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Had to double check if this was not from The Onion. Don't know about dogs, but don't cats feed themselves? Mine certainly does, when we leave for holidays (or
by bambax 10y ago
Had to double check if this was not from The Onion.
Don't know about dogs, but don't cats feed themselves? Mine certainly does, when we leave for holidays (or even sometimes during the year) we just leave a lot of food and it just eats what it needs everyday.
- namtrac 10y agoNot all cats eat just what they need, one of our cats eat twice the amount of what he needs if he finds food available. That's why this kind of automated feeders makes sense.
- pi-rat 10y agoNeutered / castrated cats are often prone to overeating, it's better to feed them at intervals (2-3 times per day).
- JustSomeNobody 10y agoCan't say I blame them. If someone were to chop me, food would be my goto.
- stevenwiles 10y agoMost underrated comment on HN. Can't believe how long I laughed at this.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- MustardTiger 10y agoMost cats who eat that way are massively overweight.
- bambax 10y agoNot this one! We've done this for 10 years now and no problem whatsoever.
- bitwize 10y agoCats are opportunistic feeders: if food is available, they will eat. This was a fine adaptation for cats' EAA, as for wild cats, food was much scarcer and would run away unless stalked and caught! But leaving more than enough food lying around to be eaten ad libitum is a recipe for a fat cat, as they will not stop when they've had enough.
- goodplay 10y agoMine does. His bowl gets refilled whenever it's empty. He is not fat. He is castrated.
- delecti 10y agoWhen it comes to dry food, many cats do stop when they've had enough. My cat is given 1 cat of wet food a day and then unlimited dry food, and she's 10 lbs; 9 would be ideal but 10 isn't worth worrying about for a cat her age. My ex's cats are both allowed access to unlimited dry food; one is in a similar position to mine, slightly pudgy but not worryingly so, and the other is perfectly fit. A dog would eat until it weighed 500 lbs, but some cats will actually pace themselves.
- bambax 10y agoAh, maybe that's the explanation: we indeed only use dry food.
- 10y ago
- breakingcups 10y agoTo provide anecdata contrary to all the other replies you're getting, yes, our cat does the exact same thing. She's even neutered but she will just eat when she's hungry and she hasn't gotten fat or anything.
- bambax 10y agoThanks! so that makes at least a few of us... ;-) In fact when I bought the recipient for holding the food (a kind of plastic vase with a hole at the bottom) there were a lot for sale at the shop so there must be many cats who can use that without harming themselves...
- mattkevan 10y agoOur cat just eats everything he can find, as quickly as possible - this includes rifling through cupboards and stealing from drawers. We had to fit child locks.
- dingaling 10y ago> we just leave a lot of food and it just eats what it needs everyday. Possibly including the mice and rats attacted by all that food? let alone flies.