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Does appetite decrease in an aging kitten?

post #1 of 6
1/1/11 at 5:15am
Thread Starter 
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.
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post #2 of 6
1/1/11 at 6:49am
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.
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post #3 of 6
1/1/11 at 7:41am
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.
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post #4 of 6
1/1/11 at 8:25am
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.
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post #5 of 6
1/1/11 at 9:53am
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
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.
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post #6 of 6
1/2/11 at 3:01pm
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.
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