I wanna try an experiment but I’d also like others experience here.
I’ve noticed certain cats eat tok fast and also go back to extra food. I feel like if the overeaters/gulpers were let to eat last and then all food leftovers were removed afterwards we might have less instances of vomiting afterwards.
What say you, cat-owning Lemmings?
I’ve always just left bowls of food out for my animals. Gets topped up every 4ish days. Fresh water every morning though.
Everyone’s mileage will vary though, some dogs and cats just can’t be left with food. They’ll eat till the vomit. I don’t think there’s any way to fix it, just roll with it.
That sounds overindulgent to the point its literally the opposite of my problem. I feel the one cat is eating too much + too fast to the extent its causing them to vomit it up making it all fruitless anyway
Uuhh, I do the same as Schmidt and leave the food out. It works fine NOW, but let me tell you about when it failed. I’ve had different cats for decades and never had a problem until my current cat, who was listed at the shelter as ‘shy’. They told me she’d escaped people multiple times and they’d only managed to get her out of the walls the previous day (after she’d been hiding in them for over a week). She was adult, but small and thin and harboring a deep hatred for being confined (she isn’t ‘shy’, she’s extremely willful). We brought her home and she immediately found a hiding spot behind the oven, near the food and water that was out for the finicky older cat. For the first week, the only way we knew the new cat was still in the house was because we’d wake up, find the cat bowl empty and a big pile of cat vomit on the floor. We’d clean up the vomit, fill the bowl, and generally leave the kitchen alone as much as possible. After that initial week, the cat figured out that there would always be food. She would not starve. She did not need to gorge, and gorging was not comfy. Eventually she came out and accepted her new ‘family’. She continued to over-eat a bit too much for several months, but she settled on a chunky weight and has stayed at it for several years now.
Now I have a theory: I suspect that cats who experience food insecurity are far more likely to gorge themselves, and may never stop as long as they suspect their food supply is limited. If you want to test that theory with your own cats, I would be interested in hearing the results.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned having and caring for many cats over the last 30 years, they’ve all got their quirks. Some were over eaters that would throw up almost daily. Some would be grazers and do just fine with their bowls full all day and night. No answer is going to be just right for every cat.
If you have cats that eat at different paces, you might just have to feed them on a schedule in separate locations. That was the only way we could handle it when we had the same situation.
You should consider wet food instead, it’s much better for cats.
For the gulpers you can get bowls that are complicated to slow them down.
Note those complicated bowls may result in your cat being noticeably more disagreeable than before, from experience. My guy hates that damned bowl with such a passion it’s funny to watch him try and figure out how to destroy it so he doesn’t have to deal with it anymore.
I’m struggling to imagine what a complicated bowl looks like. Do you have a link to one I can take a geez at?
We’ve tried a few over the years. This is one of the ones we’ve used.
He is a used cat, no idea how he grew up so not sure what caused it, but he is quite aggressive with food. He eats so quickly when using a normal bowl that he sometimes will even throw it right back up.
There is a clear difference in his demeanor when he gets fed with a bowl that forces him to eat slower. Not quite angry, but he clearly hates it and his demeanor shows it. He is not a happy kitty when he eats from those bowls.
We used to exclusively use dry food until one of our cats had crystals form in their urethra which lead to a blockage and a very expensive emergency surgery. We tried the expensive prescription dry food for a while (it just makes them drink more water so their urine isn’t so concentrated) but wound up ditching it for an exclusive wet food diet. Since then, they’ve had zero issues.
This is weird, I’ve heard the opposite that dry food is better. Lord help me I’m goin on a Google fest.
nah, wet food is better. If cats don’t get enough water they can get crystals in their urinary system. Very painful and can create blockages at are fatal. If your cat is ever straining in the litterbox and not producing it’s an instant emergency vet.
Cats don’t really drink enough water and are frequently bordering on a state of dehydration. Pretty much everywhere will recommend wet over dry.
I believe the logic is that dry food is better for their dental health, because the firm texture is better at scraping away plaque, although there’s definitely disagreement on that, and there are other ways to address dental health.
The argument for wet food is that it does a much better job at keeping them hydrated, which is important for a number of bodily functions, including urinary health. Studies say that while cats fed primarily dry food likely drink more water, their total fluid intake is still lower and they’re often still chronically dehydrated (which is also not good for dental health). Moistening kibble can help, but it’s still not as effective as wet food for ensuring your cats are well hydrated.
My oldest strongly prefers kibble, but after his urine test at his 1 year check up indicated early signs of urinary troubles, the vet said to either switch him to 100% wet or to a prescription kibble. It took some trial and error, but he’s on 100% wet now, and only gets crunchies as treats. His urine tests have been great, and the vet also said his teeth look good.
We feed our 2 twice a day. First is dry and the second is wet. Before wet food our cats had really bad shedding and one of them developed a clump on his back that wouldn’t go away. After adding wet in daily it’s gone, their shedding is way down, and their coats are silky smooth. Plus one has lost weight and is more fit.
I just give mine their food in batches. Usually a half cup in the morning and a half cup in the evenings (I have two cats).
If I leave out the same amount of food, such as if I’m leaving the house for a weekend trip, I will come back to hungry kitties.
I have a cat that has been an overeater since birth. His siblings would nurse until they were full and then back off to take a little cat nap, but he would nurse until mom left the box the kittens were in and he couldn’t get to her anymore. I feed each of my cats on a schedule and each has a separate place to eat so they can’t steal from each other. Left over food from the other cats gets picked up before the overeater is let out. There are a lot of complicated slow feeders on the market, but a cheap and simple one has worked great for me. It is a narrow, deep bowl with a wide lip that he can only pull a few pieces of food out of at a time with his paw. Wet food hasn’t been as much of a problem with vomiting, so I haven’t tried any slow feeders meant for wet food. Mine eat wet food in the morning and dry food in the evening.
I am linking the feeder I own, I haven’t seen one by any other brands but the design is so simple that they might exist if this one isn’t available near you or you may even be able to craft a DIY version. https://catit.us/products/catit-multi-feeder
