FOOD and VITAMINS and PHOTOS

Im a little confused still as to the portion sizes for both the wet and dry food, and when I should increase them.
I feed my 3 month old kitten (2.5 lbs) 1/4 3oz. can, morning and night (TOTAL 1/2 can a day). Then I leave out 1/8 cup of dry kitty food about every 2 hours or so, for him to nibble on. I dont want to leave out a large amount, because I know he will eat it even if hes not hungry (hes a fatty!). TOTAL of about 1/2 cup of dry a day. The package says that is the correct serving amount, for his weight (1/4 cup to 1/2 cup).
QUESTION: WHEN DO I RAISE THE AMOUNT I FEED HIM, AND BY HOW MUCH?
Also, my doctor gave me these liquid vitamins that I shoot into his wet food once a day. She said it was safe on an everyday basis, for life.
I READ in my "Kittens for DUmmies" book that kittens can have a vitamin overdose which leads to other horrible disfunctions. I cant remember what it was, and I dont have the book near me now.
What is your opinion?
ANY EXPERIENCED MOTHERS/FATHERS THINK VITAMINS ARE NECESSARY? or will their food suffice for the vitamins needed??


PICTURES!!
http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m157/pearla46/

That was the first day I got him. Now hes about 1.5 pounds heavier and a little longer. HOW FAST THEY GROW!

I don't know about the vitamins, but I'm sure someone will respond about that soon.

Your food should have feeding guidelines according to weight on the lable/package somewhere.

Zion is a real cutie. Taking pictures is so easy and I am always admonishing myself for not taking more of my crew.

He doesn't look fat to me in those pics. Are you sure he is fat? The back quarters of a Manx may look like the cat is a bit of a porker, when it's really the very muscular hind quarters.

He is such a little doll, I want to pick him up and snuggle him till he trills.

2.5 lbs for 3 months? Are you sure he's not a little bit younger? Either that or he's a little light.
Maybe increase his wet food a little, instead of just a 1/4th offer him another teaspoon if he still acts hungry, and so on.

What type of food are you feeding him? Is it a kitten dry and wet?


Took a second look at your pics... he really looks closer to 2 months than 3. He still has the sort of lazy eyes that young kittens have.


This is a pic of my Tomas when I found him, 10-12 weeks old

I too would increase the wet ... What brands are you feeding>>??


Unless directed by a vet for a specific viatmin I dont advise it

Well I got him on Jan 8th and he was born on Nov 10th. The pictures were taken the day I got him, about a month ago. He was one pound then, but had A LOT of worms, so he was very boney but had a huge belly.
As I diagnosed him with the de-wormer, his bloat reduced and he gained 1.5 pounds in a week. Now he is 2.5 pounds and 3 months old in 3 days.

I'am feeding him MAX WET KITTEN FOOD and ROYAL CANINE DRY KITTEN food. He enjoys both of them.
What I got from my "Kittens for Dummies" book was that it needs to be approved by the AAFCO (Association of Animal Feed Control Officials).
First ingredient listed should be the main PROTEIN (chicken, turkey or tuna).

1) "Pay attention to what follows, too. The first ingredient may be poultry, but if filler cereals like corn meal, brewers rice, and corn gluten follow, the combination of the grains may exceed the meal content. Because Kittens CANT digest the grain, all that xtra junk will make you gag when it comes out the back end. He has to eat more to feel full. If you find food with grain listed as the second ingredient, feed it to a cow."
2) "Make sure the food contains an absolute minimum of .04 percent TAURINE, an essential amino acid required by kittens ( I wont feed canned food with less than .07 % Taurine and dry food with less than .16%). If your kitten goes too long without taurine, she could suffer permanent blindness or a life threatening condition calle cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the muscles of the heart.
3) " AVOID food with preservations such as BHA, BHT, and ethoxyquin. Instead look for food using Vitamin E- tocopherol or Vitamin C-Citric acid-as preservatives.

In the best world( not the one most live ) you would just get you kitten now.... 12 weeks is what kittens should stay with the mom cat///

Your kitten is on good foods .... you shouldnt need to supplement...

AFFCO is a good start but the USDAand FDA for humans approved fast food as okay for human consuption,....Citric acid is often a chemical in cat food only use a food with it that you can veify the exact source(fyi_)...

Cats DO digest rice oats and corn gluten meal and wheat/barley at a decent leval.... exact % vary by study but example .

chicken is 91 % digestable

lamb 85%

rice white 70-85%

Question: Will the kitten eat too much wet food?

I know with our fosters we were told to offer them a half a can of wet food 4 times a day when they were 6 weeks old and weaned (there were 6 of them). We did this and found that within the 20 min. we allowed them to eat, there would still be some left-over. We figured since they were underweight and using a lot of energy to grow, we would free feed dry kitten food and do the wet food 4x a day and as they got older, we would increase the wet food if it started to disappear before the 20 min. was up.

I would suggest this for your kitten, try offering him a decent amount of wet food and only let him eat it for 20 min. If it's all gone before 20 min. is up, feed him a bit more next time.

All the kittens I've ever cared for have been allowed to have their fill of the meals, generally letting the mother cat finish off the left overs.
Some of them will occasionally fill themselves so much that they waddle away, but they sleep it off and are fine later. Anyone caring for kittens with their mother will notice they'll fill up quite full on milk sometimes too.

oh yeah, i guess i should have explained the 20 min. thing, we do that off of the recommendation of the Humane Society vet, she said that after 20 min., bacteria and such can start to grow on the wet food.

we also do it for our adult cats, but mainly in hopes that we can get them to eat all their wet quickly for when we get a dog

Originally Posted by laureen227

i've raised 6 kittens, & never given any of them vitamins. they all did just fine. just feed him as much as he wants.

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In the past, if I was worried about the mother cat not providing enough nutrients or didn't have a mother cat to feed them I just mixed some KMR or a similar kitten formula into the wet. At least until 12 weeks, maybe a couple more weeks if they'll eat it.

If the mother is thin I make sure she gets some of the formula and wet mix as well. I had to do this with a skittish stray that brought her kittens to me a couple of summers ago. I think she knew she needed help feeding them. She was thin, her kittens where thin and a bit scrawny, but with formula and kitten food she gained weight fast.

I tried mixing some into Tomas's wet when I found him cause his fur was a little rough and he was thin from not having food for at least a couple days, and likely low quality before that. He didn't like formula in his wet at all.

This one's my favorite:

My vet said that kittens should be given as much to eat as they'll eat -- because they're growing and because they use so much energy, it's not good to restrict their diets and you shouldn't worry about weight gain. I've seen this instruction on kitten food packaging, as well.

The 20 minute restriction also seems short. We've always left the wet food out for hours and the cats never had a problem.

Wet food can be left out for about 1-2 hours before it should be discarded.
picking it up after 20 minutes is fine though.
But I'd allow free feeding of dry food because the little guys burn off a lot of calories just being kittens.

I'll admit I leave wet out longer than 20 minutes too. But not hours, aside from it spoiling it just gets gross when it's left out too long, it dries out and is harder to clean out of a dish.

For older kittens and adults just use a smaller portion and let them have a little more if they're still hungry, but not beyond what a reasonable sized meal should be.