Question
My cat does not have any specific schedule or amount for eating.
I feed her dry cat food available at market.
Whenever she gives me a particular call, which I know is her "please feed me call", I give her food. Sometimes it comes to food every 30 to 20 minutes.
And I give her as much amount of food that she cat eat. I wait till there is food left and she still walks away. Then I put the left over food back in the container.
Is this the right practice to follow?
NOTE: It is not possible to keep open outside as it will get infested with ants.
Answer
I would not give your cat as much as she wants, obesity is a problem in our pets because they eat too much and don't exercise enough. There are guidelines on the bags of food that tells you how much your pet should be eating of that specific food. Sometimes these guidelines are generous so weigh your kitty every 2 weeks to minimum once a month.
In the October 2016 clinical survey, 53.9% of dogs and 58.9% of cats were classified as overweight (body condition score (BCS) 4) or obese (BCS 5) by their veterinary healthcare professional. That equals an estimated 41.9 million dogs and 50.5 million cats are too heavy, based on 2016 pet population projections provided by the American Pet Products Association (APPA). In 2015, APOP found 53.8% of dogs and 58.2% were overweight or obese.
Cats are known grazers so it's a good idea to purchase an automatic feeder that dispenses portioned food at different times during the day. On average a cat should eat 3/4 of a cup of food or less a day (check the guidelines of the food you have). Cats benefit more from wet food than dry so be sure to add some canned goods, again you would substitute some dry for the increase of wet.
Portioning your pets food also allows you to easily see if your pet is losing it's appetite or always begging for more food. Both cases warrant a vet visit to screen for underlying ailments such as diabetes or hyperthyroidism.
Here's a good chart to body condition score your cat
DISCLAIMER: To avoid confusion there are 2 different scales - petobesityprevention.org does the 1-5 scale where as now the standard is leaning towards 1-10 scale to be more precise with scoring body condition
Answered By - Rebecca RVT