Attitude and Nuts are getting tubby

I'm going to decrease them from free feeding to 1 cup each of their Natural Balance. My question is that ok for kittens, they are both 8 months old and are Maine Coon mixes(Nuts doesn't look like it but his grandmother is a Maine Coon.) They'll get 1/2 cup in morning and another at night.

Nuts is around 9.5 lbs but Attitude is 9 lbs so she is the tubbier(she's not fat but she is getting there) one since Nuts is larger when it comes to body size. Attitude is spayed but Nuts is unaltered so I think that might have something to do with it. They are still both running all over the place so they are active, but I have noticed how often I was filling their bowls with 1/2 cup of food. They seem to have started eating a lot more since Maude has been put to sleep so it's just been the last week that they started eating so much. I know it's a weird coincidence since cats don't 'emotional eat'.

Does anyone know if it's ok to restrict their intake since they are still young and growing?

Taryn

Here are recent pictures of them.

Nuts:


Attitude:


I got Nuts today, not sure how recent Attitude's is but she's hiding behind the couch behind the curtains so I can't get to her for a picture. When she comes out I'll get a new one.

Taryn

They are kittens that are still growing... I would suggest talking with their vet and seeing if they are in fact slightly chubby... in the pics they IMHO look nearly perfect

Nuts is a lot thinner than Attitude.

I got one of Attitude:


Like I said I don't know how old the other pic of Attitude was.

Either Attitude knows the sit command or I got really lucky multiple times in getting her to sit.

It's hard to feel Attitude's ribs that's why I'm a little worried that she might be getting a little too hefty. I also know Maine Coons are built bigger so it might just be that. I don't think they've touched their food yet but their bowls were empty this morning so they might not be hungry. I did free feed them yesterday. Paul said they seemed a little hefty too.

Taryn

Maine Coons do get big. My Maine Coon baby boy is not even 6 months old and weighs 11 lbs! Yikes! The vet weighed him last week when we went. I asked about his weight since he was getting so huge at such a young age and she said he is a healthy weight for his size. He is just going to be a very huge cat.

If you are concerned your babies are overweight, you should talk to a vet. Your vet can tell you if they are a healthy weight and you can discuss weight loss plans with your vet if so.

I'm not going to worry about it they might have just seemed extra hungry yesterday, as I said they haven't touched their food today. It seemed like all they did yesterday was sleep and eat(they did a lot more, but it seemed like that was all they did, so I don't mean that literally.) OK, Attitude just decided to eat some and she didn't eat much. They more or less just graze, eat a little go run around or sleep, go look out the window, then chase each other. They are not inactive to say the least.

It's more Attitude I'm concerned about. Nuts seems to be thin and trim. He finally stood up and walked by and he looks like his trim self. I know it might be harder for me to tell with Attitude because of her fur. As I said if I didn't know Nuts' grandma was Maine Coon you'd never know by looking at him, he looks like a standard DSH(he looks like his grandpa, who was a tabby.) Attitude has Maine Coon features. Their dad was also a very tall cat, he has pretty short hair so I think he was just tall, Attitude looks like him color and marking wise. Dad came up to my knee so not are they part Maine Coon they have a huge father.

I think it's just that Attitude has been quickly gaining on Nuts weight wise as well. She feels so heavy, Nuts not really. She's gained several pound since he spay and Nuts really hasn't gained more than 1.5 lbs if that. Like I said it was more Attitude I was concerned about, Nuts must have just been in a weird position this morning because he's fine.

Taryn