Is he eating enough?

Erin Curler

Sorry, this will be long, but I'm worried and need advice! At Majah's last visit to the vet, I was told he needed to lose some weight (he was around 12.5 lbs). He'd been free feeding on Iams weight loss for years, and I only ever gave him about a half cup a day, but he never lost any weight. The vet suggested I start feeding him less of the Iams, but after doing a lot of research here on Catster and on other websites, I decided to take a different approach. Over a period of about a month, I switched him to Innova Senior (since it still has fewer calories than the regular, but more protein than the weight-loss version). Once he was used to that, I switched him to scheduled feedings, three times a day. Now he gets half of a 3-ounce can of Wellness wet in the morning, the other half for lunch, and 1/4-cup of the Innova Senior dry in the evening. This has definitely been working, and over the past month or two he's lost around a half-pound; he looks much better, and his coat is much softer and healthier. The problem is, now I'm worried he's not eating enough! He'll always go to the food and start eating it right away when I put it down. He loves it when I pet him while he's eating, and if I stand there petting him, he'll eat a bigger portion than usual. But he's a very slow eater, so it's not always practical for me to crouch there petting him during his entire meal (plus my legs start to cramp up!). So usually I'll pet him for a minute once he's started eating, then I'll walk away. He'll eat for a few more minutes, then he'll walk away. Sometimes he'll go back and eat some more ten minutes or so later, sometimes he won't. So he often ends up eating only half of what I put down for him. After a half-hour or so, I just take up the uneaten portion. But this means he's only eating about 2 ounces of wet food and 1/8 cup of dry food a day (and that's on a good day; other days it's even less). He seems fine, otherwise -- energy level and such have remained the same, and he's always eager for the treats I give him a few times a day. But I'm worried I'm starving him! Do I need to be worried about this, or can I trust that, since he is eating part of what I put down for him at every meal, he's eating enough?

Adele Doucet

This might not be the best advice but I think that if he would be very hungry, he would eat it all! But, you never know... Did you consult a vet? They might know what to do! Hope everything goes well!

Melissa Ford

What I would do is consult the vet who recommended a diet. ( a phone call should suffice). Find out how many calories you should be eating per day and divide your food up that way. I would also probably leave the small amount of dry food out for him to graze on in case he gets hungry while you are away for the day.