43 new of 45 responses total.
Perfectly normal behaviour for something that was once a solitary wild
hunter, though ... don't always drink from the same spot, and eat whenever
the opportunity presents itself.
"Your choice, four bucks for an 8-oz can of purina gormet' cat chow (chow chow chow(R)(C))or the same for a a generic 20-lb. bag of generic dry dog food." Geez, where are you shopping? The expensive natural-food canned cat food we get is about 80 cents per 5.5 oz can. We do get some more expensive stuff, most particularly the freeze-dried meat which the kitties love, and the frozen raw turkey which they don't much care for :/ Our dry food is probably about 4 times as expensive as Brian's generic food. Over the long run, I'd worry about the ash content of the cheap or mass market food and its impact on kitty kidneys. The mass market food may have gotten better in this respect since the early 1980s, when we first ran into this problem.
I used to use Science Diet. And they could access it 24/7.
Never had a weight problem. They don't eat it for 'fun'
because it tastes good, they only eat it when they're
really hungry. Plus they never 'go hungry' waiting for
you too feed them. Plus this makes the occasional mouse or
table scrap that much more interesting.
to
Mine are on Iams - it's kinda pricy, but the cats like it and it's good for them.
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SPOme tiems YOU do.
Purina Cat Chow isn't too expensive, and the kitties haven't gained weight despite "open feeding". I'd worry about giving them dog food, though. Cat food has extra vitamins that cats need for healthy organs and sight.
Scott M. Evil (a domestic short hair/ neutered/ male cat) eats IAMS (he prefers hairball formula), and has no qualms about his food. He stays in the 11-12 lb range of weight, is active (5 am fun fests are "great"). And is healthy. So, yes, I do pay more for my cat food, but I have never had a weight issue for my cat, and it is open feeding. He averages about 1/2 cup serving per day, plus approximately 30 to 40 peices of pounce a day. My cat is cute.
That's only because it's not been on tv. Just you wait.
does the cat drink *excessively*?
Define *excessively*? The cat named dog primarily lives indoors where it stalks mice (not so much since we took counter measures) and moths and yowls like it has reproductive organs and knows what to do with them. Perhaps it remembers days long since past along with such notions as 'claws'. I do sometimes think about a long two hour or so road trip and dropping the 'dog' off but figure the child unit is not so stupid after all.
Oh, and the 'dog' only licks the canned dog food to the extent that it is lacking water and then the damn beast knows full well that folk are watching and just to confuse things eats every thing else in site. Truely I believe cats are the devil's spawn. And they know it and agree and act accordingly.
I think cat weight is influenced quite a bit by the amount of exercise they get. I've seen "blimp" cats, that were primarily indoor beasts including one particularly memorable example that, whenever it was tired and wanted to rest, didn't bother lying down, it just retracted its limbs and lay on its belly. I saw that same cat, after a year or so of living in an actual house and given the opportunity to go "exploring" outdoors, turn into a beast that was, well, not exactly thin, but *much* more cat shaped. Cats in the wild are not exactly solitary hunters: they actually would tend to live in small clusters, and might hunt either alone or in small teams. They are certainly capable of cooperative behavior, which is probably an advantage in hunting, and is also why they get along so well with humans. Another example of a social cat is the lion, which is actually not at all far from the domestic cat in terms of behavior. There are other cat species that are much more solitary; the tiger is one well-known example. As a solitary creature, it can take advantage of habitats with lower prey densities.
We have 6 kitties. We feed them Iams, hairball formula since 3 are longhairs. We have 2 big self feeders that get filled when they are empty. We have one overweight cat. We actully think that she may have an eating disorder. She had problems eating when she was little, her teeth didn't seem to be able to break up food right. They all got sick when the 2 males brought back the feline equivilent of kennel cough when they were neutered. She didn't eat for a long time around then. Since she recovered she eats everything in sight and begs for more. She is the cutest kitty and begs so prettily that most people in the house will refuse her. I don't want to switch to daily feedings, we tried that for a while when Mom cat was still here and she needed to switch from the kitten/nursing cat formula to adult but the kittens still need to be on kitten food. It was a nightmare trying to keep them apart and seeing that each got the proper amount and didn't steal from one of the others.
I just have one cat. I feed her IAMS. I leave it out for her because I would rather her be fat than wake me up in the mornings. I let her outside even though she is declawed because she pretty much stays in my fenced yard and I figure that the dogs will protect her from anothing she might need her claws for. She weighs 9 lbs. She lost a lot of weight when I first got the dogs. She likes to eat out of their dishes from time to time and I guess the dog food is less fattening than the cat food. My vet said it is probably ok as long as she is still eating cat food too which she does so I am not worried.
Its really surprising that people are worring about cat when millions of fellow huaman beings are suffering from mal nutrations,starvation. A typical market oriented society, a camel like behavior. I amfeeling sorry for these "drawing room" thinkers.They are great without any greatness, except money.
are you saying that cats are not sentient?
I freely admit that I care more about my cat than I do about starving people elsewhere in the world. While I do care a little about starving people in the world and do donate money to one charity that addresses hunger issues (http://www.heifer.org/), I have to say that I spend more on my cat in a year. I spend even more on my dogs. I suppose I would be a better person if I spent more of my money helping others. But then, that would be true even if I didnt have a cat.
If starving people in to world would quit breeding like rabbits, there wouldn't be so many starving people in the world and we could stop worrying about them altogether.
(if there's a starving person willing to purr in my lap, brush against my leg, catch mice, use the tiny pet door, and shit in a litter box, I know someone who will take them in.) (however, if they're willing to pose for pictures, call mynxcat. she's into that sort of thing.)
this should probably be linked to pets, too.
resp:23 LOL
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The respondent from post # 19 is just pissed because his parents didn't let him have so much as a gold fish . . . you don't raise your food as pets. Besides, whoever you are, do you even practice what you preach? Magnus gets feline growth kitten formula, Science Diet. He's 16 wks and nearly 5 pounds, and not fat. <sigh of relief> On August 22, he weighed in officially at 3 lbs, 13oz. He's just going to be a big cat, as he's MMC. My sweet kitten is up to 1/2 food per day. He also gets Cat Sip.
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(Sweet Magnus also eats a good dose of Iams Weight Control/Hairball control food that is offered to Sasha - now Sasha would much rather have the Science Diet Feline Growth...) What the hey, will link to Pets.
I have a hard time believing that dog food and cat food are that much different. The cat - I don't say 'my cat' as unlike a canine the feline have no tolerance for slavery - has survived on whatever the lowest cost pet food is a Walmart or Sam's Club for at least until my daugher is in third grade. Other than a propensity for sleeping on its back with all four paws in the air resembling dead road kill the cat seems to be what one would excuse as normal. The really neat thing about cats is they are so stupid as to chase laser dots around a room to the point of panting and dogs don't.
The dietary needs of cats and dogs is different. You can raise a dog to be a vegetarian, but you can kill a cat by raising in on a vegetarian diet. With the diversity of being different species, there also comes different dietary requirements, uptakeof much needed vitamins, amino acids, and other nutrients. So, while you can feed your dog that cat food, don't feed your cat that dog food.
They *are* different. The effects of taurine deprivation are long-term, though, so in the short term your cat will seem fine. Feed the cat cheap cat food.
Dogs have masters, cats have staff. (I suppose that being easily amused is a requirement for survival in the Beady Aitch household.)
I find this wisdom hard to believe. Near as I can tell both canines and felines are carnivors. Thus I find it hard to believe that cheap and suitable feed for either are not. They will with gusto eat each other and their own specie. Thus I continue to feed the damn cat whatever cheap food is on sale - along with date code expired human food. re#33: In the greater scheme of things the organism with the most offspring wins. What is our count? One to zero?
From http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&cat=1397&articleid=1165: Dog Food for Cats: Why is it a No-No? Veterinary & Aquatic Services Department, Drs. Foster & Smith, Inc. As we often say, "Cats are not small dogs." In the case of diet, it is important to realize a cat's nutritional requirements are much different than those of a dog. For example, cats require higher levels of protein than dogs. Cats must have the amino acid called 'taurine' in their diet; dogs can actually make their own taurine. A cat eating food deficient in taurine can develop severe heart disease and other health problems. Almost all cat foods now contain added taurine. Cats require a different form of Vitamin A than dogs do. Dogs can use beta-carotene as a source of Vitamin A; cats cannot. Cats can not manufacture the fatty acid called 'arachidonic acid' and must have it supplemented in their diet; it is not essential for dogs to have this fatty acid in their food. So, you see, if a cat is allowed to eat a significant amount of dog food, the cat would be eating a diet deficient in many of the cat's required nutrients. For your cat's health, be sure she is eating quality cat food.
canines have omnivore tendencies
Maybe the cat is out hunting to supliment it's diet?
stalking some brocolli?
or spiders
Could be. The cat likes to go outdoors - escapes when the door is open- even though it is declawed and supposed to be an indoor cat.
Another example of the difference between dogs and cats- cats produce their own Vitamin C- dogs and people do not.
huh? cats can be a vitamin C supplement? baked or broiled? /ducks hurled hard objects
More like that cat they had in the David Lynch version of "Dune". ;)
Huh?
Magnus is doing pretty good. 5lbs, 9oz. at 4 months of age. Not bad at all.
You have several choices: