# How much food for a 7 year old cat?



## ophelia (Sep 27, 2005)

Hi there,

Long post coming up...

I have a 7 year old male cat who's got tummy troubles (since birth) and so we have been feeding him dry food and also fresh frozen fish fillets to help with his dodgy tum and it has worked fine.

However since I've been pregnant he has started peeing all over the house so we had to let DH's grandma take him. Before he moved to her we took him to the vet for a check up and he was given cat prozac and pills for bladder infection in case that was the reason he was spraying. It didn't work so he had to move.

The vet has also said the last couple of times that he's getting bigger and piling on the weight from each last visit. He loves his food but is quite a heavy set cat anyway.

The vet also told us to stop feeding him dried food and only give him tinned food (in case it was a bladder problem) which we did and his tummy was fine so we stopped the fresh fish and he had wet tinned food only with his tummy being great.

However, when we brought him over to grandma we bought a case of tinned food and a bag of fish fillets (as a treat as he doesn't really need the fish now he's on the wet food as tummy is fine) so now grandma is asking us to buy fish and wet food every week ( we are still buying all the food as she's offered to look after him).

But grandma is now asking for the pouches rather than the tins (unsure why cos surely it's more food in a tin so would last longer and also a bit cheaper?   )

She also wants us to bring a bag of fish each week. Now, when he was living with us he got fish every now and then (every other day say) so we used between 1-2 bags of fish in a week for 2 cats (we have one more cat who still lives with us).

The fish bags were 400g each so a maximum of 800g of fish for 2 cats per week. (+their dried/tinned food)
The bags we are buying for grandma is 1kg and she needs us to buy a 1kg bag per week for the cat she's looking after + a box of pouches.

So my question is: Am I right in thinking 1 kg bag of fish fillets + a box of pouches (think it's 12 pouches in a box) is a bit too much for an adult cat who's slightly overweight as it is?

I have told DH about not getting more fish but he says "Grandma likes to treat him". (Yeah, at my expense since I'm paying for it) I'm worried he will get too big as he's got problems with his back legs/feet due to his breed and it might get worse if he gets heavier and also he's costing us more a week in food (for 1 cat) than when we had both cats at home with us.


Sorry for the very long post but would love to get some feedback to back me up before I have a word with DH about how much he should be eating.

He's an indoor cat so not out running off calories and grandma's flat is a lot smaller than our house so probably won't be running around much.

Thanks in advance. 

Love/Ophelia


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## PiePig (May 16, 2007)

we give ours one pouch for dinner (pouches cos more convinient!) and a scoop of dry biscuits for breakfast and thats it.  They are outdoor cats so do run around a bit, but also one of them scrounges for food elsewhere as well.....


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## weeble (Dec 5, 2005)

<gets on soapbox> 

I am fanatical about feeding cats correctly, as I spent a lot of years recommending dried food to clients at the cost of the cats health and I will always feel guilty about that. When my own cats and friends cats got older and started with some health problems ie CRF, diabetes, cystitis, IBD, obesity etc, I looked into cause's and found that one thing was consistant, they were all fed on dried food (even the expensive prescription ones).

Ive added a link to a wonderful vets website, which will give you a wealth of 'feeding cats' knowledge. http://www.catinfo.org/index.htm

Hope you can find some answers on the website and so sorry that you had to part with him in the first place. 

/links


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## ophelia (Sep 27, 2005)

Piepig and Weeble- Thank you very much for your replies. Will have a look at that link Weeble. 

Piepig- How are you holding up? Any symptoms yet.

I have heard too that dried food can be bad for older cats if that's the only food they get. My other cat that still lives with us only likes dry food though so not sure what to do with her. 

Regarding the cat that lives with grandma, surely 2 pouches or 1 tin of wet food should be enough per day or is that just me being stingy?

The fish we buy for him is the fish you would find in the freezer in the supermarket and is £4 + another £3 for the pouches so that's £7 a week which I think is a bit steep for 1 cat when we didn't spend that much on food for 2 cats.

I don't mind buying extra wet food for grandma to feed him, it's the fact she feeds him 1kg fish on top of the wet food a week when he doesn't need it anymore as his tummy is fine now.

It does sound like a lot of food to me for a grown cat who's slightly overweight already.

And yes, I do miss him loads but am scared to bring him homes in case he starts spraying again. (he's good as gold at grandma's of course.    ) But with a baby on the way we can't have him marking territory in the house.

Love/Ophelia


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## ♥Saila♥ (Mar 27, 2006)

weeble said:


> <gets on soapbox>
> 
> I am fanatical about feeding cats correctly, as I spent a lot of years recommending dried food to clients at the cost of the cats health and I will always feel guilty about that. When my own cats and friends cats got older and started with some health problems ie CRF, diabetes, cystitis, IBD, obesity etc, I looked into cause's and found that one thing was consistant, they were all fed on dried food (even the expensive prescription ones).
> 
> ...


We also experienced the above symptoms in our feline household and the common denominator was a dried food diet

Our cats are now raw fed cats and we love it

Weeble ~ I am fanatical about my cats diet too


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## weeble (Dec 5, 2005)

Good girl! Saila 

Have you seen my ** group http://www.********.com/group.php?gid=38966189963. Its kinda for diabetic cats, but the main goal is to spread the word on dried food. Its not got many members as yet, but Im always looking for more people to try and help spread the word about dried food. Wanna help? 

Have I got you on **? I added loads of suggested friends from FF, but dont actually know who they are on here.  Still Its all good making new friends, whether you know them to start with or not. 

/links


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## ♥Saila♥ (Mar 27, 2006)

I am on ** Weeble! Its Louise Holden you'll find me on fellow FF'ers lists.

I will indeed join your group? Do you feed raw? If so how long have you been feeding it?

x


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## weeble (Dec 5, 2005)

Im about to start feeding raw, but a couple of mine are sooooo fussy it actually took me a long time to get them onto tinned food. They turn their nose's up at chicken, fish etc.  

The one who is diabetic is pretty fussy too, but fortunately he likes KiteKat, which although its not the best quality food, its very good for his diabetes and has got him a food controlled diabetic in a very short period of time.

Raw is definatley the best diet for cats, without a doubt. The majority of illnesses around today are caused through feeding dried food. Fortunately a lot of vets and nurses are doing the research and coming to realise this.

Cats dont have a strong thirst drive and when fed on dried food, they are chronically dehydrated, which in turn leads to all sorts of kidney and bladder problems. The vets usual answer is to put them on prescription dried food! They also dont have a digestive system that can handle carbs and this often leads to allergies and IBS. More prescritption diets and the food companies get richer while the owners get poorer.

Would love it if you would consider helping me out with the group as Im fairly useless at stuff like that and need all the help I can get!


Right Im orrrf to find you on **.


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## Caz (Jul 21, 2002)

Wow I didn't know that about dried food! Mine get dry in the morning (a cup using the measure I was given) and a pouch of wet in the evening. I did, at one point, switch back to tins (half a tin per meal beetween two cats) thinking they were cheaper than pouches but when I costed it out, it actually didn't work out cheaper than buying the pouches, particularly when they are special offer. The only advantage is the tins are easier to recycle than the pouches. 

So... I should ditch the dry food then? 


Ophelia, I go through one pouch per meal per cat (2 meals a day). My two are 12 and 8 and the 8year old has a missing rear leg so we have been warned not to let him get overweight or it will affect his other legs (my poor pussies get NO treats at all). Even so, and on such a small diet, with just water to drink, he's well built and the 12 year old is positively chubby - mostly because she sleeps 23 hours out of 24.  
So, yes, I would think a whole kilo of fish on top of that seems like a lot! A box of 12 pouches and 2 fillets is about as much as you'd need for a week's worth of meals (or, if you want more fish, you could get through say 1 pouch a day and one fish meal a day). 


C~x


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## weeble (Dec 5, 2005)

Caz said:


> So... I should ditch the dry food then?


Without a doubt!

I have, for years, recommended Science plan, Royal Canin and ProPlan, but after doing all my research into these foods, I was completely shocked at just how bad they are for cats.

My cat was recently diagnosed Diabetic and was given prescription diabetic food by my vet, who happens to be one of my best friends. I started blood testing at home and although the prescription food lowered his blood glucose levels slightly, he was still very diabetic and required insulin twice a day. After I started to look into the diet issue, my friend and I decided to try some different wet foods, as she wasnt convinced (she is now). I learnt how to read cat food labels and found foods that were below 8% carbs (most dried foods contain between 30 to 50% carbs) Since nature designed them to ingest very few carbohydrates, cats lack many of the important enzymes that are necessary to process this type of food efficiently. Within 2 days of being on the new food my boys blood glucose levels were back to normal. We tested this on two occasions to see if it was a fluke by giving him some Royal Canin diabetic food and his levels rose again and he needed the insulin. Once back on the low carb diet, his levels again returned to normal and he hasnt needed insulin since and is now a diet controlled diabetic! If this doesnt prove just what an effect dried food can have on cats then I dont know what will.

BTW All those carbs can cause weight problems/obesity in cats too. The best diet for any cat is the cat version of the atkins diet.....'The Catkins diet'.


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## Caz (Jul 21, 2002)

weeble said:


> BTW All those carbs can cause weight problems/obesity in cats too. The best diet for any cat is the cat version of the atkins diet.....'The Catkins diet'.




Very amusing.

Thanks for all that info. I had no idea, nor do most of us I guess (and, btw I just joined your ** group). I shall certainly be revising my fur babies' diets now.

C~x


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## ♥Saila♥ (Mar 27, 2006)

Haya Cat Lovers 

A good site worth looking at http://www.rawfedcats.org/

Yup I will definately help you out on the group. I am still learning though. I switched to raw in April. I'm not going to name and shame the brands I used but lets just say it was all of them!

I have 6 cats and the effect a dried diet had were - Red developed severe diahorrea, I mean severe. Blood, mucuous and allsorts coming out of there and if I got rid of it within the week it was back! It was awful!! I had every anti-biotic going. Chilli we woke up to one day screaming and he was straining in the litter tray and was diagnosed with crystals, to this day I'll never forget those screams. Chilli is our only neuter and we've struggled to control his weight for over 2 yrs. Oprah developed cystitis and there was no shifting that. Other problems with different foods included miscarriages, fading kittens, prolific wind  and on and off bowel issues.
After all this - and a horrific experience with each and every possible brand of dried I made the decision to go raw... it was not a decision I took lightly believe me. I started looking into it from November last year and we switched April this year.

I feed mince so far - minced pheasant, chicken, turkey and rabbit (planning on adding minced venison soon) and also I add liver as taurine is a very important part of a raw fed cats diet. Our chihuahua eats chicken wings/thighs raw and completely consumes the bones too I have yet to convince the cats this is the way forward  They also get pilchards, mackeral and sardine in tomato sauce once in a while. Raw Egg and I am currently looking into the benefits of adding cottage cheese, the dog gets this but the cats don't oh and we are looking into adding raw tripe.

Every symptom problem I have ever had with dried has gone, all of them are amazing their coats are softer and more luxiourious even the dogs. Their kittens are healthy, they've maintained condition throughout raising their litters, the litter trays are a breath of fresh air to scoop!! Chilli has even lost weight!!


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