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Cat feeding advice

Cute!!

I understand why some people don't immediately relate to cats. They don't emote with their faces like dogs do, so the way they communicate can seem unintuitive to a human. They're also more skittish than dogs, because they are both predators and prey. Earning their trust takes a bit more effort.

But once you get to know them, they're very sweet creatures. As loving as any dog if you put the work in.

I love dogs, and I'd have one if I wasn't allergic to them. But cats were my first animal love and after all these years with them, understanding them pretty well, I'll always be a cat person at heart. :)

That emote with their faces observation is excellent! I'd never thought of it quite like that. You're so right. We have to invent air kisses, for God's sake. ;)
 
More great advice. So are you saying you give them, maybe, an hour to eat and pick it up? And maybe instead of feeding them in the can, I should put it in three separate bowls...

They also have plastic lids. I give my cat half a can in the morning, and half a can at night. .. and he can have all the crunchies he wants...
 
No real good ideas to share, just a warning, which I'm sure you're already aware of, as you seem like a super good cat owner: Be careful with your ingredients. There are a lot of things that we eat that will make a cat sick, and the list isn't exactly intuitive. If you're going to introduce something new to the mix, just check online first, to avoid big vet bills later.
 
My instinct was telling me that. It's all about the money (the pet food industry). I think I'll do exactly that. Twice a day. Add some unsalted broth and forget the dry food. I'd love to get Shorty Pants back to using the litter box. Using a little bit from each of the posts. Thanks again to all.

I got here late, my wife has raised nearly 1,000 foster kitties since 2001. She knows a wee bit about feeds and feeding cats along with their behavior.

The puppy pad issue is probably the easiest to fix. Cats have a pecking order, and pee is a marking tool. FYI and off topic, coyotes poop to mark territory, if you see a dog turd in the middle of a country road a coyote put it there to mark turf. Could be the cat in question has territorial issues with the other cats. Try separate boxes.

Now most folks recommend at least two separated little boxes for multiple cats. At our ranch house the male cat uses the box in 'my' bathroom, the female uses the one in the back hall.

My wife leaves dry food out at all times in multiple locations, she RARELY has a eat til they puke issue and like I said, hundreds (HUNDREDS) of cats have passed through her care. If you feed wet food know it isn't as nutrient dense as dry food (water 'waters' down the nutrition levels) and if you feed all your cats on one plate they will compete to eat the most. (It is quite funny to listen to 5 KIT-in babies growl at each other as they eat from the same plate but creates issues latter on.)

If you limit the food they gorge on that you put out. Nature trained them to eat all they can, when they can- as the next meal (kill) could be a bit further down the road. If all the food is on one plate they compete for it as survival of the fittest isn't just for humans.

On idea she has if having multiple feeding stations of dry food doesn't work- the barfer cat in question may have a urinary tract infection.

Hope this helps... :peace
 
I got here late, my wife has raised nearly 1,000 foster kitties since 2001. She knows a wee bit about feeds and feeding cats along with their behavior.

The puppy pad issue is probably the easiest to fix. Cats have a pecking order, and pee is a marking tool. FYI and off topic, coyotes poop to mark territory, if you see a dog turd in the middle of a country road a coyote put it there to mark turf. Could be the cat in question has territorial issues with the other cats. Try separate boxes.

Now most folks recommend at least two separated little boxes for multiple cats. At our ranch house the male cat uses the box in 'my' bathroom, the female uses the one in the back hall.

My wife leaves dry food out at all times in multiple locations, she RARELY has a eat til they puke issue and like I said, hundreds (HUNDREDS) of cats have passed through her care. If you feed wet food know it isn't as nutrient dense as dry food (water 'waters' down the nutrition levels) and if you feed all your cats on one plate they will compete to eat the most. (It is quite funny to listen to 5 KIT-in babies growl at each other as they eat from the same plate but creates issues latter on.)

If you limit the food they gorge on that you put out. Nature trained them to eat all they can, when they can- as the next meal (kill) could be a bit further down the road. If all the food is on one plate they compete for it as survival of the fittest isn't just for humans.

On idea she has if having multiple feeding stations of dry food doesn't work- the barfer cat in question may have a urinary tract infection.

Hope this helps... :peace

Great info here. I use four litter boxes for the three cats. Last night, for the FIRST TIME EVER, I forgot to replace the kitty pads after picking up the used ones. I footied all over the carpet in the house, and I think he may have used the box. Hmmmm

Thank you for some great ideas that others have echoed as well. I now use three bowls. I am trying the wet food... they liked it yesterday, but today I put down pumpkin. No way! So Indumped it and put down some with a tuna mix. I'm trying that because when they do vomit, they're dumping the dry kibbles undigested

Lots of good info, and I sure appreciate it.

God bless you and your wife for giving the little ones a chance!
 
That emote with their faces observation is excellent! I'd never thought of it quite like that. You're so right. We have to invent air kisses, for God's sake. ;)

It becomes natural after enough time. I spend much more time looking at Pia's tail or ears than her face, if I want to know what she's feeling.

And they do try to meet us half-way. The whole reason cats meow is because they're trying to communicate with us. They've picked up on the fact that humans get each other's attention by vocalization, so they vocalize. Some even have a few different kinds of meows. Pearl had a bunch (hungry, lonely, hello, play time, I love pets). Pia has fewer, because she wasn't well-socialized as a kitten (I adopted her as an adult), but she has a couple now (pets? and I SEE A BIRD).

A feral cat, on the other hand, never meows at all once they're out of kittenhood (the original purpose of meowing was to get mom's attention). That just isn't how cats communicate to each other. They use scent, ears, tail. You may notice that your cats only meow at you, not each other.

Cats are much more invested in us than people often give them credit for. :)
 
It becomes natural after enough time. I spend much more time looking at Pia's tail or ears than her face, if I want to know what she's feeling.

And they do try to meet us half-way. The whole reason cats meow is because they're trying to communicate with us. They've picked up on the fact that humans get each other's attention by vocalization, so they vocalize. Some even have a few different kinds of meows. Pearl had a bunch (hungry, lonely, hello, play time, I love pets). Pia has fewer, because she wasn't well-socialized as a kitten (I adopted her as an adult), but she has a couple now (pets? and I SEE A BIRD).

A feral cat, on the other hand, never meows at all once they're out of kittenhood (the original purpose of meowing was to get mom's attention). That just isn't how cats communicate to each other. They use scent, ears, tail. You may notice that your cats only meow at you, not each other.

Cats are much more invested in us than people often give them credit for. :)

Our female growls at other cats, lol. She doesn't take well to new additions. She is a very vocal cat, with some very unusual sounds. She trills a lot, and makes a sound that my wife says sounds to her like Marge Simpson.
 
Our female growls at other cats, lol. She doesn't take well to new additions. She is a very vocal cat, with some very unusual sounds. She trills a lot, and makes a sound that my wife says sounds to her like Marge Simpson.

Ha ha, yeah, they do still use the angry noises with each other, yeah. But the sweet meows are just for us. :)

My cat "chitters." This weird, squeaky thing in rapid succession that sounds like a skipping recording of a mouse. :lol:
 
Ha ha, yeah, they do still use the angry noises with each other, yeah. But the sweet meows are just for us. :)

My cat "chitters." This weird, squeaky thing in rapid succession that sounds like a skipping recording of a mouse. :lol:

Heh heh. Our adult male (the other three are all less than a year old) is named Simon, but my wife calls him Simon Mow (pronounced "mao") because that's how he meows. He's my boy, and is almost always waiting for me when I get home from work. We live on a gravel road, and I think he can tell which vehicles are which by the crunching gravel. He roams free during the day, but we lock him in the Catio at night.
 
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