Kitten is hungry all the time

He is probably still growing and hence needs a lot to eat.  If he is growing he will be putting weight on so you need to learn to judge if he's getting fatter or bigger - longer / filling out.  While he's still growing he needs pretty much as much to eat as he wants.  For example, all cats have a fold of skin between their back legs, but is it an empty fold or one that's gradually filling up with fat?

However as a former feral, he might also have the habit of filling his stomach whenever he can simply because he never knew where the next meal was coming from - or he learnt the habit from his mother.

And, of course, both things might be going on at the same time!

So, keep an eye on his condition, and think about finding him some things to eat that will take longer.  Some cats seem to simply hover up kibble and wet food.  One of mine gets a raw chicken wing (never, ever give him cooked bones) each day (the other isn't interested) which takes her quite some time to deal with.  However, a raw wing isn't a complete diet so he can't just have raw wings.  I would try him on one and if he's interested (at least for the time being!) look into what they need to become complete.  BTW my cat has the most beautiful clean white teeth and fresh breath!

So is giving him a raw wing (with bone) OK even though he is getting enough calcium in his wet food? I.e. will he get too much calcium if I feed him raw with bone in it on top of his regular food.

Right now the raw food he gets is giblets (but not the necks because of bone), and also canned sardines.

I think a raw wing 1-2 times a week is fine.

Organisms can deal with nutrient imbalances quite well.

Tolerances form a very wide band.

For instance, it will take a very long time (like months) for you to come down with the symptoms of scurvy if you stop ingesting Vitamin C.

With 'treats' (foods that may be lacking/excessive in nutrients), you don't make them the cornerstone of the diet. Like you shouldn't have ice cream sundaes your breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday - eventually it will catch up with you. On the other hand, if you eat three good, balanced, healthy meals a day and then a sundae after dinner every day, you'd be fine.

This is why it's a good a idea to eat a wide variety of foods, to cover all your possible nutritional bases.

Ok thanks for this info!

One good thing is i notice he's definitely getting stronger. When i first got him he was super timid about everything and seemed even afraid to climb things. Now he can climb up (or leap up) to his cathouse at the top level pretty easily (before he had to go up in stages via different levels). Also when I play with him his leaps off the ground are getting much higher than they were. 

also aeevr, i have to say the kitties in your avatar are SO cute! 

I just took this video of Magnus about an hour ago, so you can see him better

So I guess it's been a couple of weeks now. I've been feeding him 5.5 oz of wet plus a feeding of raw food (poultry - either giblets or breast meat from a chicken or turkey). Plus one half a sardine if I have some available for his coat.

He's DEFINITELY gotten bigger (noticeably) over the past couple of weeks. When I pick him up he feels heavier. I don't have a scale though so I don't know how much he weighs. So far he does not seem fat though, just bigger, and he does seems like he's filled out more overall. I guess i'll keep doing what I'm doing until I notice him not growing any more (or getting belly fat). He's also been getting CRAZY active at night,usually after he has the raw food feeding, and / or much later around midnight or so, when he goes on a tear racing around the house. lol. I was thinking of opening up the door to the staircase in the hallway (it has a door at either end) and tossing a ball down the steps and letting him run up and down the steps until he tires himself out....

Here's a sideview picture of him, practicing his Halloween pose.

Magnus is great!  Sounds like you are getting the feeding thing worked out

Thanks Mike. He does still beg whenever I go anywhere near the kitchen (sometimes even wrapping himself around my leg and nibbling at my ankle to get my attention if his meowing doesn't have the effect he wants), but I'm trying not to give into him or else I'll teach him bad habits. I know he's getting fed enough, he's just trying to wheedle some extra out of me lol. (Sometimes it works, I admit But I'm trying not to teach him bad habits or make him into a giant butterball....

He is just drop-dead gorgeous!  All that long, thick black fur!!! 

thanks parsleysage. And what a sweetie you have in your profile pic!

I borrowed a scale from my parents, we did find out he roughly weighs 9 lbs now (not sure how many ounces as the scale does not indicate). He'll be turning 9 months sometime in March. I know in early Jan, when he last had a vet check, he weighed 7 lbs, 12 oz. He still begs for food a lot but he looks like he is a healthy weight to me.

Here he is all stretched out. 









and being silly