After listening to your show last week I decided to try and feed my two cats a wet diet.  My younger cat (about 2 ½ years old) over the summer was diagnosed with FLUTD and has had blood in her stool off and on since we got her as a kitten (vets have just said its her nerves and she is fine). Anyway, because of her issues, I thought the diet might be good to try.   Previous to trying wet food my cats ate Science Diet light and had just a spoonful of wet when the younger one was given medication.  Everything seems to be going well Mona, the younger one, appears to be in good health and has lots of energy.  My question is about my older cat (4 years) Bob, he currently weights about 13 1/2lbs and is a large sleek cat, he could stand to loss a little weight, but not too much.  How do I know how much is the proper amount to feed them?  I am right now feeding them a 5.5 oz can of Wellness brand each a day, plus giving Bob a couple spoonfuls from another can.  This amount seems to work for Mona, she is overweight at 9 ½ lbs, she is a small petite cat, but Bob still is begging for food throughout the day.  I feed them twice a day.  I do have to say Bob was a stray when we got him, and always has had a need to have food available, or will beg.  Because of this I was feeding dry food twice a day or he would gorge himself when I fed him in the morning and then act like I never feed him.  So it is hard for me to tell if he is really hungry, or just doesn’t like having an empty bowl.  Please let me know what the proper amount is or how to calculate it.

Also, after telling my mom about your show, and switching the cats, she said she had always heard that cats need the dry food for better urinary tract health.  Could you please explain how wet food Vs. dry work on urinary health so I can let her know.

Thank you so much,
Jaime

Dear Jaime –

Thanks for taking my advice - the amount to feed and how to do it is answered in some of the Q&A's on The Cat Bible part of my website www.TracieHotchner.com

As much as he will eat at 2 feedings with the dish down about 15 minutes only - he is coming off of a carbohydrate addiction so a third meal would really make him feel better until his body adjusts to the right food - it is a much harder for some cats than others to switch to wet food but please stick with the wet and be more generous for a few weeks

Please buy a copy of The Cat Bible for your mother, which explains really well all the theories that i talk about on the air - you can click on the link on my website to buy it and Amazon has it really discounted because it has just come out

It would be great if you could call into the show any Wednesday night 8-9 PM EST - I am also on or 30 minutes every Wednesday at 8 Am and 1 PM on the Martha channel #112 866-675-6675 so I'd love to hear from you

Best,
Tracie