Anyone care to remind me about kittenhood? I dont recall my 13 year old ever being this bad. This kitten is ravenous 24/7. I only feed him 1/10 of what he wants about one can of wellness a day divided into three meals and about 30 nibblets of dry total. He went from 1.5 to 5lbs now at 16 weeks and has pear shape going. He attacks food every time like its been weeks and I dare say I find it very hard to be able to eat myself. Has to be completely dewormed now we did it 3 times. Maybe I made the mistake of doing soft food, it just was too darn good and inviting.
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Any hope my kitten will someday control his hunger?
- Thread starter madara
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Vets recommend that kittens be free fed, allowed to eat as much food as they like. My vet has told me not to restrict food for a growing kitten or adolescent cat. So I'd say that your kitten is reacting out of actual hunger.
Kittens have much higher energy levels and also need extra nutrition to grow.
Kittens have much higher energy levels and also need extra nutrition to grow.
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It will be a few more months before he slows down. Now, will he ever stop thinking that he should be fed or given your food all the time? Probably not.
Only time will tell.
I always free feed my kittens and none have tirned ut fat.
Mine free feed, I have never had a fat cat. I did adopt a stray that would eat constantly like she would never eat again. Once she realized she would always have food, she was fine.
According to most of the books and cat advice websites I've read, a 5 lb. kitten needs at least twice as much as you've been feeding him. If he were full-grown at 5 lbs. it would be about the right amount. Don't worry about him getting chubby. He'll run it off.
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You're lucky. I have to really watch Sho. At least I have him staying around 15lbs now, for a while he started to push 17 (16.9lbs to be exact).
I had to limit food with Tomas, simply because I had a fat cat in the house. One thing that is important if you want to have scheduled meals instead of free fed (ie, such as feeding wet instead of dry), just have more meals a day.
I'm feeding two kitties four 3 ounce cans (or two 6 ounce cans) a day, divided into four feedings. That's six ounces per cat per day, or about double what you are feeding. Plus, my kitties have free feed on kitty dry food, which they are also eating at a pretty steady clip.
At four months, they are little eating, playing, pooping machines.
At four months, they are little eating, playing, pooping machines.
Yes please be sure to feed him enough because what you are giving him now is not nearly enough. So yes when you feed him he's ravenous because he's practically starved. The pear shape "he has going on" as you say, is because he's not getting enough food and this could lead to serious health problems.
Poor thing, let's make sure he doesn't get to eat something he actually likes. The "soft" food that you have been feeding your kitten is actually very good for him, much better than dry food so please don't start depriving him of that.
I'm sorry if I'm sounding critical but are you sure you can afford to care for a cat? If you're concerned about the cost of food, what will you do when faced with vet bills?
Please read this information: http://www.littlebigcat.com/?action=...needcannedfood
Remember that kitties are extremely energetic and burn through those calories like crazy! I free fed my Hannah until she got to be about 10-11 months old, then I started scheduled feedings with the same amount of food she was getting daily. As she's aged (she's now 3), I've reduced the amount of food she gets, but she's still fed on a schedule. Also, I'd feed twice as much wet as dry, as wet is much better for them.
My first cat Dave was really greedy and would eat anything in front of him.
I had to be careful from day one, as if there was more food than he should eat he would still eat the whole lot and then be sick.
I had to measure out his meals and give him the right ammount as when he got to 12 months old he was overweight and the vet put him on a diet with low fat food.
What made it worse was that he was a very lazy cat who didnt move or run around at all.
Now we have Nigel, he is completely different. He will never finish his food and only eats when and what he wants.
I had to be careful from day one, as if there was more food than he should eat he would still eat the whole lot and then be sick.
I had to measure out his meals and give him the right ammount as when he got to 12 months old he was overweight and the vet put him on a diet with low fat food.
What made it worse was that he was a very lazy cat who didnt move or run around at all.
Now we have Nigel, he is completely different. He will never finish his food and only eats when and what he wants.
Kittens are growing and hyperactive and burn up lots of calories. They need food, lots of it. So don't skimp on feeding him. Let him eat as much as he wants. He will burn it off and then some.
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Well thanks for feedback but trust me this cat is not starving, nor do I think spending $1300 in cat bills this summer makes me unqualified to care for cats. I may have worded that wrong but he gets 1/3 of premium kitten can plus 25-30 dry nibble 3-4 times a day, more at once my vet does not like as he eats too fast and goes through regurg state. He is so ahead of schedule vet said today we can neuter him in 3 weeks.
I know I will not be spending $5 a day in soft food plus dry never had cat where I needed do that. Everyone that has seen him says wow he so huge so he is in good hands
I noticed you can free feed kitten dry but once you add in soft food alot will not stop, not even if you feed them ten cans a day. I got a ton of hits on kitten not knowing or having mechanism to feel full or stop eating just now but will also go 2 fully used cans a day to find middle ground in what you guys are saying plus dry nibbles of premium ultra still with each meal.
I know I will not be spending $5 a day in soft food plus dry never had cat where I needed do that. Everyone that has seen him says wow he so huge so he is in good hands
Sounds exactly like Dave was. He used to eat so much as a kitten he would be doing more than 3 huge poos a day and that was me still not leaving food out all the time.Originally Posted by madara
Well thanks for feedback but trust me this cat is not starving, nor do I think spending $1300 in cat bills this summer makes me unqualified to care for cats. I may have worded that wrong but he gets 1/3 of premium kitten can plus 25-30 dry nibble 3-4 times a day, more at once my vet does not like as he eats too fast and goes through regurg state. He is so ahead of schedule vet said today we can neuter him in 3 weeks.
I know I will not be spending $5 a day in soft food plus dry never had cat where I needed do that. Everyone that has seen him says wow he so huge so he is in good handsI noticed you can free feed kitten dry but once you add in soft food alot will not stop, not even if you feed them ten cans a day. I got a ton of hits on kitten not knowing or having mechanism to feel full or stop eating just now but will also go 2 fully used cans a day to find middle ground in what you guys are saying plus dry nibbles of premium ultra still with each meal.
I couldnt free feed him even the dry food as he just loved everything.
He was soooo mad for food that he learnt how to open up the fridge and would steel food out of there and get into the cupboards.
When it was our dinner time, we would have to lock him out of the dining room other wise he would force himself upon our food.
It calmed down slightly when he was about 18 months old. But we were used to giving him a weighed out measure of food every day and he did struggle with being overweight. The vet was surprised to see such a young cat with a weight problem, but it does happen.
When Talley and Harper were younger, they had huge appetites. I fed them 4 times a day and free-feed dry. I was amazed that they had time to play and sleep because they were eating so much.
One day, at around 5 months of age, they made a dramatic change in the amount they ate. No rhyme or reason, but they just started eating half of what they had the day before.
As you know, the tremendous growth experienced as a kitten requires lots of food to sustain. A bit of a belly is normal on a kitten. Talley and Harper are 10 months old now and around 7 lbs. They are in their ackward teenage stage, but have slimmed down tremendously - growing into their belly as it were.
I'm glad you are going to try more food. I wouldn't worry about overeating until the cat is an adult.
Sorry about the vet bills. I have spent over 4,000 for surgery on my Golden, followed by over 3,000 on the same surgery 9 months later. I don't regret spending the money at all.
One day, at around 5 months of age, they made a dramatic change in the amount they ate. No rhyme or reason, but they just started eating half of what they had the day before.
As you know, the tremendous growth experienced as a kitten requires lots of food to sustain. A bit of a belly is normal on a kitten. Talley and Harper are 10 months old now and around 7 lbs. They are in their ackward teenage stage, but have slimmed down tremendously - growing into their belly as it were.
I'm glad you are going to try more food. I wouldn't worry about overeating until the cat is an adult.
Sorry about the vet bills. I have spent over 4,000 for surgery on my Golden, followed by over 3,000 on the same surgery 9 months later. I don't regret spending the money at all.
I have one year old kitten?cat? like that (I guess he's almost a cat now). If I put food in front of him he'll growl and hiss until he's finished eating. Sometimes he'll have a mouthful of food that he spits back out just to growl or hiss at me. I've tried putting him in the bathroom with a huge bowl of food by himself to see if he'd calm down once he had eaten till he was full, but he seems to eat himself sick (pukes up some, then starts eating again, then pukes and starts eating again). So I gave up free feeding him. He doesn't have any health problems or parasites, or at least my vet says he's clean. I'm now guessing he might be lacking the gene that says "I'm full, stop eating". Or has some perpetually hungry gene.
