Kitten becoming a Cat: Cat Food Question

Our 12 month-old kitten will be a 1 year-old next week. He's been eating dry Nutra Pro Max for Kittens (or something like that). We got him when we was just 7 months old. He was skinning as a rail when we picked him up from the Humane Society but now he's turned into kind of a fat cat. We're going to move him to the Nutra Pro Max for Adults. Will the "adult" cat food be a little better for him weight-wise than the kitten food he's been on? I'm thinking, and maybe I'm wrong, that the kitten food was pretty fatty and might be one of the reasons he's a little on the "fatty" side. We've been feeding him according the instructions on the sack. Or should we get him the "diet" bag?

dont get diet! its usually full of fillers.

moving to an adult food will provide less fat and calories. cats can still grow after turning a year old, so unless hes very overweight, dont worry.

do you feed wet food? sometimes feeding some wet food at one meal will help them be full on less food. i must warn you that one wet meal will turn into two and so on its a slippery slope

If you are using Nutro food already (yes?) you might consider switching to Nutro naturals adult food, its better

My vet is on me about my fat cats, I put 2 cups of dry food down per day, 7 am = 1 cup & 4 pm = 1 cup. BUT my vet says a 1/2 cup serving could total as much as 500 cals.
I tried to cut back but they were STARVING, and mugging us about 2 hours before we feed them. So I am back to the full 1 cup serving. Mine have been on adult food for the last 4 months, and they are 13 months old. I do feed wet 2 to 3 times a week, they split one can between all,with a small bit of kibble on the side, because Scuddel really won't eat the wet. He is my fussy one. Try playing more with your cat and try to "work " off the pounds....hahahaha
Enjoy!

Adult cat food will have less calories and fat. What you can do is leave a trail of kibble so your cat will have to walk for his meal. You can also get a ball which will dispense some kibble at a time as he rolls it. Or hide his kibble and lure him with a toy to the hiding spots. Or put the food up high somewhere so he has to climb to get it. Maybe try feeding less but don't let him lose weight too quickly as this is particularly dangerous with cats. So feed according to the package but try increasing his activity.

Well, now that your cat's stopped growing, he should be eating adult food. He's fat because he's being fed a diet for a growing, active kitten. Do you restrict his food intake? We feed our cats 2 meals daily of dry adult kitty kibble, and they all stay at a healthy weight. He may object at first if he;s used to free feeding, but a fat cat is not healthy. Weight gain causes early health problems that can be costly to treat. I would immediately switch him to adult food, and limit his food intake to the amount thats appropriate for him as an individual. You can't always look at the back of the food bag to decide how much to feed your cat, because some cats need less to stay fit and some cats need more.

Kitten food is higher in calories so yes, neutered/spayed cats can gain weight if you are still feeding him the food. Since he was not in good shape the extra calories were fine to feed - but now he should be switched to adult foods.

I would also feed a combo of both canned and dry foods.

Thanks to all of you. We've now got him on the Adult cat food and hopefully he'll shed a few pounds.