How much should a kitten eat?

I've got a 12 week old foster kitten, and apparently she gets half a can of tinned food in the morning, and the other half at night - they're those really small tins. Apparently she doesn't eat much of the tinned food, and she gets unlimited dry kitten food which she also doesn't eat much of.

She's pretty skinny, and the shelter said they were happy for me to try other food to try and get her to eat more, but hoped that confined in a home environment rather than confined at the shelter would make her happier and want to eat more.

Does it matter how much they eat as long as they put on weight?

Sorry if it's been asked before, I couldn't find any other threads that were quite what I was after.

When we got Jack he was about 10-12 weeks old. I openly fed dry food and really didn't limit it at all. About 3 weeks ago (he is 10 months now) I decided to change to adult food and keep a better record of measuring his food. He gets 1/3 cup dry in the morning and 1/3 dry after dinner. He seems to be doing well, never begs for more but his bowl is always empty when I go to give his measured amount.

Side note** Jack weighed in at 8.8 lbs last Wednesday, at 7 months weighed about 7.3 lbs, at 10-12 weeks he was 2 lbs 13 oz I believe.

Leslie

Never mind.... I just spent half an hour in with her, and noticed she scoffed a piece of dry food that I'd spilled while filling her food bowl. So I brought her dry food out of the cage and put it near her and she ate a really good amount of food.

So maybe she eats better out of the cage? When I give her the wet food tonight I'll do it when it's nearly time for her to go back into her cage, and see if that makes a difference.

Originally Posted by Jack31

When we got Jack he was about 10-12 weeks old. I openly fed dry food and really didn't limit it at all. About 3 weeks ago (he is 10 months now) I decided to change to adult food and keep a better record of measuring his food. He gets 1/3 cup dry in the morning and 1/3 dry after dinner. He seems to be doing well, never begs for more but his bowl is always empty when I go to give his measured amount.

Side note** Jack weighed in at 8.8 lbs last Wednesday, at 7 months weighed about 7.3 lbs, at 10-12 weeks he was 2 lbs 13 oz I believe.

Leslie

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I too am wondering how much a kitten requires..and my Vet really won't give me any guidelines except to say feed him 3 times a day.

Leslie, I'm glad you put down your kitty's weights...my little Samson is 12 weeks on Thursday, and according to my scales, he weights 3.9 lbs....at the Vet at 10 weeks, he weighed 3.2 lbs. He goes back for another vaccination on June 14....so we'll see how much he weighs at that time and if he is gaining enough. He also has open dry food (which he doesn't really eat too much)....and he eats about 1 tablespoon of wet, about 4 times a day. He does let me know when he's hungry...and doesn't complain outside the feeding times. He's very active too.....and then crashes after eating.....LOL

I am going to be very diligent about his not gaining too much and becoming fat.....that seems to be the trend with my cats, and it's very difficult to get them to lose weight.

Good luck Sarah with your new little kitty....they are so precious