Several years ago, our cats were pretty fat. The vet suggested they slim down, so we put them on a diet. I figured out how many calories they would need a day to sustain a certain weight, and that's what we fed them.
Normally they eat 5 times a day...
Breakfast (whenever they wake us up in the morning)
11:00, 4:00, 9:00
Night-Night (whenever Paul goes to bed.)
As you know, waking up in the middle of the night to feed the cats succccccccccks. And it's not like they wake me up one time. They will beg for their breakfast two hours after their night night but I can't give it to them or else they will be so hungry by the time it's their next feeding.
I have a new plan. When I go to bed (which I am going to try to do at 9:00 every night so I am on a schedule), I'm going to give the cats 2 tbsp of dry food each. Then, when Paul goes to bed, he's going to give them 4 tbsp. That's it for the night! No matter how much they beg, they will NOT get fed until 11am the next day!
So far, Jelly has been waking me up just about every night for more food. When he does that, I immediately kick him out of the bedroom and shut the door. I hate kicking him out because I like when he sleeps with me, but I want to try to train him not to wake me up. This isn't going to be a quick fix, but I am steadfast in my determination!
Surprisingly, Christmas hasn't been waking us up for food. He's more of a beggar during the day while Jelly is the beggar at night. Ya gotta love those boys.
How often do you feed your pets?
Did you ever make a major change to their feeding schedule?
Did you ever make a major change to their feeding schedule?
Wow! Those boys definitely have you trained! Both my cat and my dog 'free eat'. I fill up their bowls whenever we have dinner our when I see that they are almost empty, and they are free to eat as much, or as little as they wish throughout the day. Atlas usually eats the majority of his food in the evening, but always saves a handful or so to snack on later. Freyja's bowl is big enough that she never totally empties it in one day. This is how my mom feed our pets growing up, and when I got Atlas as a puppy and Freyja as a kitten thats just how I fed them. Neither are over weight according to the vet. Both only get dry food though. We occasionally give Freyja some canned cat food and atlas meat trimmings and bones, but that's really it. I've been super lucky to not have to worry about food allergies or sensitivities. I do buy them high quality grain free dry food though and I think it does make a big difference.
ReplyDeleteThey sound so low maintenance when it comes to food! That is awesome they can free eat and not gain weight. Both of my cats used to free eat but as they got older they just weighed too much so it didn't work anymore. I wish it did! Our's eat wet and dry.
DeleteWhen we had Cuervo she was self fed and it was perfect. We started Macy on that path but then the vet said she was overweight so we put her on 2 x per day (morning, evening)...and she stayed the same weight so we were kind of frustrated because self fed is way easier. Now that she has diabetes, though, we have to be on a very strict schedule with feedings and insulin so bottom line is you do what you gotta do. But neither dog has ever woken us up to eat...thank goodness! I hope this works out for you guys.
ReplyDeleteI may be wrong, but I think cats all the bigger bitches when it comes to waking up during the night. :)
DeleteI think I told you a couple weeks ago we changed Cecil’s feeding schedule too because I couldn’t take the middle of the night feedings anymore. Now I give Cecil is bedtime snack as I always did before I go to bed (2 dental treats) and Adam feeds him at about 1am when he comes to bed.
ReplyDeleteThis new process is great for allowing us all to sleep through the night. The only issue is how we have no idea when Cecil is supposed to get his other meal. We used to feed him every 12 hours but at 1pm many days both Adam and I are at work.
I feed bad that he sometimes gets fed at weird times but he honestly doesn’t seem to mind. We’re kind of leaving it up to him to tell us when he wants that second meal and it’s usually around 8pm. I think he wants all his food at night from instinct since that’s when big cats hunt!
Yeah! That is interesting he always wants it at 8am. You know they also have automatic dispensers *in case* you ever want to start feeding him when you are not home.
DeleteHe only eats wet food though otherwise I would totally do that!
DeleteWe just leave bowls of dry food out for the cats all of the time. However, Luna wakes me up for no reason in the middle of the night (when I can't find her before I go to bed and put her in her "night room"). She has food, but I guess she just wants me to carry her downstairs and show her the food? Ridiculous. I'lm more concerned about me tripping down the stairs at 2am holding the cat than losing the sleep by being woken up honestly. It's a safety concern!
ReplyDeleteUgh how annoying! Maybe she just wants attention?
DeleteIs eating 5 times a day normal for most cats? Just wondering cus i've never had a cat. Baylee eats breakfast and dinner but I always make sure her dish is full (for snack) when I go to work. She normally does not eat when we aren't there with her which I find strange, so she usually eats her snack around 3pm when I get home.
ReplyDeleteNo, I don't think 5 times a day is normal at all. :) It sounds like Baylee has a nice routine going! Christmas always takes a huge dump when I get home from work.
Delete"pretty chunk" hahaha. Cats are the best. They don't care about shit but sleeping, eating and pooping.
ReplyDeleteWe had a pretty fat cat, and when we got a kitten, who needed to go on a diet, we had to figure out how to feed the fat one. My mom got one of those programmable food dishes, and programmed it got open at 2am and 2pm. He figured it out pretty quickly, and on the weekends, we'd find him staring at it around 2pm, knowing his afternoon snack was soon.
ReplyDeleteIt's crazy how they know what time it is. Our cats know too.
DeleteSo, let me see if I understand. They wake you up because your bedroom door is open and they cry for food?
ReplyDeleteWe had cats in Mexico, but they were outside cats and we fed them our leftovers. As soon as they would hear their bowls, they would come running across the house.
I hope your plan works and you get more and better sleep!
They cry, they knock stuff off the bedside tables, they fight. Even if the bedroom door is closed, they will sometimes scratch it and that wakes us up. They are dickheads.
Delete