Establishing a feeding routine

Hey everyone - I'm new here & just introduced myself over in the New Cats on the Block forum (my post is here).

As I explained in the post, I have two 7-week brothers and though I've owned cats before, I have never raised cats from babies. So I need a little advice!

One mistake I made was not easing them into new food once they came home with me. The woman whose cat gave birth to them had them on Friskies dry food and I began feeding them Blue Buffalo dry kitten food without mixing or transitioning the two.

I also bought Blue Buffalo Wilderness grain-free canned food, and gave that to them the first day, but maybe because of the change in diet, they began having diarrhea so I wasn't sure if I should continue with the wet food.

They are strong eaters and their BMs have improved greatly, and I'm also heading back to work tomorrow (have been on vacation to welcome them since adopting them a week ago). Ideally, I'd like them to eat the canned food 3x per day as a primary source of calories and free-feed the dry while I'm at work or overnight as a supplemental source.

The problem is, we don't have a routine yet. They've only been free-feeding and don't really seem to be eating at the same time every day or anything like that. I don't want to give them the wet food & then have it dry up in their bowls because they're not hungry when I give it to them.

While they're kittens, I'd like the routine to be something like this: 7am first feeding, about 1pm second feeding (home from lunch), and about 8-9pm last feeding, with dry out whenever they want it. When they get older I'll probably skip the midday feeding and give treats at lunch instead.

Does this sound like an okay routine?

I know there are probably wildly differing views on this; I've been perusing a few posts, lol! Any feedback on what I think is "ideal" and especially tips to get them started on a feeding routine are much appreciated!

Bonus picture: my sweet sleeping kittens! I unfolded their "burrito" (they love to sleep covered up) and found them like this. Those bellies!!!

Hello there, firstly, what gorgeous kittens you have!


I am also a kitten owner, my eldest two are 14 week and my youngest is 8 weeks.
We had been feeding them in pretty much the same routine as you, but with wet food instead, and biscuits had been put down at dinner time as well as meat.

However, we went to the vet today with our two eldest (who have tummy problems at the moment ) and we were told that kittens should be having around 6 SMALL meals a day, rather than 3 normal-sized meals. This is because their tummies are the size of a walnut and over-feeding can lead to the food not being digested properly which leads to it leaking (diarrhea). We are now going to feed them the same amount (3 meals) but in 6 portions, so halve each size. (7am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 8pm, 11pm)

I hope I have helped a little! & good luck getting into a routine!

Should I withhold food overnight to get them hungry in the morning? Or give a small amount?

OMG, so cute!

IMO withholding food for such little munchkins isn't that great. I got mine when they were already 4 months old, but we did free feeding dry with wet meals, and they always managed to finish their wet within an hour.

They aren't likely to get fat as they just grow-grow-grow and are so active, so I wouldn't worry too much until they were 10 months old or so about getting a real schedule down.

and of course always fresh water 24/7

I don't leave food out overnight because if you do, you can't tell who has eaten what and how much they have eaten. While they are kittens I feel it is important to control what they eat. The longest gap without a meal I leave is about 8 hours, and that's overnight. I wouldn't leave it longer than that though.

All in all, it's 100% up to you as the cat owner, all I can do is advise and tell you what I do (told by the vet), even though it might not be seen as the correct way by anyone else

Good luck getting into a routine though

Thank you everyone for the advice!! I wasn't able to get started last week as I became ill early in the week & did not have a routine myself except sleeping as much as possible! lol!

I started the wet food today - their bowls were empty when I woke up, so I opened the can, mixed it up a little in a bowl, and then let them smell the spoon (they were playing at the time) and boy, did they come running!

I just fed a small portion to start, and it looks like the right amount as they just about finished it, maybe one or two mouthfuls left in the bowl. I'll give some dry food to munch on before I leave for work & then try another meal at lunchtime!

Hopefully this routine will work out - and thanks again for the advice!