Is my kitten eating enough?

d3sire86

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I have a kitten that is approximately 7 weeks old. She was a stray that I took in last Tuesday.

She is eating Max Cat kitten food (Nutro) as well as some KMR. She eats a little less than one can of wet food 3oz or 85g a day. I also give her about a handful of dry kitten food also Max Cat that I mix with KMR (2 tea spoons) to graze on. She picks at the dry food and maybe eats 15 kibbles of it daily. I also bottle feed her KMR and she will maybe have 2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons of it before she doesn't want anymore. Is this enough?

Daily:
- a little under 1 3oz can of wet food
- about 15 kibbles of dry food mixed with KMR
- 2 1/2 - 3 tablespoons of KMR

She weighs 1 lb 7 oz and is quite active.
 

taryn

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It sounds like she is eating enough, remember they are babies and have tiny tummies. I would put down regular kitten dry food(no KMR) during the day if you are worried she's going hungry.

I'm not sure how much mine(or the other 7 kittens) were eating at that age since they were outside with their moms so everyone shared a communal bowl.

If she is active and acting like a normal kitten then she is eating enough.

Taryn
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by d3sire86

I have a kitten that is approximately 7 weeks old. She was a stray that I took in last Tuesday.

She is eating Max Cat kitten food (Nutro) as well as some KMR. She eats a little less than one can of wet food 3oz or 85g a day. I also give her about a handful of dry kitten food also Max Cat that I mix with KMR (2 tea spoons) to graze on. She picks at the dry food and maybe eats 15 kibbles of it daily. I also bottle feed her KMR and she will maybe have 2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons of it before she doesn't want anymore. Is this enough?

Daily:
- a little under 1 3oz can of wet food
- about 15 kibbles of dry food mixed with KMR
- 2 1/2 - 3 tablespoons of KMR

She weighs 1 lb 7 oz and is quite active.
by the numbers she appears to be eating enough...

I would raise this question to the vet ... she is a little girl by wt and should been seen
 
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d3sire86

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Thanks!

She has been to the vet but he was new and didn't really have a lot to say on kitten nutrition. He did say that she is normal weight for her size.

It just seems like she eats very little but I guess that is because I am comparing her to two almost 15 lb cats.
 

taryn

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Attitude was 2.8 lbs at 8 weeks but she is also a Maine Coon mix so I'm not sure what a normal DSH should weigh. I'm assuming she is an itty bitty kitty if the vet said her weight and size go together. One of Attitude and Nuts'(and Goldie Jr and Runt's) siblings, their sister Half-tail(they are all 1 year old) is 4 or 5 lbs, she is tiny. She has ate the same thing as her outside brothers(all of them are Maine Coon mixes) and the same level of care, so everything is the same she is just tiny. Runt is over twice her size, he was the runt of the litter but he's a big cat now, him and Goldie Jr are about the same size and they are huge compared to Half-tail. So it is also possible for a kitten to start out tiny and become a big cat.

You might just have a little kitty. Also, her eating is obviously going to be a lot different from 15 lb cats, remember she has a tiny tummy so it seems like she eats very little but she's eating the right amount for her.

When I hear how little people feed their kittens it seems like they would be starving, but that is the proper amount for them. Also, we tend to overfeed anyways, Attitude and Nuts who are both around 10 lbs only need 1/3 cup of dry a day, which to me seems tiny.

Taryn
 
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d3sire86

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She is quite small. Milo & Dexter my 2 year old cats were just under 3 lbs each when I adopted them at 8 weeks.

I think she will always be a small cat. I found her outside, born to a feral mother and the cat rescue I have been corresponding with has gone back and tried to get the mommy cat who they say is tiny.

I have been weighing her daily and she has gained a few ounces since she came home last Tuesday.

I feel like I have to remind her to eat. If I just put the food down she shows no interest in eating it and will run off and play instead. I have to confine her to a small space and put the food down infront of her nose in order for her to eat.

I am also worried about her lack of liquid consumption. She will not drink from a bowl. I purchased a cat fountain today and she is interested in it but hasn't actually tried to drink from it. I got her to drink a bit from her bowl the other day by squirting her KMR on a spoon and slowly lowering the spoon toward her bowl. She took a few laps but hasn't since. I would like to stop bottle feeding as soon as possible as I don't enjoy getting up every 4 hours to ensure she is getting enough liquids.
 

taryn

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Attitude, Nuts, Goldie Jr., and Runt are all larger than their mom and grandma(who are around 4-6 lbs) and Half-tail is not much smaller than them. She might be larger than Mama(grandma), but since Mama has a Maine Coon coat(she could be full Maine Coon, she sure looks it) she could be smaller than Half-tail but with the fluffy coat it hides how small she is. The mom Biter and Mama are all little since they have had litters early and didn't get the best nutrition so their growth was stunted so mom's size might not have any indication of how big she will be if mom's nutrition wasn't the greatest when Growing and her growth was stunted as a result. Biter has had 1 litter and I know Mama has had at least 2 litters, possibly more. Attitude looks like a Maine Coon but none of the others do other than Mama.

This is Mama from last year. She is the tortoiseshell Attitude is the black and white kitten in the front.

This is a closer up of her, Nuts is the tabby eating with her.


This is Attitude as a little kitten(6-8 weeks), you can already see her coat beginning to take shape


Here are 2 more recent ones and she has the coat now, not as good as Mama's but still obviously Maine Coon


She's grown since these.

This is Nuts, he's also a Maine Coon mix but he looks like your average DSH:


This is Nuts(who was bigger than Attitude) at the same age as Attitude 6-8 weeks:


I think this is Runt, I can't see that tail tip, he has a white tip on his tail:


So little cats can become big cats. Size as a kitten that young doesn't always predict future size.

Taryn
 
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d3sire86

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Beautiful cats!

I love the picture of Nuts licking his lips, too cute! In the first one he looks a little like my boys as kittens who are an abyssinian/tabby mix.

Lola looks comparable in size to your kitties as babies. Here are a few pictures.

Attachment 14560
Attachment 14561
Attachment 14562
(I don't leave the collar on her and I wont until she is bigger)

It is quite possible that she will be bigger than her mom. Her mom was a feral and is estimated to be a little under a year old so stunted growth is a real possibility. I don't mind if she is big or little as long as she is healthy. My Whiskey cat passed in 2008 at age 18 year due to kidney failure and she was a tiny girl. She weighed 6-7 lbs even in her prime and was healthy at that weight.

I will add some pics of my boys Milo & Dexter only because they are too cute.

Attachment 14563
First day home - 8 weeks old
Attachment 14564
5 months old

and now they are big 15 lb boys





 

taryn

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Thanks. Yours are gorgeous as well. I love black cats, I had better considering I have 4 of them. If you look at the first picture of Mama you can see 5 black kittens, so every black kitten that the mothers(there were 2 moms, Goldie vanished one day never to be seen again and she was also black and Biter is also black, and Mama also brought over her 3 kittens who weren't black but they were about 6-8 weeks old, hated, as in afraid of humans and left right after they were brought over), brought over at 4 weeks old, plus Attitude and the other black and white kitten so 7 out of the 9 we had. Nuts definitely had ears when he was a baby. I forget how big they were until I see that picture, but he grew into them.

My cat Spaz
weighed 7.5 lbs as an adult and was the perfect weight for her size so she wasn't big. I just know mine were and are going to be big. As I said grandma is a Maine Coon and their dad(not sure if he was a 'special' breed or just a huge DSH, I know he had very very short fur) was huge. Not fat but big body size wise. When standing on all 4s he was up to my knee and really long, he was a very tall long cat. I didn't even think about Mama being a Maine Coon until around Dec when I had to take her to the vet. I knew because of their dad(our neighborhood tom at the time, we have a new one every year) they were going to be big cats. Attitude and Nuts are already over 10 lbs. Attitude has a small weight problem(she has a big fat pad on her tummy) so she needs to lose about a half a lb to 1 and a half lbs, but she will still be 9- 10 lbs when done but I'm not going to let her get below 10 lbs because that is the right weight for her. I know even if I do nothing she'll grow into her weight but I'd rather deal with it now rather than wait for her to grow into it.

I didn't and still don't care how big they get as long as they are happy and healthy and so far I have been lucky and other than Attitude's never ending eye infections they are very healthy, Nuts has never been sick a day in his life and other than one bout of mastitis(who knows what caused that she's spayed) and an small ulcer on her tongue at her first vet appointment and her never ending eye infections(prolly herpes) Attitude is healthy as well. They just turned 1 so they are doing great.

Taryn
 

sohni

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If you are weighing her and she is gaining that is the best sign. If you pinch the skin on her back and it springs back quickly, she is not dehydrated. To up her water intake however, you can mix a small amount of warm water into her wet food. It may make it more yummy for her to eat as well.

She is really cute.
 
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d3sire86

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Thanks for the replies. I have been mixing water in with her food and she is drinking KMR out of a bowl but she will not drink water on her own. She is gaining weight and does not appear to be dehydrated. Hopefully she will get the hang of it soon.

When can I wean her off KMR? She is about 7-8 weeks old. She really enjoys it but it is getting expensive. I was thinking of cutting the KMR when I finish this jar maybe another week.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by d3sire86

Thanks for the replies. I have been mixing water in with her food and she is drinking KMR out of a bowl but she will not drink water on her own. She is gaining weight and does not appear to be dehydrated. Hopefully she will get the hang of it soon.

When can I wean her off KMR? She is about 7-8 weeks old. She really enjoys it but it is getting expensive. I was thinking of cutting the KMR when I finish this jar maybe another week.
Most will say wean off the stage 2 kmr at 8-10( which I hope you are using as it is for kittens over 4 weeks and about half the price of the other kmr)

many breeders mix a little in till 10 -12weeks
 

strange_wings

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Yeah, it's usually 10 or 12 with the KMR, depending on how the kitten weighs.

She's eating wet food, which will take care of some of her need for moisture. But here's another thought for you. Can you be 100% absolutely sure she's not drinking?
I have one cat, that I knew was drinking, but I didn't see her actually do so until I had her for a little over 3 months. She would drink when I and the other cats weren't around.
I remember someone elses kitten doing that with food - they thought she wasn't eating and it turned out she was snacking on the adult cat's food when no one was watching.


You have the other two in the house, she'll figure it out by watching them. Don't be surprised if you find her playing in the water at some point... it's the standard kitten game.


I have one kitten that's going to be a smaller cat. It's only been in the last couple of months that she's started catching up a bit size wise to her brother and sister. I also have MewMew outside that I thought was going to be much smaller than she is because she was so small at ~6 months, she had a late growth spurt around a year old and is now average female cat size.


That said, don't put off getting Lola dewormed if you want her to keep gaining weight.
 
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d3sire86

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

Yeah, it's usually 10 or 12 with the KMR, depending on how the kitten weighs.

She's eating wet food, which will take care of some of her need for moisture. But here's another thought for you. Can you be 100% absolutely sure she's not drinking?
I have one cat, that I knew was drinking, but I didn't see her actually do so until I had her for a little over 3 months. She would drink when I and the other cats weren't around.
I remember someone elses kitten doing that with food - they thought she wasn't eating and it turned out she was snacking on the adult cat's food when no one was watching.


You have the other two in the house, she'll figure it out by watching them. Don't be surprised if you find her playing in the water at some point... it's the standard kitten game.


I have one kitten that's going to be a smaller cat. It's only been in the last couple of months that she's started catching up a bit size wise to her brother and sister. I also have MewMew outside that I thought was going to be much smaller than she is because she was so small at ~6 months, she had a late growth spurt around a year old and is now average female cat size.


That said, don't put off getting Lola dewormed if you want her to keep gaining weight.
Thanks. I will keep her on KMR for a few more weeks. She really loves it anyways!

It is possible that she may be drinking when I am not looking though she has no problems eating in front of me. I have seen her stick her face in the water bowl but not actually drink. I have managed to get her to drink KMR off a small plate so I will try the same with water.

I have tried bringing her into the kitchen when the boys are in there eating/drinking hoping they might teach her a thing or two.

She was dewormed at the vets I think he used Milbemax?
 

strange_wings

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I already answered the last bit for you.


As long as she's drinking the KMR and eating a moist food she's not going to drink as much water.

Some kittens do take a little longer than others to figure out water. Making sure it's kept fresh and cool will help encourage her if she's fussy about her water.

As long as she keeps growing, gaining, and gets her kitten vet visits, all is well.
 
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