Am I feeding my kittens too little food?

newkittyowner

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Okay so we have had our kittens since middle of July now. They will be 5 months old in September. I just want to ask you guys advice to make sure the feeding schedule we are on for them sounds okay as I am getting confused. They had runny poop so they were put on medi cal gastro intestinal high energy feline, wet and dry as recommend by a vet tec at the animal hospital we take them too. I am not crazy after research that this was the best idea. But it's a change in diet and we will see if their poop becomes more firm. 

Well this is our schedule: They get half of a half can each of wet  morning  and evening along with 1/4 cup of dry each in the morning and evening but of course they eat the dry out of the same bowl so I have no idea how much each eat. I was told they don't need to graze as we had always keep the dry out and filled before. So we were told it would be best to get them on a schedule and this is what was recommended for a day. I find now that they eat a lot more in the morning as they are not grazing as much. So sometimes the afternoon they have nothing until supper time and then by bed time they are done and they are starving by morning. Is this okay or am I under feeding.I know they are growing kittens and am I doing them harm feeding them so little? Also curious as to when I up how much wet they get and when I up the wet do I decrease the dry? They seem to love the wet and gobble it up quickly. I can only feed them wet twice a day. I have written in another thread about how much I feed but thought i would post it here since this is the nutrition forum.  thanks
 
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denice

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I would add at least one more meal of the same size.  Two meals a day are fine for an adult but I think kittens need more.  Maybe a meal in the afternoon and another one at night.
 
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newkittyowner

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How does one do an afternoon feed if they are not home?
 
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peaches08

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I assume you're up for a while in the evening? Feed them immediately after getting home and then a meal as you go to bed.
 
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newkittyowner

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I can feed them at lunch if home but will this mess with them if I can't feed them at lunch sometimes? I was free feeding dry all the time before. They are very high energy. I was told to only feed a half cup a day each but I think I was feeding more but they didn't eat it all either but now with the schedule they eat it all and have nothing until supper time and then they eat it all and nothing until the next day. They run around and play so much so can I give them more dry?
 

vball91

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Cats do best on at least 3 meals a day. Kittens should be fed smaller, more frequent meals. If you can do a before work, after work, and before bed schedule, that would be good.
 
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newkittyowner

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Cats do best on at least 3 meals a day. Kittens should be fed smaller, more frequent meals. If you can do a before work, after work, and before bed schedule, that would be good.
Okay, so if you go away on holiday then how do you adapt this as I can't have my neighbor expected to do this to feed this many time a day.? I guess I just hope we don't go anywhere until they are just two times a day! Which I have them on now but may add another feed!
 
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vball91

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Okay, so if you go away on holiday then how do you adapt this as I can't have my neighbor expected to do this to feed this many time a day.? I guess I just hope we don't go anywhere until they are just two times a day! Which I have them on now but may add another feed!
It depends on your circumstances and what you're comfortable with. Some people do have neighbors and/or relatives who come by 3 times a day. Some hire pet sitters. Some just have fewer feedings.
 
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newkittyowner

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If I add another feed that means I am giving them more than what I was recommended is that okay?
 
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vball91

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If you think they could use more food, sure. Otherwise, you can reduce the amount of the other feedings so that the total daily amount is the same.
 

catspaw66

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Yes, that should be okay. Kittens should be given enough that they aren't hungry most of the time.  Try giving them the third meal, and monitor how much they eat of it. If they keep leaving a lot, cut the amount down a little.
 
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newkittyowner

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Thanks I will modify what I am feeding
 

brindle

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I am a rescue home and foster home for the puppy mill pups.

I have a new kitten about 7 months old. She adjusted very quickly with the 6 & 7 year old, but of course there is the one that takes time.

She gets along very well with Chipper (border collie). He even lets her eat with him, extraordinaire.

I feed them 6AM & 6PM. Each one has individual bowls and knows their place and when 6 comes. They sit by their bowls.

Diet: #1 to be careful with is wet food for older and kittens. As soon as you notice loose stool, cut wet back.  Soft stool is not healthy.

If you have anymore question, email me.
 

peaches08

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Brindle, I'm not sure that I understand you. Are you saying that wet food causes wet stools?
 

franksmom

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Diet: #1 to be careful with is wet food for older and kittens. As soon as you notice loose stool, cut wet back.  Soft stool is not healthy.

If you have anymore question, email me.
Hi Brindle and welcome to TCS!

There is no need to be careful with wet food at all as it is far better to feed wet than an all dry diet. Loose stools would be caused by by an intolerance to a specific ingredient or parasites or even IBD not because of wet food. I really suggest you take a look at (www.catinfo.org) which is a site on feline nutrition written by a vet. Also take a look at this article again written by a vet (http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/why-dry-food-is-bad-for-cats-and-dogs/) and another (http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/02/17/dry-food-wrong-for-cats.aspx).

My cat had a lot of GI issues and it was actually the dry food that was making it worse he is now so much healthier on an all wet diet. We have a ton of great nutrition information on this site so take a look at the nutrition threads for even more information.  
 

brindle

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Yes, if you give too much. There has to be a balance with the dry and each cats balance is different. Also are there treats. I occasionally give treats, .but I give treats for dental care for the cats and the dog.   Also I have to balance dry to wet for the dog.

In addition it can even out with the consistency that becomes their norm.
 

peaches08

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Yes, if you give too much. There has to be a balance with the dry and each cats balance is different. Also are there treats. I occasionally give treats, .but I give treats for dental care for the cats and the dog.   Also I have to balance dry to wet for the dog.

In addition it can even out with the consistency that becomes their norm.
Actually, leading nutritionists agree that dry kibble is not necessary in any cat's diet. Cats do not have much of a thirst drive so they must get most of their water from food sources. Franksmom posted some great links that go into much more detail.
 
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brindle

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Everything you said is part of the process, if a simple approach doesn't work. At one time I was a wet food fan but I slowly changed my mind about it. Also the specific dry food that works for each cat has to be considered.

My first cat "Cat" died at 24 years old, 2nd cat "Gattino" died just over 20 and just recently July "Grissabella" passed at 22 years 8 months.-- my mom's Persian (life expectancy is 12-15)which I had cared for 13 years of her life.

My mother also had a Manx "Simba" which became the love of my life.  He was on 9 medications a day which I studied once he became mine. Manx's are rare and have many difficulties for surviving. Incredibly he lived a very full happy life with freedom, but passed at 15 which was much longer than expected.

This is not a defensive statement.

It is just FYI, I believe that for all living, we can get too involved in all of the trends of health sources today. I do it for myself, herbs, growing my own concoctions from my books.  But never experimentation with my pets, unless necessary.
 

franksmom

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Yes, if you give too much. There has to be a balance with the dry and each cats balance is different. Also are there treats. I occasionally give treats, .but I give treats for dental care for the cats and the dog.   Also I have to balance dry to wet for the dog.

In addition it can even out with the consistency that becomes their norm.
Sorry this just isn't true you will find most people here feed mostly wet food and this does not cause loose stool in any of our cats. Again take a look at the links I posted above all written by vets. Please especially read http://catinfo.org to learn more about why a dry food based diet is not ideal for cats. You can make your own decision on what to feed your cats but wet food does not cause loose stool and again I feed my cats an all wet diet and they have perfect stool.

Actually cats who are fed a raw diet have very well formed stool and a lot of people have effectively treated loose stool issues by switching to raw and you can check out our raw and homemade food forum on the site for more information.
 
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