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Old September 6th, 2010, 03:26 PM
mikischo's Avatar
mikischo mikischo is offline
Mickey, my angel
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
Posts: 1,186
Hi and welcome to the forum.

Congratulations on your new cat and thank you for rescuing this boy in need of a new home. Sounds like you are well on your way to being a responsible first time cat owner and Casey sounds like a sweet boy.

There is really no rule for portioning wet and dry food (many of us prefer to leave dry food out of a cat's diet). Truth be told, canned food is far healthier for cats than dry, and Wellness is one of the better quality canned foods. Given your concerns it would definitely be a good idea to give him more, if not exclusively, wet food right now. You might also want to seriously consider transitioning him solely to canned food in the future. If you want more information on healthy diets for cats there are a lot of knowledgeable people here.

My younger kitties each eat an average of one 5.5 oz can (half in the morning and half at night). My older one is being transitioned to a raw diet. If you are feeding half dry, I'm not sure what amount you would normally feed as I haven't used dry for several years now. Amount fed can vary with size, appetite and activity level of the cat. Some need more, some need less.

Cats do usually urinate 2 to 3 times a day. If he is drinking well and not showing any signs of straining to urinate and he is peeing a reasonable amount when he does, I wouldn't necessarily be too concerned at this point. Do watch for any signs of straining or unproductive visits to the litter box (those signs would definitely indicate a trip to the vet was in order). It is possible he may be going to his box less frequently right now because he is getting used to a new environment that he is not yet familiar with.

As for bowel movements, normal frequency can differ from one cat to another just like from one human to another. Some cats might normally have a bowel movement once a day or even more often while others might normally go every 2 or 3 days. If he goes over 3 days (72 hours) without a movement or you learn that daily bowel movements have been the norm for him, I would then be concerned that there may be a constipation issue. Again, signs of straining or unproductive trips to the litter box are things to watch for. Hopefully you will get a response from his former owner soon to find out what has been his normal pattern. Also when he does go, feces should be firm but not hard or dry.

Let us know how things are going. Hopefully by tomorrow he will have had a bowel movement. If not we will have other suggestions.
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"The animals share with us the privilege of having a soul." -Pythagoras
"The soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each is different." -Hippocrates
"Let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world." -Jack Layton
"Be the change you want to see in the world" -Gandhi

Kitties: Punky (17), and Sassy (13), Twinky (10),

SweetMickey 1991 to May 24, 2009

Last edited by mikischo; September 6th, 2010 at 07:42 PM.
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