The care and feeding of cats...

[PrincessFiona]

We have one of those feeders for the cats where you put the food into it and it basically continuously dispenses until it is empty (several days). this doesn't seem to be a problem for most of our cats...but one of them has turned into a Garfield. He has gotten so bad that he now comes into the kitchen while I'm cooking and tries to eat food that has dropped from the table and onto the floor and if we don't clear the plates fast enough he will even try and jump up on the table to eat off of the plates etc....Could this non-stop buffet have spurned on his appetite? Do you guys just feed your fuzzy friends once a day or do you have one of those continuous feed bowls?

kris

[Michele]

In my experience, some animals are free feeders and self regulate well, and some are gluttons...ok so I guess it's kinda like people.

My in-laws have a 20+ pound cat that is so big she can no longer clean her own rear! It's so disgusting, and now one of the other cats in the house, cleans it for her! :!

If Garfield's eating is now an issue, unfortunately the only way to fix it is to go back to daily/twice daily feedings on all the pets...and to be careful about the amount of tablescraps he gets.

Diets suck, no matter who is on them!

[Sheherezade]

We tried one of the continous-feed water bowls. One of our cats found it so fascinating, he would scoop out all the water with his paw until the reservoir was empty. Needless to say, that didn't last in this house. I would limit his feedings, too. We had a cat before that became a Garfield. It really changed his energy level. It happened after he was fixed - although it could have simply been age.

[JaneDoe]

In my experience, some animals are free feeders and self regulate well, and some are gluttons...ok so I guess it's kinda like people.

My in-laws have a 20+ pound cat that is so big she can no longer clean her own rear! It's so disgusting, and now one of the other cats in the house, cleans it for her! :!

If Garfield's eating is now an issue, unfortunately the only way to fix it is to go back to daily/twice daily feedings on all the pets...and to be careful about the amount of tablescraps he gets.

Diets suck, no matter who is on them!

I have a question for the resident vet. What's the best kind of food to feed a cat, dry food, wet food (food in a can; e.g., Nine Lives), or a combination of both? I used to feed my cat a combination, but I've become lazy and now she's only getting the dry food. She eats it and doesn't appear to me, at least, to be overweight. Thanks for your help.

[Michele]

There are differing opinions on the best foods for cats..dry vs wet.

Some say that dry is better because it scapes tarter off their teeth...Some say that it crumbles too quickly when bitten and it really doesn't do anything, but that if it's a special teeth/dental formula it's better.

Some say that cats don't drink enough water and so you should feed them canned food to make sure they get enough water. Canned food does increase tarter though. Some say canned food contains "bad things" that make them go into kidney failure...some say it's not the canned food it's the cheaper feline diets.

My personal cat ate Iams dry because it was the easiest for me at the time. But now I'd probably feed a mix of dry and wet. My dog receives a mix of dry and wet.

I don't really have a strong opinion about different brands of pet foods. I think the best pet food would be a well balanced, home cooked fresh foods diet...but I don't even make that for myself, let alone my dog.....so....

[DCJenn]

My three felines get a combo diet- but it's a combo of dry foods since I have to feed them on the counter as it is (first because of the dog, now because of Nikolai...fun with the food bowls). The wet food became a huge deal and they would fight over who got to the counter first.

The older girls (Darla, age 12 and Nicole Kidman Kitty aka Nicki, age 7) both have had some teeth problems so our vet recommended that we mix 1) hairball control, 2) adult inside cat and 3) dental diet together so that's what we do. They seem to do pretty well on it and they're all healthy. Darla (my old lady cat) has lost weight since Rascal died (for those of you who weren't part of that trauma, my big kitty who was a 25 pounder finally died from massive seizure of unknown origin at age thirteen two years ago. Of course, he was also diabetic, requiring two insulin shots a day, plus had a heart murmur...) but my other two are at their IBW, according to our vet.

Off the direct topic- how many of you are getting the three year vaccines? Our vet basically said that if they're indoor kitties, don't bother with annual vaccines since the vaccines can have pretty major side effects. So- that's what we're doing. (Although Trouble would love to be an outdoor kitty again and is constantly running out the door)

Jenn

[Vishenka69]

Our cat is primarily on the dry diet (with hairball and tartar treats daily) and I give her wet food (she prefers pouches to cans) as a treat when she's good or when we leave on vacation and I feel guilty. I try to change her water daily just to make sure that it's fresh. She's very good at letting us know when she needs more water or food in case we forgot.

We take her to the vet once every three years pretty much. She's an indoor cat (living on 20th floor it's hard to be anything but). She's almost 5 and has had her vaccines twice.

We feed my cat primarily dry food, but I give her a teaspoon of wet food as a treat twice a day. She has plumped up since our other kitty died, so I need to switch her over to a weight control food. She does not like change, though, so I'm going to wait to do that till well after the baby has arrived so that she isn't faced with too much change at once.

My little kitty is strictly an indoor cat. We just had her vaccinations done when she was a kitten and haven't given her anything since.