From elsewhere...

[susandennis]

On Google+ (http://susandennis.com/plus), I said:

***
Hey indoor-only cat owning plusers, I'm wondering... what do you feed your cat and when?
dry, canned... once a day, more than once a day, self feeding, dry and canned at the same time or one at one time and one at the other?

Comments

[grocible.livejournal.com]

Sir Grocible just has a bowl of dry food that I keep full for the most part. Between him being 16+ now and his health issues, it took a lot of testing to find a food that worked well.

I did have to pick the food bowl up off of the floor and put it on my dresser since one or both of dogs kept sneaking in and eating it all.

[susandennis]

wow. 16+ for a male cat is something. I lost one just before his 19th birthday and the vet told me she'd never seen a male cat live beyond 15 before.

thanks for the data. i'm always grateful that i don't have to feed them different stuff... now i'm grateful that i don't have to keep their food safe from a dog! haha

[grocible.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised he's still alive actually. A few years ago he got sick and I was prohibited from taking him to the vet. Fast forward to May of 2008 and the person who prohibited me was not part of the picture any more and I finally took Grocible in he had lost almost half of his body weight and was diagnosed with Grave's Disease. I was prepared for the worst but he's still here. I think he's going to outlive the dog. That's what happens to cranky old men.

I had to find a food he would eat that minimized the vomit potential and I found it after lots of attempts.

[susandennis]

wow. and encouraging!

[kyrielle]

Dry, self-feeding/free-feeding. With an older or ill cat I'd switch to wet, but with wet I wouldn't do self-feeding as it gets nasty if left out, of course.

By the way, the link to your Google+ isn't a valid link. :)

[susandennis]

Oh I cannot imagine Betty or Travis leaving any wet food ever. But I've only been giving them a teaspoon full. Tonight they will get way more and we will see.

And BIG THANK YOU for pointing out the link problem. I fixed it and fixed the script that builds it. Doh. But, really, thanks for testing and for letting me know.

[kayre]

Dry, three times a day-- we have watch alarms set, they know they don't get anything until the beep. Tuna (or sometimes a bit of ham) a few times a day at Nala's whim, only because otherwise she pees on my bed :p They all get a taste, she gets a bit more.

[susandennis]

That is so funny! beep and it's mealtime!

[kayre]

It's great-- instead of meowing and getting under foot, they sit and stare intently at the table where I put my wristwatch when I take it off. Amuses guests no end.

[viridescence13]

Mine get dry Blue Buffalo indoors as a "free feed" (self feeding), and a can of Blue Buffalo in the mornings as "breakfast." It's just one can split up amongst the three of them. I've been told by the vet that I need to step up the canned food though, as two of them are elderly (one is 13 and one is 14) and are in need of more liquids.

[susandennis]

Good info! thanks!!

[vasilatos]

My Sam got a free-feed bowl of dry IAMS indoor/weight control/hairball control that was around all the time (she didn't eat it much by the end), and a generic version of Fancy Feast (the little can) each evening. She liked the not-seafood versions. She was 15 or so, we think, when we had her put to sleep because her arthritis was bad.

[zyzyly.livejournal.com]

I give each of them a cup of dry cat food every morning, and a handful of crunchies. They generally have the food finished by the next morning, but don't usually whine unless I forget.

I give them canned food on holidays.

[susandennis]

Holidays... I love that

[(Anonymous)]

I have a male and a smaller female, so I know all about one cat leaving none for the other. Currently, I split a large can into two bowls in the evening when I get home from work. They gobble down the wet food and then they get a rounded half cup split between two bowls before I go to bed and again in the morning. In the past they weren't nuts for wet food so I give it to them when they are really hungry.

I determined how much food based on the directions on the bag and the weight they should be (not the chubby weight they are). My vet is big on wet food. She always says "They should be eating mice, and mice are wet."

I often feel like there is an increase in puking when the seasons change and their coats are changing too. Good luck!

[through76.livejournal.com]

That was me, forgot to log in.

[susandennis]

oh that mirrors my experience here... they would rather have the dry. but tonight they ate up all the wet and then at the dry.

they do seem to be getting with the new program and are, at least, not turning their noses up at the foods.

progress... and I hate to jinx this, but, no one has thrown up since I tossed out the old food.