Does appetite decrease in an aging kitten?

csteen85

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Messages
34
Purraise
2
Location
NYC
I'm wondering if you find that as a Kitten nears his young adult stage, his appetite decreases at all?

I'm down to feeding Tony 1 wet food 3 oz entree and 1/2 cup of dry food per day. He very rarely needs anything more, but only a couple of months ago, I was feeding him about 3/4 cup of the same dry food and 1 1/2 wet entrees per day.

His level of activity is probably about the same... I'm just wondering if this is normal.

Also, yesterday we were gone almost all day and I left him a little extra food. He didn't eat it, but his stool was a little runny/soft. I was kind of concerned, but I think I'll try to get him back to a regular schedule now and see if it continues.
 

ducman69

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Sep 18, 2010
Messages
3,232
Purraise
47
Location
Texas
See the package for feeding suggestions based on age and weight. Dry food has a lot of calories per weight.

1/2 a cup of a rich dry food is in and of itself quite a bit for an adult or near adult cat, and when on a 'maintenance' diet, they will eat much less for a given weight compared to younger stages when they are rapidly growing.
 

stephanietx

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Messages
14,772
Purraise
3,491
Location
Texas
Generally you feed 1/2 oz to 1 oz per pound of body weight for wet food. I'm thinking that with the soft stool something's going on and a trip to the vet is in order.
 

strange_wings

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
13,498
Purraise
39
Personal experience is that it doesn't happen until close to a year old, sometimes a bit later. Some cats continue to grow and fill out for up to 2 years old, though average is more like a year and a half. Breeds can take longer than that.

Usually the complaint is that those teenage 7 month old kittens (especially males) are wanting to eat everything all the time.


But yes, if you're noticing a decrease in appetite and soft stools that's just too many things at once so it's off to the vet Monday if you can manage it.
 

sharky

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 30, 2005
Messages
27,231
Purraise
38
Originally Posted by strange_wings

Personal experience is that it doesn't happen until close to a year old, sometimes a bit later. Some cats continue to grow and fill out for up to 2 years old, though average is more like a year and a half. Breeds can take longer than that.

Usually the complaint is that those teenage 7 month old kittens (especially males) are wanting to eat everything all the time.


But yes, if you're noticing a decrease in appetite and soft stools that's just too many things at once so it's off to the vet Monday if you can manage it.
 

februa

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Dec 9, 2004
Messages
1,143
Purraise
1
Location
Toronto, Ontario
The answer to the question is yes : as kittens growth slows, their appetite will decrease - while his activity level is the same, his bodys metabolic demand to grow bone/muscle/etc is not, accounting for the decrease. In any case, Im not hearing a decrease in appetite per se, just a report of his food intake, and frankly this kitten is eating quite a lot of calories based on 1/2 cup dry + 3oz wet per day (and he probably gets some treats too). How big/old is he?
Its always worth checking with a vet if you notice a sudden change in feeding, but if this is his normal eating pattern, I would not be concerned - checking regarding the stool is important though as could indicate a number of things.
 
Top