 11:00 p.m. split 1/3 can between all three. And sometimes Franklin and Tennessee will both tell me they are still hungry so I might split another 1/3 can between the three after this one.

Most days I am regular with the feeding times between morning and lunch. It's weekends and after 12:30 when my schedule can be a little irregular. So instead of 5:30 p.m., it might be 6:30 p.m. I seem to be falling into a pattern on the retail job of having to open on Sundays so I might feed them meal one at 5:45 a.m. and meal two around 6:15 a.m. just before I head out the door. Next meal might be 10:00 a.m. or 10:30 a.m. and then next one might be at 2:00 or 3:00. Weekends can through the whole day off.

So that is about two cans or a little bit more each day for Franklin. He gets a little more as he eats anything left by the others. Ellie eats most of her food but sometimes leaves a little bit. Tennessee is always in a rush to get outside in the morning so he doesn't always eat all of his breakfast. Tennessee also gets a little bit of dry food out in the garage.

How much FF should I be feeding them each day? And how worried should I be about the schedule of feeding them, especially Franklin?

Thanks and apologies for the long post.
Click to expand...
the rule of thumb is about 20 calories per pound of ideal weight.

Of his ideal weight is 15 lbs he should be eating 300 calories a day. Ff is 85-90 calories depending on the flavor. So he should be eating 3.5 cans a day.

You aren't feeding him enough.


If 12.5 lbs is a good weight for your other cat she would need about 250 calories a day
So that would be about 3 cans per day.
 
@JanetNJ Thanks. Yes, I made up a new chart. Had to eat some cereal before I did all that math earlier. :) I have a bright pink index card with the new figures on my refrigerator. Cat food costs going up....

@jt and trouble (GA) A timed feeder sounds like a good idea but pricey. I was hoping to get one of those when I found my next full-time job---was laid off about three years ago. After several temp gigs in the beginning, I am happy to have landed two stable part-time jobs in the past year or so. Not excited about working retail but it's definitely stable during a pandemic. Maybe I will start saving a little each week for a timed feeder. And I am off to that retail job for the rest of the day...

Thanks again everyone.
 
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Hi Franklin's Mom,

Couple of thoughts:

1. Constipation can trigger vomiting. Here's a link to a site with all you never wanted to know about this:

felineconstipation.org.

2. Hyperthyroidism is not uncommon in middle-aged cats. When the opportunity presents it might be worth getting Franklin's levels checked. Hyperthyroidism can cause digestive issues as well as weight loss despite increased consumption. (My civvie, Lúnasa, was hyperthyroid but had diarrhoea as an issue in addition to a bit of vomiting. Everything that went in one end came out the other very shortly afterwards. :oops: Treatment of the thyroid disorder resolved the GI issues.) If there is a chance that Franklin might be hyperT, it's better to address it quickly otherwise the heart can be affected secondary to the glandular disorder.

3. The easiest way to manage a cat's weight is to monitor them against a body condition chart, keep a log of how much you feed them, and check their weight regularly. (Digital baby scales are great for monitoring weight at home. Amazon and eBay do them at relatively reasonable prices. Another suggestion for your wish list! :) ) Some vets will let their clients pop in with their pets to use their scales for free. Might be worth enquiring with your practice.

Even just checking against the body condition chart, while crude, can help. If a kitty starts getting a little 'curvy' feed a little less each day; if they start looking a little on the leaner side, feed a little more each day. When ideal weight is reached, tweak the amount fed to a maintenance amount.

Here is an excellent, vet-authored site on cat nutrition and health issues. It has info on how much to feed and how to manage weight:

catinfo.org

I've just noticed Dr. Pierson has a section on hyperthyroidism too. Might also be helpful.


Mogs
.
 
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Another thought re getting weight checks at the vets. If the vets in your area are like round here there's usually a weighing scales for droolers in the reception area. If the vet offers clients the facility to pop in for a weight check then, on the first trip it might be worth taking the cat out of the carry crate, weigh the crate itself, then weigh the cat in the crate and deduct the weight of the carrier. By keeping a record of the weight of the carry crate all that you'd need to do on subsequent visits is just pop kitty and crate onto the drooler scales and do the sums. Should just be a quick pop in and out and job's a good 'un.


Mogs


ETA:

An afterthought: it might be easier to pop in some time, sans cat, and just weigh the carry crate. That would save on having to do a spot of cat wrangling in your vet's reception area. :confused:

.
 
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FranklinsMom said:
@JanetNJ Thanks. Yes, I made up a new chart. Had to eat some cereal before I did all that math earlier. :) I have a bright pink index card with the new figures on my refrigerator. Cat food costs going up....

@jt and trouble (GA) A timed feeder sounds like a good idea but pricey. I was hoping to get one of those when I found my next full-time job---was laid off about three years ago. After several temp gigs in the beginning, I am happy to have landed two stable part-time jobs in the past year or so. Not excited about working retail but it's definitely stable during a pandemic. Maybe I will start saving a little each week for a timed feeder. And I am off to that retail job for the rest of the day...

Thanks again everyone.
Click to expand...
Many feed Friskies pate... It's a bit less expensive per ounce.
 
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