New Kitten Over Eating

blackcat416 · Jan 3, 2014

I have a new 4 month old kitten that I took home on Dec 28th. She was fixed on Dec 27th, she saw the vet the same day I took her home on the 28th, got her first set of shots, she had worms and was treated. From the day I brought her home she hasn't stopped eating. Sophie is wolfing down 3 - 3oz cans of kitten soft food and a 1/2 cup of kitten chow hard food a day. We let her out of quarantine on her 5th day and now she is also eating her brothers and sisters food plus her regular food as well. Her belly is so fat she looks like she swallowed a stress ball. She doesn't vomit from over eating and her poo is almost as big as the big cats. Do I have a problem here? She runs around with the other cats as if they are mice. She exhaust them to the point the 3 boys take turns playing with her that they go upstairs to nap one at a time. Its funny but there is always one downstairs play with her while 2 are upstairs napping. They just take turns. This morning My Ryan and Matthew were sleeping on my bed at who is in the middle of them but Sophie. Is it normal for a kitten to be eating so much food. My cats hard food is served in a very large stainless steel dog bowl that she has to put her front two paws into in order to eat. Please give me comments, recommendations and some suggestions before her belly hit the floor. Thanks

faythe · Jan 3, 2014

I might be wrong here but I'm pretty sure at that young you shouldn't have to worry about how much they are eating. At least that is what I have read on a few different sizes and nutrition pages.

They pretty much have to eat twice their weight in food. Also sounds like she has a lot of energy to burn off so it's not like she is taking in all these calories and just laying around.

Also I'm not sure if you know this or they have already done this but sometimes with kittens that have worms the treatments have to be repeated two to three times to fully rid the worms. The fact that you said her belly is really fat makes me think she might still have worms and that might be contributing to why she is eating more.

Even eating extra food, with all that running around the kittens belly really should not be that round and big. Just my thoughts.

laralove · Jan 3, 2014

Kittens eat about twice as much as adult cats. So for wet food, I feed Fancy Feast Classics. They recommend one can per 3.5 oz of body weight, and up to twice as much for kittens. But this is really a guideline, as kittens are growing and developing, they may want more food sometimes and less others.

My kitten has been eating 2-3 cans a day, usually closer to 2 but sometimes as many as 4, and the addition of some raw now and then (he really likes the raw!). And I weaned him off dry. He was about 7-1/2 pounds a month ago. Now he's up to 8-1/2. His vet said yesterday that his weight gain is perfect.

He eats on demand, which is what I think is best for kittens. If she's hungry, feed her!

That said, I agree that the distended belly doesn't sound good. May want to call the vet about that. Could be a different parasite than was treated for.

sugarsandz · Jan 3, 2014

Are you sure all of the worms are gone, could that be why your kitten looks so bloated? If it's not worms maybe she is just a glutton , we have one cat that since we got her as a kitten eats everything in sight. She's really bad and we have to keep an eye on eye on her as she will eat the other cat's food and any kind of crumb she can sniff out.

blackcat416 · Jan 4, 2014

Faythe said:
I might be wrong here but I'm pretty sure at that young you shouldn't have to worry about how much they are eating. At least that is what I have read on a few different sizes and nutrition pages.

They pretty much have to eat twice their weight in food. Also sounds like she has a lot of energy to burn off so it's not like she is taking in all these calories and just laying around.

Also I'm not sure if you know this or they have already done this but sometimes with kittens that have worms the treatments have to be repeated two to three times to fully rid the worms. The fact that you said her belly is really fat makes me think she might still have worms and that might be contributing to why she is eating more.

Even eating extra food, with all that running around the kittens belly really should not be that round and big. Just my thoughts.

Thanks. And yes I have to bring a poo sample back again on Monday to see if she is free of worms. I also have to take a couple of sample of the others to make sure they are still clean. Many thanks for your reply.

blackcat416 · Jan 4, 2014

LaraLove said:
Kittens eat about twice as much as adult cats. So for wet food, I feed Fancy Feast Classics. They recommend one can per 3.5 oz of body weight, and up to twice as much for kittens. But this is really a guideline, as kittens are growing and developing, they may want more food sometimes and less others.

My kitten has been eating 2-3 cans a day, usually closer to 2 but sometimes as many as 4, and the addition of some raw now and then (he really likes the raw!). And I weaned him off dry. He was about 7-1/2 pounds a month ago. Now he's up to 8-1/2. His vet said yesterday that his weight gain is perfect.

He eats on demand, which is what I think is best for kittens. If she's hungry, feed her!

That said, I agree that the distended belly doesn't sound good. May want to call the vet about that. Could be a different parasite than was treated for.
[/quote

Many thanks for your response.

blackcat416 · Jan 4, 2014

sugarsandz said:
Are you sure all of the worms are gone, could that be why your kitten looks so bloated? If it's not worms maybe she is just a glutton , we have one cat that since we got her as a kitten eats everything in sight. She's really bad and we have to keep an eye on eye on her as she will eat the other cat's food and any kind of crumb she can sniff out.

I do believe she is also a gluten. On Monday I have to bring a poo sample again for her to see if the worms are gone. I also have to bring some poo from the other cats to make sure they are all still clean. She's a little black roach running and playing and also eating all the time. It's now 430am and me n Jim came down at 2 am for a little snack, and along came our entourage of 8 cats. They big ones know this is when I pick up all the old food dishes and it's treat time. Some get 5 greenies each, while some get 5 temptations each, except for Momma Pooch she is 20 not a tooth in her mouth, I took her at 17 toothless, she gets temptations and kibble at 5 1/2 lbs I try to keep her happy with a full belly. The kitten tries to eat the temptations but I usually have to hold her until all the others are done. I just give her my fingers to bite on. She loves biting my long finger nails. Tomorrow, actually later when I get up for the day I am going to go get her a doggie toy that she can bite, the same size of my fingers. I guess she is teething. Many thanks for your reply.

scotty parno · Jan 28, 2014

My kitty is really eating a lot he is 4months old ,had him 7 days and he has eaten close to 4lbs. of instinct Raw beef bites. Not sure if he is eating out of boredom [although he plays like a pup with my 2yr. old maltese] Makes me nervous but he is a Ragdoll and maybe will be a pretty large cat .Has no worms was tested 5days ago.Any concerns I should have? he cries every time he makes contact with those beautiful blue eyes[mine not his] JUST kidding!!!!!!

mrsgreenjeens · Jan 29, 2014

BlackCat: WHAT are you feeding your little girl? Some canned cat food doesn't have much fat or calories in it, so you really would need to feed a LOT to a kitten.

Scotty: Ragdolls are a larger breed cat, so it's natural they would eat more anyway, and kitten eat twice as much as adults, so that might be right on track. Are you feeding him according to the package per lb of kitten

blackcat416 · Jan 30, 2014

Who gets to feed my kitten, Sophie is eating everything in site. This morning she ate her food 2 oz then went to the other feed dishes and are another 2 oz. Plus she gets kibble kitten chow hard food. Worms are all gone and every one is clean but now I have 4 of my 7 with diarrhea. Including the kitten. Everyone is now on probiotic's including the kitten and me and Jim. I am finishing up the box of Purina probiotics and purchased the big bottle of Nature for everybody, got it from Amazon in 2 days. I guess I will be collecting poo again to look for parasites but I think it could be a new hard food I have introduced. Any one know anything about "wellness" hard food? Could it be causing all of the diarrhea in the cat house?

mrsgreenjeens · Jan 30, 2014

blackcat416 said:
Who gets to feed my kitten, Sophie is eating everything in site. This morning she ate her food 2 oz then went to the other feed dishes and are another 2 oz. Plus she gets kibble kitten chow hard food. Worms are all gone and every one is clean but now I have 4 of my 7 with diarrhea. Including the kitten. Everyone is now on probiotic's including the kitten and me and Jim. I am finishing up the box of Purina probiotics and purchased the big bottle of Nature for everybody, got it from Amazon in 2 days. I guess I will be collecting poo again to look for parasites but I think it could be a new hard food I have introduced. Any one know anything about "wellness" hard food? Could it be causing all of the diarrhea in the cat house?

When you introduced the hard food, did you do it gradually, or just switch over? As to the kitten, since she ate out of the others' bowls, I guess she wasn't introduced gradually

. Switching kibble too quickly can definitely cause digestive issues

What CANNED food are you giving Sophie? I'm still wondering if it has enough calories and fat to satisfy her, or if that's why she is stealing from everyone else.

scotty parno · Feb 1, 2014

Hi.. he's eating way more then what is recommended on the bag.Quinn knows where the frozen food is kept and if I don't feed him he sits in front of the refrigerator and stares,if he is ignored he grabs my leg, i feed him and he washes himself and is quite content for a few hours

mrsgreenjeens · Feb 1, 2014

Scotty Parno said:
Hi.. he's eating way more then what is recommended on the bag.Quinn knows where the frozen food is kept and if I don't feed him he sits in front of the refrigerator and stares,if he is ignored he grabs my leg, i feed him and he washes himself and is quite content for a few hours

How much does he weigh? I just did a quick calculation for the food you're feeding him (basing his weight at about 7 lbs since he's a ragdoll), and figured 4 lbs would be about 8 days worth of food. That's pretty close. Of course, I'm just guessing at his weight

One of mine is the same way and whenever I ask "who's hungry?", he immediately comes running and sits right in front of the refrigerator door so I have to shove him out of the way in order to get his food out

Then once I do, he could wake the whole neighborhood with his meows

. (But I wouldn't trade a minute of it

)

scotty parno · Feb 6, 2014

mrsgreenjeens said:
How much does he weigh? I just did a quick calculation for the food you're feeding him (basing his weight at about 7 lbs since he's a ragdoll), and figured 4 lbs would be about 8 days worth of food. That's pretty close. Of course, I'm just guessing at his weight

One of mine is the same way and whenever I ask "who's hungry?", he immediately comes running and sits right in front of the refrigerator door so I have to shove him out of the way in order to get his food out

Then once I do, he could wake the whole neighborhood with his meows

. (But I wouldn't trade a minute of it

)

He was 3.5lbs when I wrote you last ,he

........is more then thriving that's why I suggested to you the Raw instinct bites size beef.You can buy a small bag just to try I believe it comes in 2lb bags check that on your cp.

blackcat416 · Feb 7, 2014

Well the probiotics worked and no more diarrhea in my family of 6.5. The point 5 is our little kitten Sophie. She is so adorable and growing nicely. She has one of the loudest purrs I have ever heard for a kitten. But when she talks it's just little squeaks; which you can just about hear. As for their diet. In the hard food department everyone has access to IAM's chicken, Wellness and the kitten has her Purina Kitten Chow. At treat time each day everybody, but the kitten, gets 6 to 8 temptations, 5 to 6 Greenies, and Friskies party mix. Canned food is Friskies pate, all kinds except seafood, other canned food is Sheba, Fancy Feast and Sheba again all kinds but seafood. Everybody including the kitten eats the same canned food. While it's really nice having a kitten again, food is just jet fuel for her as after every meals she is flying all over the house. She bounces from kitchen, straight thru the dining room thru to the living room onto the window sill and back again about 8 times then finally settles down on the highest perch of their cat tree. Thank you all for your responses. And now I will live on these probiotics natural factors.

mrsgreenjeens · Feb 8, 2014

Glad she is doing so well

enet · Mar 12, 2015

I'll be interested to see ScottyParno how yours goes on as my 3.5 month old kitten is eating about the same of the Primal Pronto. Yesterday he ate dinner three times... each time a full adult serving. I don't mind really - he is growing. But so much goes in and not that much comes out,lol. I've been digging around here to see if anyone else had the experience. He's been on Revolution and should be worm/parasite free. Poor little guy goes in for his neuter this week so I'm not messing with a working system - but I'm curious as to how long this kind of chow down can continue. It's impressive. Let me know if you find out there's a less than positive cause...but maybe they don't overeat - maybe they're just growing babies?

New Kitten Over Eating

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

Thread starter

TCS Member

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats

TCS Member

Thread starter

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats

TCS Member

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats

TCS Member

TCS Member

Thread starter

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats

TCS Member