How much food shoud a newly adopted stray be eating?

We recently adopted a stray who is hungry all of the time. She is fed 2/3 of a cup of food a day but every time we walk by her dishes she starts to beg for food. Is it possible for her to eat too much? Should we just be feeding her as much as she can eat for the first few weeks? She is very small and very skinny, but we are worried that she will gain weight too quickly. Please help us!|||Be careful with stray cats and how much you feed them. They have what I refer to as "stray cat syndrom" which translates into see it, eat it and like you suspect they can and do get fat fast.





The proper amount to feed per cat/per day should be about 5.5 ounces of wet (high quality grain free canned or Raw Meat/Bones/Organ) food.





The calories in that amount of food are sufficient for most "normal" sized cats. Of course a highly energetic cat will need more food to keep it healthy, and a lazy cat will need less food to keep it from getting obese. But 5.5 ounces of wet food per day is a good place to start.





A great place to learn about feline nutrition is www.catinfo.org|||I have always left kibble out for my cats 24/7 along with lots of fresh water. Cats are nibblers and eat a few pieces of food several times each day. This is what I would do for your stray. If she is hungry all the time, just keep the bowl full all the time so she can eat when she wants. In some cases with strays, they will overeat because they are in the habit of never knowing where their next meal will come from. I've had dogs and cats with that behavior after bringing them home from a questionnable situation. They were so surprised by all the available food and did gain some weight. However, when they realized, "Hey, Mom is going to keep putting this food out for us everyday and we don't have to worry about getting hungry", their eating habits regulated, they lost any excess pounds they had gained and their eating and weight stabilized. She should be fine. Hope you had her checked out by a VET to make sure she is basically healthy and had the proper immunizations and probably needs worming. Bless you for adopting her and giving her a home. It's a wonderful thing to do and I find it is so rewarding. Best of luck to you.|||feed the poor thing.





if she gains too much weight, you can cut back later. but right now ,she is hungry, strays are always hungry. if you put a lot of food out, she will realize it will always be there and stop eating so much. right now she doesnt know when you will feed her again so she eats it all.





i have never measured food and my cats are 15 years old and not fat. a can of food twice a day, bowl of dry kept full all day.





edit - i assumed you meant adopted from a shelter, if you mean you just picked it up off the street, it needs a vet first, it may have worms , which is easily treated, but it will eat a lot.|||Depending upon what you are feeding this cat, you should feed it no more than twice a day. My cats have me wrapped around their claws some and I do give snacks but I try to not feed them more than in the morning.





Have you taken this cat to the vet to be examined for worms and any other problems? Sounds like she might have them but then again, if she's a stray, she may also just be reacting to previous abandonment issues.





Give her lots of love, a meal or two extra for a few days, make the trip to the vet and then pare back in next two weeks to either one or two average meals a day. An average meal is a handful of dry food to a teaspoon of canned if she's skinny.


Check with your vet for further advice on nutrition when you go see about other issues.





I've had cats now for 20 years, but once in awhile I have issues with mine too....it is like they know when to throw ya a curveball, just like kids....ENJOY!





Best wishes with new baby!


--Jenn|||it really matters how long you've had this stray i would deff kepp feeding it if you have had it less then a week but anylonger take her to a vet and se what to do but i would give her lots of fod ethier wayy till she doesnt gain weight to make sure shes healthy|||it depends on how old she is. ask a vet about how much food you should feed her or on the lable of the food package you have, it might tell you how much to give her. i hope she grows to be a very good kitty for a long time!|||Have you wormed her?? I would feed her the right amount but over several times in a day. Good nutrition is important right now, but she may always be focused on food from days of none.