I've been feeding my friends cats whilst she's been on holiday. She has one cat who's about four or five and one cat who's about eleven (roughly) and she talks about them often, saying that Smudgly (the young one) is playful as cats will be but Fudgly (the OAP) does not much more than lie around. I've never had cats and I don't know much about them and their lifestyles, particularly as they get old but ... she feeds them with some cat biscuits in the morning and a single pouch of wet food between them in the evening. No milk, just water. Well, since she's been away, my OH and I have treated them to little bits and bobs including a saucer of cat milk in the morning and also in the evening. Along with the handful of biscuits, we put down a half a pouch of wet food in the morning (not every morning mind you) and after just 3 days or so, they seem like different cats. Playful, affectionate, lively. Co-incidence of different people to play with (and appreciative of company after a day alone?) or is the additional food making a difference? Should I mention it subtly to my friend or just leave it be?
My cat only has water, ordinary milk is not good for them and he doesn't like the cat milk. Water is fine and should always be available. Mine has biscuits at night and cat food in the morning. He has one sachet. If they are satisfied with half a sachet and healthy I would not try to change their diet. Overweight cats are unhealthy. I would be inclined to give them one sachet each if there were my cats but think you have to respect the owner's wishes. If they were very hungry they would soon complain. I should be a bit careful what you say to the owner as people can get very up tight if you criticise the way they treat their pets. Anyway good luck and the cats certainly sound as if they are enjoying themselves and being a little bit spoilt.
I agree with borlotti, i have two cats 1 of 8yrs (black in colour) and 1 of 10 months,(grey in colour)
they both had a bad stomach all the time when they eat tin meat, vet said to put them both on dried food, so hard as it may be, it's only water and dried food for mine now aswell,
the vet said if i wanted to give the young one milk dont give him cow milk as it is to fatty,
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Thank you both for your replies, very much appreciated. I will say nothing to my friend - it's not as if she hasn't had the cats for ten years or more, eh? I didn't give them normal milk, I bought the whiskers cat milk (I thought this would be ok) and only for the past 3 days. My friend is back tonight so normal service will be restored :) Thanks again.
Hope she/he brings you back something nice for your trouble. They much prefer to be looked after at home rather than go to catteries. My next door neighbour is very good and looked after my cats when I was away. Cats are quite self sufficient and as long as they have food, someone warm to sleep and a bit of company are a lot easier than dogs.
crumbs,im so glad i read this post,think we have been overfeeding our new kitten.she came to us as a stray,vet reckons she 12/15 months old and we have been giving her a whole tin a day,plus dry food.when we got her we thought she was under weight,but got told she was fine. is it an old wives tale that they wont eat unless they hungry then,cos Fly eats whatever we put down,and cries for more? also,the local moggie seems to be giving her the glad eye,jumping on the outside window sills all day making that mating sound,is there a chance our kitty is in season?vet said it wouldnt be the case till jan?
I took these on the last day we looked after them :)
(http://xs233.xs.to/xs233/08471/smudge345.jpg)
Smudge
(http://xs233.xs.to/xs233/08471/fudge238.jpg)
and a very distinguished old Fudge
Aww cute cats! I think the food quantity sounds ok, as said before, overweight cats will inevitably become miserable and disease ridden. My cat is overweight - despite me only feeding a handful of dry food a day, I have since found out this is because our neighbour gives him milk for breakfast, sardines at lunch and whatever they had for tea as a tit bit!!! :o
Lovely cats and they certainly seem to be in the best of health.
Lovely cats, they look really alert and healthy.
Dried cat food has weight guides and instructions on the packets, it is a good idea to follow these, obviously guided by the vet.