I feed my cats twice a day but I feed my dogs only once. I am wondering if it’s OK to feed the cats once, too. I looked online and the info seemed to indicate that once a day was OK but twice was better. Any advice, experience, or ideas? Thank you!!
We tried that with ours; they complained about the service in the strongest possible terms. A good few days of protest puddles. Almost as badly as when the store ran out of the organic brown chunky stuff they like and they had to have generic supermarket canned stuff. I swear if the oldest cat could have operated a phone, he would have called the animal protection people.
I’m not sure in terms of cat health, but in terms of their preferences, we have since realised who’s boss and that we don’t have a vote. Twice a day with the occasional catnip chocolate buttons and we get to keep our furniture.
Sometimes I really, really enjoy Buttercup’s posts!
Anyway, I feed mine once every two or three days, but I fill an auto feeder that they have to work to get the food to fall out of after the first meal sized portion is gobbled up. I’m considering cutting back because the female is getting a little too chunky, even though she chases the male all over the place and kicks his “tail” at least twice a day. This could also be because I moved a couple weeks ago and can’t find the same food I was giving them, so have switched brands–maybe the new one is higher fat than need be?
Anyway, I think it’s good to feed them enough to keep your furnature safe and their bodies strong and healthy, whatever that balance happens to be.
The twice a day thing is likely due to a cat’s nature, if it were wild, to hunt two or three times a day for small meals, in short bursts that burn up a lot of energy, and sleep for long stretches in between. A house cat sleeps a lot too, but doesn’t have to hunt and can make a real habbit of hanging out around the food bowl.
Also–cats just like to be served. Really, they seem to think it’s good to make you demonstrate servile behavior as often as possible.
What can I say? I understand.
Housecat 
The good thing about cats if you are just using dry food is they’ll just eat until they are full and you can leave the food there. They won’t generally over eat. Dogs are another story.
Hmm. Our Presley is the size of a large beaver… We hide his food and he headbutts the cupboard door. He’s a real personality.
They get fat if they’re bored, that’s true. If they can get outside enough though, they’ll eat and push off.
Always good to get one of those books on how to care for cats. They recommend leaving dry cat food (for cats over six months old) around and always with clean water available. Try to change their water 2 or 3 times daily and alternate bowls so you can wash them and keep them clean. Cats love fresh water. Mine generally eat most of the dry food in the early morning hours but will nibble a few pieces throughout the day. I dont put out too much so i can keep the dry food fresh too.
Then i also feed them canned cat food several times a day (small portion each time) One can for two cats per day should do it if they have dry food available as well. They also like some fresh fish, some fresh chicken strips. Cats love fresh food so feed as you like and often. Cats also love Gerbers ham, veal, chicken , etc. The ones with only meat (the others could give them upset tummy). I give mine a jar a day spread over 3 meals as a treat or some canned cat food or some tuna or fresh strips, etc.
Basically dry food as a mainstay (and get a good brand…persians need low magnesium) and others as a treat. Baby cats need more canned food, adult cats do better with dry (helps to keep their teeth clean too).
Hope this helps
I gave mine dry food in the morning and a chicken wing or a neck every night. If i didn’t give them raw food they’d catch pigeons at night (and eat the whole thing apart from beak and flight feathers). But both boys were huge cats, about 10 kg…
Cats tend to prefer eating more frequently than dogs can happily deal with: dogs have evolved to gorge themselves and then can go for days without food, cats to eat many small meals.
There is a difference between cats and dogs, so different feeding habits should be normal. Dogs need to have a controlled eating environment. If there is food, they eat it… kind of like humans!
Cats normally only eat when hungry, and they eat less each time (kind of the way humans SHOULD eat). So it’s good to have some dry food there all the time. Often my cats will come drag me away from the computer, or waking me up to tell me the bowl is empty. And then I fill it up and they don’t even eat it! They just want to make it’s there if they need it.
Oh, I also give a can every once in a while as a treat, and so that all 7 cats will have a meal together! But dry food is important for the teeth, so don’t just give them canned food. And make sure their bowls are clean and give them the same water that you would drink. If you don’t drink tap water in Taiwan, then don’t give it to your pets.
Thanks for all the feedback. Looks like 2 times a day then. BTW, I feed real meat mostly. They get high quality canned food as a treat. Though I do confess to having bought kibble during super busy times in my life, I’m anti-kibble. In fact, one of my cats cannot tolerate it at all. It really messed with his digestive system and his coat. It’s chicken wings, beef, or fish on the menu most nights, and the cats are healthy and happy. It just would have been more convenient to feed them once a day. Oh well.
My cats have their own water fountain filled with Evian and Volvic. I have dry food when I will be staying away from home for more than a day and they get their tuna when I can be there to serve it to them fresh, either on a daily basis, once a day or every other day. They even know which dish is theirs… Isalu’s is purple and square and Mariposa’s is pink and round. They even switch dishes halfway through if they have different flavors of canned food. It’s so cute.
It really doesn’t matter…there are different sites on the net…some say once, some twice, some that you should leave the food out. The main thing that is important to a cat is that it hates changing its schedule. If it was used to twice a day and you suddenly change it, the cat will feel stressed out.
My cats will get up and go over to the feeding bowl exactly at feeding time. I don’t know how they do it! I leave the dry food out all the time, and give them a tiny taste of wet food twice a day.
Get a couple of cat care books to help you out on cat care in general. What they recommend is having dry food available at all times with fresh water (changed several times a day, with the water bowl rinsed out well each time) near the dry food. And then you can also feed them small quantities of wet food when you feel like it, like twice a day. mornings and evenings.
My cat gets dry food at all times with fresh water near it. And then he gets a jar of Gerber 2nd food HAM (he also likes the chicken and the veal , and the turkey but doesnt like the beef or the lamb). Dont feed him other kinds of Gerber as they have too much vegetable in it and will cause an upset tummy. But the Gerber 2nd Food HAM (or others I mentioned) is fine as a treat. Hes come to expect that so its more then a treat now. Previously in Taiwan he got a small tin of wet cat food. The cat stores there sell wide varieties from Japan and Thailand that are good. Just see what kinds he will like. He wont like them all. Both my cats hate IAMS for some reason and do poorly on it, either Dry or wet.
They do well with MAXCAT. And its important if you have a male cat to give dry cat food that is LOW MAGNESIUM. This is very important !!! I didnt believe it at first and my cat had to have an emergency visit to the doc as he couldnt pee !!! Male cats make a lot of grit in their urine which blocks the urine discharge and its a matter of life or death at that point.
So make sure if you have a male cat , get the dry cat food with LOW MAGNESIUM. This usually means premium brands and not the cheapest dry cat food.
Female cats dont seem to be as affected. However, I wouldnt risk it either and feed them the good stuff anyway.
Hills Science , MaxCat and a few other premium dry food is what you should feed him. Its worth it, a bit more money but not that much as they dont eat that much.