How much and how often?
The question of how much you should feed your cat and how often pops up from time to time. And there is another point which is the size of dry cat food pellets and the size of the sachets containing wet cat food. The cat’s stomach is the size of a ping-pong ball. Perhaps the standard-sized wet cat food sashay is too big? Cats tend to leave a part of it. It’s a waste of money. I recommend the smaller sachets. And I also recommend, as mentioned above, larger dry food pellets.
RELATED: How often should domestic cats be fed?
As to how often you should feed your cat, this is an ongoing discussion. Personally, I believe a cat should be fed multiple times a day and not just 1-3 times. I tend to favour up to 5 or six times daily. This, I believe, more naturally fits the behaviour of the wild cat ancestor of the domestic cat. And it is based upon my observations. Over a 24-hour period my cat will eat five or six times in quite small amounts. However, you will see experts saying something different. Perhaps it isn’t that important because the wildcat ancestor will eat when they can and they can eat when they find prey. So, they are very flexible as to how often and how much they eat at one sitting.
On the question of how much in terms of calories a domestic cat needs over a 24-hour period I would recommend that you click on the link below.
RELATED: How many calories does a cat need?
And what about a vegetarian diet for a cat?
This is a polarising and provocative subject. You have to dig deep and think about the nutrient value in cat food. You have to break it down and not be stuck in the mantra that as domestic cats are carnivores, they have to eat meat. Plant protein is as good as animal protein. Manufacturers are able to create a vegetarian or vegan diet for a cat that contains all the required nutrients. As they can do that this food is satisfactory. That is my considered opinion. Vegetarian cat food is on the shelves. If it was dangerous or damaging to domestic cats, they would not be able to sell it. There are regulations and agencies governing the quality of pet food. So don’t write off the idea of vegan or vegetarian domestic cat food. Provided it contains the right nutrients it is okay. Please click on the link below to read more on this topic.
What about the temperature of cat food?
I don’t expect many cat caregivers think about the temperature of the cat food when they serve up to their cat. It’s a topic worth discussing. A research paper suggested that cats over seven years prefer their cat food at 37°C. This suggests that cat food which is warmed up slightly is more palatable. Certainly, if you want to make food more palatable it pays to heat it up slightly. Conversely, if you keep a treat such as prawns in the fridge and serve those up cold your cat might still desire them but if they were warmed up slightly, he or she would desire them more. The temperature of cat food is worth noting. After all, humans pay attention to the temperature of the food that they eat. Often, we like it heated up. We should transfer that methodology to the feeding of our domestic cat companions.
RELATED: Domestic cats over 7-years-of-age prefer wet food at 37°C
Cat food made from insects and non-animal sources
In 2022, we should be thinking about the environment and protecting the planet. Global warming is on the agenda big time. Cats and dogs contribute to global warming quite significantly. This is because they support the cattle, livestock market which is inherently damaging to the environment. Purchasing cat food made from insects or other novel sources should be considered by cat owners. It’s just as nutritious, perhaps more so. Let’s remind ourselves that meat-based Food is sourced from roadkill and the carcasses of farm animals that are considered to be dangerous for humans to consume. Far better to rely on the purity of insect protein than a carcass full of antibiotics and other toxins. Admittedly these are meant to be burnt out during the manufacturing process but the starting point is important. Below are a couple of links on this topic which you can read about to extend your knowledge further.
RELATED: Taiwan’s silkworm cat food versus China’s industrial waste cat food
RELATED: Insect protein, millet and fava beans: the new ingredients for cat food
Toxic cat food
From time-to-time stories pop-up about toxic cat food despite it being manufactured commercially. In one example mycotoxins were found in cat food. This is an ongoing problem actually in the UK right now. And as I recall, in Australia they had a problem with irradiated cat food. There are two links below which further discuss these two examples of hazardous yet commercially prepared cat food.
RELATED: Mycotoxins in dry cat food
RELATED: Don’t buy irradiated dry cat food
Below are some more pages on cat food written by myself and visiting contributors. They were written many years ago but are still of value
Note: I am working on the pages below to make them a little better. They may be slightly rough and ready in their presentation. Further, what is said maybe imprecise or the thoughts of a visitor. Each has some value nonetheless.
Feeding Tuna to a Cat Reggie’s favorite diet is canned tuna in water. He has that three times a day. I give him a few ‘dental’ treats with it. There is also a bowl of Whiskas,…
Budget Cat Food USA Feeding kitty a raw diet is no doubt the best. But very expensive and time consuming. A general rule of thumb is to avoid soy, corn and wheat & byproducts …
How Good is American Cat Food? How good is American cat food? We don’t really know in my opinion. I am talking about commercially produced cat food and in fact all pet food so dogs are …
How Do You Feed Your Cat? There seems to be several ways to feed your cat(s). I would be interested to hear which method visitor’s adopt. Meal Feeding This can take two …
How to train my cat to use litter (sand) How can I train my cat to shit on the sand and get rid of his bad habits? Moiz Hi Moiz….. Nice to hear from Pakistan! It is unusual to hear …
Cat Variety Diet “Survivor” Style My kitty is exposed to Raw (weekly), Home cooked (3 to 5 times a week) and both wet + dry foods (daily). I usually mix a few brands of dry kibble daily …
Rotate Super Premium Cat Food I have found that both my dogs and cats do better when I rotate through different brands of super premium foods. My holistic veterinarian started …
I would like to know why my cat died of diabetes My cat was an indoor cat. She had all needles (injections) required. She was taken to vet almost yearly. She had her in for a normal routine check up the …
Holistic Cat Food Recipe To decide what a “holistic cat food recipe” is we need to define “holistic”. In medical terms it means feeding our cat while taking into account his or …
Fancy Feast Gourmet Cat Food Fancy feast gourmet cat food is good enough for us to eat or at least it sounds that way: “Grilled Beef Feast in gravy. Made with slow-cooked beef feast …
Can Dogs Eat Cat Food? No! The answer is in the evolution of cats and dogs and the divergence of their “evolutionary paths” some 30 million years ago. Both are scientifically …
Science Diet keeps fleas from attaching to my cats We have used Science Diet Cat food (and Dog food for our dogs) for about 20 years. When our cats (and dogs) eat Science Diet, they do not get fleas and …
Best Kitten Food Providing the best kitten food is a largely a matter of commonsense and following some basic rules and concepts. The ideas here are mine. It is worth …
Morris The Cat Morris the Cat is the British equivalent of Arthur. Arthur is an all white cat, while Morris is red. Or orange to me and you. In fact Morris is an orange …
EVO Cat Food I have a diabetic cat who was on 5 units (U-40) of insulin two times a day. My veterinarian advised me that if I could get my diabetic cat on a diet of …
Dry cat food made one of my cats ill Look at the ingredients on dry food for your cat…most of the time the top ingredient is cereal, so if cereal is first stay away!. Think..cats are …
Cosy Relationship Between Veterinarian and Pet Food Manufacturers There is a cosy relationship between the veterinarians and pet food manufacturers that undermines the independence of the vets and which compromises the …
Commercial Cat Food Promotes Cat Overpopulation Does commercial cat food promote cat overpopulation and irresponsible cat ownership? This sounds an odd connection but I’ll explain what I mean and lets …
A Personal Choice On Cat Food After studying many articles on the internet concerning what we feed our pets, plus all of the pet food recalls, I’ve made some changes in what I feed …
A Cat Diet Here is a cat diet that is extremely simple. It is not based on one of the ever present and sought after Hills Science Diets that have a “d” on the end;…
Burns Cod and Rice Wet Cat Food Burns Cod and Rice Wet Cat Food is a complementary cat food, the manufacturers say. It is available in the UK. I thought I would try it. I am (almost …
Too Much Commercial Food is Bad for Cats I think too much commercial food is bad for cats. I feed mine raw chicken wings with the bone, which he crunches up….even although he is 13 years old….
Instinct Canned and Dry I had been feeding Evo dry along with Instinct canned to my hybrid cats. The Instinct is the ONLY canned/grain free cat food my guys/gals will touch… they …
Low Ash Cat Food Before looking for that elusive low ash cat food I think we need to try and figure out what ash actually is in the context of cat food because it cannot …
Cat Obesity It is hard to skirt around the argument that cat obesity is nearly always due to overeating and overeating is due to overfeeding and that is about people …
Hypoallergenic Cat Food This is my second attempt at writing about hypoallergenic cat food. I have never had to give it to my cats. But then they have not shown signs that they …
Best Canned Cat Food How do you decide what is the best canned cat food? First cat food is country specific. There seems to be a wider range in the USA. And is it better quality …
Low Sodium Cat Food People search for low sodium cat food. Why? Sodium is short for sodium chloride = salt in common parlance. Most of us have heard about salt and our health….
Grain Free Cat Food Grain shouldn’t be in cat food. That is why informed and concerned people search for grain free cat food. Grain is stuff like wheat and rice. I like …
Diabetic Cat Food I’ve been searching for diabetic cat food as my cat may be a bit diabetic (2008 but see my updating comment). She has some signs of it. She’s overweight …
Is my cat’s diet wrong? My cat is overweight. In fact she has been overweight for about 14 years, from about one day after I found her on the streets of London. She was starving …
A Suitable Diet for a Cat Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, British people are under a legal duty of care to provide a suitable diet for their cat companion. Other obligations …
Purina All Naturals Reduces Cat Shedding My cat had a shedding problem but after I started feeding him Purina All Naturals, he doesn’t shed nearly as much and his coat is much softer and shinier …
Best Cat Food – Royal Canin S/O Wet and Dry My two cats – brother and sister both contacted UTI – struvites – Originally they were on Royal Canin s/o (“S/O”) wet and dry but I switched to Fancy Feast …
Wellness Core cat food is rated the best Rated the best… says Rebecca. Comment from Michael …Thanks Rebecca. I thought that I had better do a bit of work on that simple statement to see if …
The Cost of Feeding Our Cats This is a short post on what may be obvious but it is something that I sometimes forget.
Cat food is probably our biggest expense in keeping cats and it is probably the single most important factor that we can control in connection with our cat’s health. Other things that I think about when deciding what cat food to buy are:
- What is the best cat food combination? Should I feed a mix of dry, wet and human? Or some other combination.
- Can I just feed my cat dry cat food all the time as recommended by my vet?
- Is it practical to make homemade cat food? What are the pitfalls? Is it better for our cat to eat homemade cat food?
- Can we give our cat dog food?
- Can we give our cat human food?
- What about organic cat food?
Thanks. Yes, cats can eat mango but why give it to them and would they eat it? Roughage? I can’t see the point.
Awesome. Most informative post. Can a cat eat a mango?
I meant cannabis without the THC! Sorry.
Cannabis with the THC is now a known treatment for pets. Not all vets use it but the trend is growing.
This should read ‘without’ the THC!
Is anyone have tried giving Marijuana to their pets for Medical purposes? I have read many articles about medical marijuana and how it can help them in terms of chronic pain, bone injuries, eating disorder, inflammation, and a lot more. Like this article about a marijuana strain from http://www.ilovegrowingmarijuana.com/valley-girl/. Alternatively, they’ve also found new ways to infuse cannabis on food and beverages. If this is true I can’t find any solid conclusive evidence that speaks to its efficacy. Any personal experience or testimonial would be highly appreciated. Thanks