Feeding Your Cat – Questions and Answers 
Question: Is Milk Okay for my Cat? I give her a small amount several times a week. Will this harm her? I’ve read that milk is not good for cats.
Answer: Normally milk is not recommended for cats, as many of them have problems digesting it. However, if she’s not throwing up or having diarrhea, she’s probably okay with it. Also, several new lactose-free milk substitutes for cats have been developed.
Question: Should I feed kitty dry food or canned/wet food?
Answer: There is a huge debate over this among veterinarians, cat owners, scientists, etc. Dry cat foods are a little…well, dry. Dry foods typically contain between 5% and 10% water. Canned – about 78% water. Water is critical in helping with digestion, circulation, and other bodily processes. Some vets say either wet or dry can be nutritionally complete. But canned food will have more meat and more protein. Dry food gets a lot of it’s nutrition from plants. Dry food tends to be high in carbohydrates and its high-starch nature could contribute to fat cats. And cats don’t always drink a lot of water to help balance their bodies…Dry food probably helps prevent tartar build-up on teeth (the crunchy-scraping action) better than canned. Canned food costs more than dry. Oh, the conundrum on which to choose! >>Foods for Cats.
JESSIE SAYS: I am fed twice a day. In the morning I get dry food. In the evening I get canned. So, hopefully I’m getting the best of both worlds!
Question: What ingredients are important in cat food?
Answer: The ingredients will have different levels of nutrients and how they are absorbed may be different, too. Reading a label makes it difficult to really know the quality of food, but protein should be at the beginning of the list.
Question: How much should I feed my cat and how many times a day?
Answer: Twice a day is the recommendation. But, we know that is not possible for everyone, so do what you need to. The statistics say that one in five cats is obese and it can be a bit of a challenge figuring out how much to feed your cat. Every cat is different, just like humans. Some cats are naturally larger than others, some much more active burning calories and some are lazy bums – all determine how much food to give the cat. Be cautious dumping dry food in a bowl and letting your cat munch 24 hours a day. Some cats do wonderful with that technique, others overeat. You need to step back, stare at kitty and evaluate: Too fat? Feed less. Too thin? Feed more.
Question: How do I switch cat foods?
Answer: Make the change slowly over 5 – 7 days. Add 25% new food to your pet’s 75% old food. Over a week, increase amounts of the new food until all of it is the new kind.
Question: How much should a cat weigh?
Answer: Average weight is 8 – 12 pounds. BUT, larger cat breeds can weigh around 15 pounds, some rare breeds more. The heaviest breeds are Norwegian Forest cats, Maine Coon cats, Ragdolls, Siberians and Turkish Vans with the males near the 20-pound mark! And of course there are several small breeds that weigh under 9 pounds. (See Post on Fat Cats)
>>Helpful Book: Food Guide For Cats - Homemade And Healthy Recipes For Your Cat, Makes For A Happier Cat Who Often Misses Out On Their Required Nutrients. Click Here!
>>Healthy, Natural Food Choices - Dry and Canned Food and Treats to check out!
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The more I try to learn about cat food, the more confused and even nervous I get about feeding it to my cats. Recalls, by-products, BPA in can linings….. I’m almost ready to take my two kitties outside and see if we can catch some poor little squirrels or something. (just kidding of course). ^^
Christie – I DO understand what you’re saying! Our “babies” have to be fed something – so I try to stick with well-known names (& keep ears open for “problems” they might have), and I feed BOTH canned (wet) and dry foods. And I try to keep Jessie Cat’s weight under control.
Me too! I had almost transitioned mine completely to Wellness canned and off of any dry food, but I think maybe there’s a little more safety in diversifying a little bit in case a brand has a recall due to not having enough of a certain vitamin, etc. Yes, the babies must be fed – otherwise I’d never make up my mind what to feed ‘em.
Christie – So glad for your comments:)
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My cat tends to always vomit her first meal of the day.
Is this greed,thrist,furr ball or worse?
Wow. Vomiting CAN be hard to figure out the real reason. Cats tend to vomit easier than other pets, too. Yes, eating too fast in the early a.m. on an empty tummy can cause your cat to vomit. You could try to “free feed” (leave food out all the time). You could leave much smaller amounts out, too, and feed several times throughout the day. After a few days, see if your cat has stopped wolfing down the food. Even switch brands of food. Many other possibilities could cause vomiting – furballs, skin disease, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal parasites, liver problems, eeek! Hard to say! I’m not a vet so it would be wise to take your cat to a vet to be thoroughly checked…if you haven’t already! Please report back w/anything you discover!! Good luck!
Read more: Vomiting in Cats – VetInfo
thank you for your prompt reply, i will take your advice on board &
get back to you. Midnight.
Hi there, I have 2 cats, coffee and cookie. I always give 1 can food a day to them. But cookie ate a little when he was young (3-6 months old) and hate it after it (they’re now 11months old). I tried fancy feast, almo nature, Merrick, wellness, precise, addiction. He scratched the ground beside the food bowl after sniffing it (like after he finishes his own business). The only wet food he didn’t scratch the ground is almost nature but he still doesn’t eat it. I tried not giving them dry food for 2 days. Cookie preferred to starve. I searched the Web and everyone says cats can’t be forced if they don’t like it. But I just want to find a way to feed them both wet and dry food. Please give me some advice of what I can do……
Goodness! It sounds like you’ve tried several things to get your cats to eat wet food. Sometimes when Jessie Cat doesn’t want to finish her wet food, I’ll take the bowl directly to wherever she’s lying and hold it near her face. NOT forcing it though. And I’ll talk super sweet and calm to her and many times she’ll eat most or all of the rest of the food. She doesn’t always completely finish every bite of food every day. And you know…I’ve done research and it is good if cats eat wet food because many cats don’t drink enough water and the wet food provides them with extra hydration…BUT if they DO drink a decent amount of water every day, it’s not horrible if they just don’t eat the wet/canned food and you simply stick with the dry. Some people buy the cat water fountain type drinking devices to entice their cats to drink more water. And as you’ve researched, you can’t force them to eat something they don’t want to eat. Also it’s NOT a good idea to starve them in order to “convince” them to eat another food. Perhaps have you mixed dry and canned together? Since they prefer dry, start out with more dry food. Over a period of a week or two, increase the wet food and decrease the dry until it’s (hopefully) all wet. As you mentioned, you’d like to feed them both dry and wet. That’s what I do. Jessie Cat gets dry food in the morning – a measured amount. And in the evening she gets the canned food – also a measured amount. Good luck!
Thx for the quick response Gina. I pet them sometimes while they’re eating but didn’t really talk sweet to them (hey you gotta understand it’s kind of hard for a guy to do that
) I’ll definitely give it a try tho 
and will keep bring the wet food to his face.
I tried putting the kibble to the wet food and it’s grose. And it didn’t help.
I do provide them clean water. 1 is the gravity water dispenser located upstairs and Raindrop drinking fountain in living room. But they don’t really care or it seems they don’t like the fountain, so I disconnected the power and top part of the fountain. It’s just now an ordinary ceramic water bowl. hopefully he drinks enough water. I don’t worry about coffee because I add extra water to the gravy wet food.
Thanks again Gina!