Is my 8-month-old kitten fat?

londonkat

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Happy New Year everyone!

I am becoming concerned that one of my two kitties, Buttercup is getting fat. They are sisters and the other one (Sandy) is slim and more active. Buttecup is also active and plays a lot, but she also seems to eat and sleep more. She may be almost twice the size of Sandy. Sandy was always the smaller one ever since I got them at 5-months.

They get 1/2 a can of nutro max for kittens each day, and I leave dry out for them to nibble on. It seems like they prefer the dry food, b/c they leave the wet food for most of the day. For dry, they were eating orijen, but now I'm giving them wellness for kittens (it's what the local pet shop carries), I also gave them a sample of a new food: Taste of the wild, which they seemed to like.

I am wondering if it is time to switch them to regular cat food? When is the usual time for doing this? Also, should I try a different wet? What other wets are good for this issue? Also, they share everything, so if I get the weight-management food, will it harm Sandy who is already thin?

Any and all suggestions will be much appreciated!

-LK
 

tickytat

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Have you had them wormed?

All kittens are different. It could be she's just going to be a little bigger than most cats.

As far as the food, Sharky will be along shortly to help you with that. She's the food guru.
 

littlekitty

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It might be her breed, because some cat breeds are larger than others. Also it might be the food your feeding her. Do you leave the can food out all day? How often do you feed them the can food? You might want to cut down on the portion of wet food you feed them (depends on the size of can) and feed them it once a day. Is she getting wider or just bigger?
 

gingersmom

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At 8 months old it is perfectly fine to start the transition to adult dry. Just start mixing it in with the kitten dry, and over the course of a month or so (or until your current bag of kitten dry runs out) add more adult dry to the mix gradually until there is no more kitten in it, if that makes sense.
 

sharky

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Taste of the wild is an all stage so that is just fine... Mine loves it
... this is not a low cal food but it is under 400 cal per cup

for wet maybe try a different brand and or texture( ie cuts and gravy , pate , shredded )

Weight and size to wt is best dealt with by the vet...
 

glitch

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How big is kitty?? Do you have any pics? It could just be that one of them is going to be a larger kitty all the way around!!
 

sandtigress

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As far as fat goes, try feeling Buttercup's ribs. If you can feel them okay, then she isn't fat. If you can't, then its time for some kitty exercise!
 

river

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My parent's cats had the same problem, one was very overweight and the other slim and active. As soon as they took away the dry food and fed them wet twice a day the overweight one started losing weight, now he looks like his brother. They were feeding Nutro indoor dry.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by river

My parent's cats had the same problem, one was very overweight and the other slim and active. As soon as they took away the dry food and fed them wet twice a day the overweight one started losing weight, now he looks like his brother. They were feeding Nutro indoor dry.
I am glad your folks figured it out ... BUT I doubt they had two adolencent STILL growing kittens
 

river

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Originally Posted by sharky

I am glad your folks figured it out ... BUT I doubt they had two adolencent STILL growing kittens
They actually did, I gave them 2 kittens from the same litter when they were about 5 months old, they gave fancy feast twice a day along with leaving nutro indoor dry all the time. They switched to an all Fancy Feast diet about when the kittens were about a year old, maybe a year and a half.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by river

They actually did, I gave them 2 kittens from the same litter when they were about 5 months old, they gave fancy feast twice a day along with leaving nutro indoor dry all the time. They switched to an all Fancy Feast diet about when the kittens were about a year old, maybe a year and a half.
AHH they had little piggys as I call them or one little piggy
 
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londonkat

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Originally Posted by river

They actually did, I gave them 2 kittens from the same litter when they were about 5 months old, they gave fancy feast twice a day along with leaving nutro indoor dry all the time. They switched to an all Fancy Feast diet about when the kittens were about a year old, maybe a year and a half.
Thank you everyone for your advice!

About the cutting-back on dry food:

1.Since they are only 8 months I am reluctant to do so. Are they still growing at this age? I don't want to harm their growth.

2.Sandy does not eat as much or as often as Buttercup. I am afraid if I ration their food, then Buttercup will eat it all and nothing will be left for Sandy.

Any advice on these two points?

Thanks again!
LK
 

sharky

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can you make a box with a hole just big enough for the smaller kitty>>>???

Can you feed in a seprate area or rooms???
 

jack31

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Perhaps it is time to feed in two different locations?

Or smaller more frequent meals?

Leslie
 
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