Question about food

[saintbabby]

So, I was thinking about this the other day. I know that Sphynx tend to eat (and poop) a great deal more than hairy cats, but let's see... How much food would I actually feed them every day? For those of you with two of these cats, how much per day? I'm just honestly wondering how much food i'm going to go through in any normal month. lol.

 

[PitBullLove]

I measure Diva's food. She gets 1/4 cup in the morning and a 1/4 cup at night. My ''haired'' cat eats half that amount. lol

 

[ilovemysphynx]

I have 2 well 4 now but when its just the 2 i use about 1 1/2 cup of dry A day ( always have dry out and fill once A day) I use science diet and can food I give 3 cans A day ( I use the larger of the 2 size cans)

 

[Brooke]

When it was just me and Walter in the house, I could leave his dry food out all day. He ate a little over a cup a day and a 4 lb bag would last about 3 weeks.

Since I brought Helen home, Walter started eating a lot more - hoarding food and also bigger appetite from increased activity - so I stopped leaving food out all day. I wanted to be able to keep an eye on how much each of them was eating, and make sure Walter wasn't stealing food from Helen while I was away. (Plus, changes in appetite are such a good early indicator of a cat's health, so I needed to be able to track it.)

Anyway, she eats a little bit less than he does, and that same 4 lb bag only lasted 2 weeks instead of 3. I just bought my first 10 lb bag a couple days ago, hoping it will last a month!

They also share a small can of wet food every night at dinner time. This serves two purposes - first, our member PitRotMommy recommended it for health reasons (wet food = more water in their diet) and also if I give them canned food at dinner time, they leave me alone while I'm trying to eat my own dinner!!

 

[PitRottMommy]

The sphynx calorie requirement is higher because they have no hair, it doesn't necessarily mean that they eat more than other cats. Their metabolism is very close to being the same as most cats, they simply work harder at keeping their bodies' warm which burns more energy. Therefore, their energy requirements are higher but their metabolism is about the same. If they are fed a high quality food, they won't poop any more than a regular cat as well.

Theresa will send you home with Iams, however none of the 3 cats I have ever did well on Iams. Buck and Baldwin both had GI issues, which I fought for months with Baldwin before a diagnosis was made and a proper food was found. I now feed Nature's Variety raw rabbit and pumpkin for all three of them, but this isn't going to be a necessity for all cats.

Find a high quality food that has no fillers. You're looking for something without corn(maize), rice, soy, gluten, wheat, etc. You want something that details every bit of what they put into the food and a high percentage of meat since cats are obligate carnivores (what's the point in feeding them something their systems cannot digest?). Find a company that hasn't had food recalls. Support a business that has worked hard enough to make great quality food that they weren't effected in the food recalls of the last 5 years. Foods I recommend include Merrick, Innova, Felidae, Orijins, Nature's Variety, Canz, Bravo, etc. They cost slightly more in the beginning, but your cats will have less stool because there are no fillers and they will be more full because they are using 100% of food that is able to be digested and actually processed and used by the body for energy. Each food will differ based upon what ingredients are being used and how much each girl requires. I can tell you that Buffy's requirements are much higher than that of Buck and Baldwin. I feed about 1.25# of food per day (which includes all cats). Each cat gets the same amount of food, the boys remain at 9# and Buffy stays at 5#.

 

[saintbabby]

. I feed about 1.25# of food per day (which includes all cats). Each cat gets the same amount of food, the boys remain at 9# and Buffy stays at 5#.

sorry, what exactly do those figures mean?

 

[PitRottMommy]

In a single day I feed 1.25# of food.

That means each cat gets slightly less than an 1/2 pound of food per day. I feed raw so a good portion of this is water (which your cats need as much of as they can receive in their food since most cats are chronically dehydrated and that can lead to early life kidney problems, megacolon, colostasis, etc).

Everyone is going to give you different amounts of food that they feed because some feed only dry, some feed wet and dry, some feed only wet, some feed raw. Small adult cats do well on a kibbled diet with 1/2 cup per day, 1.5 cans of food per day (usually separated in to two feedings) or a similar amount to what I feed of raw.

 

[ilovemysphynx]

When it was just me and Walter in the house, I could leave his dry food out all day. He ate a little over a cup a day and a 4 lb bag would last about 3 weeks.

Since I brought Helen home, Walter started eating a lot more - hoarding food and also bigger appetite from increased activity - so I stopped leaving food out all day. I wanted to be able to keep an eye on how much each of them was eating, and make sure Walter wasn't stealing food from Helen while I was away. (Plus, changes in appetite are such a good early indicator of a cat's health, so I needed to be able to track it.)

Anyway, she eats a little bit less than he does, and that same 4 lb bag only lasted 2 weeks instead of 3. I just bought my first 10 lb bag a couple days ago, hoping it will last a month!

They also share a small can of wet food every night at dinner time. This serves two purposes - first, our member PitRotMommy recommended it for health reasons (wet food = more water in their diet) and also if I give them canned food at dinner time, they leave me alone while I'm trying to eat my own dinner!!

Hey i know that you use the science diet dry that I use If you have A petsmart keep an eye out about once A month the 17.5 pound bag goes on sale for like $19.00 and if you go to their web site or sighn up in the store they email coupons every other week $5 off $20/ $10 off $40/ ect. I try to go once A month and get everything I need because its like 20 min. away but worth it with all my pets.

 

[Brooke]

Hey i know that you use the science diet dry that I use If you have A petsmart keep an eye out about once A month the 17.5 pound bag goes on sale for like $19.00 and if you go to their web site or sighn up in the store they email coupons every other week $5 off $20/ $10 off $40/ ect. I try to go once A month and get everything I need because its like 20 min. away but worth it with all my pets.

Oh, those coupons are good for the prescription diet, too? Awesome! Thanks

 

[skudra]

did a lots of research about what cats need to eat (generaly - more meat, less grains) and found this product - Orijen (65% meat, 35% fruits and vegetables) or Acana (65% meat, 35% fruits and vegetables), it's cat food of the year 2009 in USA, aint it? and it's good I can buy it here in Latvia so I'm changing slowly Alexx's diet.
weird none of you guys mentioned it here in forum...

in many reviews it has pretty high value (and also as of the most expensive food), but in my country it's about the same price as some not so good foods, and much cheaper than Royal Canin

just wanted to let you know my search is over. (I know many of you feed Science Diet, but the only Hill's cat food I can buy here is much of a same crap as RC )

 

[skudra]

oh, PitRottMommy mentioned it, sorry..

 

[skudra]

did a lots of research about what cats need to eat (generaly - more meat, less grains) and found this product - Orijen (75% meat, 25% fruits and vegetables) or Acana (65% meat, 35% fruits and vegetables)/QUOTE]

sorry again, wrote those two the same :Laugh:

 

[PitRottMommy]

did a lots of research about what cats need to eat (generaly - more meat, less grains)

I just thought I'd mention, cats absolutely don't require ANY grains. They do best on a NO GRAIN diet, which is why I keep mentioning that corn, rice and everything else that companies like to put in their food as filler--is just that. It does absolutely nothing for the pet. At all. At best, it may help your companion develop an allergy. That's it. Higher quality companies will include vegetables that AREN'T grains, such as spinach, yam, pumpkin, zucchini, etc. Fruits and veggies provide vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Grains don't.

Acana and Orijin are both GREAT foods.

 

[skudra]

Yeah, these two (Orijen and Acana) ar grain free. I'm sooo happy I finally found a really good food here in Latvia!

 

[CoolSphynx]

Sami, do you have any experience with Nature's Variety Instinct kibble? I've been thinking of switching from RC to Innova Evo kibble, but have also looked at Instinct at a possibility. (The furcats also eat Nature's Variety raw medallions or Instinct Canned, which Dobby won't touch.)

 

[PitRottMommy]

Sami, do you have any experience with Nature's Variety Instinct kibble? I've been thinking of switching from RC to Innova Evo kibble, but have also looked at Instinct at a possibility. (The furcats also eat Nature's Variety raw medallions or Instinct Canned, which Dobby won't touch.)

I like their kibble pretty well, it's a good food. I, personally, do not feed it--but I know of some people that do. Innova is a much better food than RC and I'm glad you switched. I view the two of them equally, if you're looking for the "better" food.

Have you tried different proteins of raw? I have had pretty good luck with getting everyone to eat it, as long as I throw some variation in it. I'm adding in canned food for my female sphynx because she stays thin on practically any food that I feed and I'm wanting to put some pudge on her

 

[CoolSphynx]

Thanks, Sami!! We've been doing the NV Raw Chicken medallions for the girls & I didn't think to try the other meats for picky Dobby. I think there is a variety pack, so I will pick up one of those.

Which canned foods does your little girl like? I've been pushing the Instinct canned on my 5 pound furred skinny mini. I'd kill for her metabolism

 

[PitRottMommy]

CoolSphynx, you must have a cat that is like Buffy: stays at 5 pounds no matter what you feed her. She's up from 4.5 pounds. She's so petite.

She likes (and does well on) Merrick and Taste of the Wild. I try very hard not to feed fish or seafood because of the results it has in our litter box. We stick with duck, venison, buffalo, quail, turkey and other "higher quality" meats.

I rather dislike chicken and beef (even with home cooking for Jason, I'm extremely against hormones and such in food products) , so I try not to feed those either.