How long????

How long does everyone suggest you keep a kitten on kitten food? What age are they ready to progress to a different type of food??? I have been feeding my girls Wellness for kittens for some time now and recently Arkose has been have liquid poops. They are 9months old and will be a year in May. I was told to keep them on the kitten food for an entire year. When I switched back to Science Diet for kittens to try and stop the liquid poops, they did but then they started throwing up. I am thinking that they are ready to quit kitten food and move on from it but I'd like some opinions first. Thanks!!!!!!!

Not everyone agrees on this. So this is my experience for my cats (and feeding this way - never had a fat cat either).

I keep small to medium size cats on kitten food for only the first 4-5 months old; then switch to adult foods. Larger breed kittens like Maine Coons or Ragdolls I would suggest keeping them on kitten food for about 8-9 months at the most.

IMO unless the kitten is not growing well or had a rough start in life, there is no need to be keeping them on kitten food for a year (like the bag says). And with spaying and neutering by 3-4 months old, you will have a very fat kitten in a short time - altered cats don't burn up the calories as fast and kitten food is higher in calories. IMO those cat food bags should be revised in their "thinking".

What kind of cat is it.
I have a kitten but she is a sphynx and she has to be on kitten food for a year.
Sphynx burn fat very fast unlike most breeds.
My other cats were on kitten food until about 4 months old.

my 4mth old kitten pepe won't eat the kitten food, she eats ginger's food (she's 9yrs) and ginger eats pepe's so once the kitten food ran out I just fed them both adult cat food (iams)

it depends on the food too - I am keeping mine for 1 year; but she is also getting all stage food mixed in it.

I just took Mulder off the kitten food as I noticed he was starting to gain unnecessary weight. He is 8.5 Months right now and was neutered at 5 months. My Spooky ate a mix of kitten and adult formulas until he was 18 months with no problems.

Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ve never heard of kitten food causing diarrhea or vomiting on its own regardless of if the cat needed a different type of nutrition due to age. While they are probably old enough to stop with the kitten food, I would think the diarrhea and vomitting is a sign of something else wrong and take them to the vet.

The vets I've gone to over the years all said 6 months on kitten food was fine.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I keep small to medium size cats on kitten food for only the first 4-5 months old; then switch to adult foods. Larger breed kittens like Maine Coons or Ragdolls I would suggest keeping them on kitten food for about 8-9 months at the most.

Click to expand...

I agree with GK, I switched Demetri at 5 months. Ana didn't like kitten food so went onto adult at 3 months when I got her.

Thank you everyone for the help!! Looks like I need to head over to Petco and get them started on some "adult" foods now!!! Hopefully this will help Arkose's poopies and maintain the amount they both throw up!!! Wish me luck!