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- Jul 22, 2014
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Hi! I've been spending some time researching and going back through threads, and I feel like I'm getting more confused rather than less.
I have two older kittens:
Claude, a spayed 7 1/2 month old, just over 5 lbs, very fine boned and small but very healthy. I've had her since she was 8 weeks old. She's been on the low end of percentages all her life, and early on my vet told me she felt she was probably going to top out at 6, 6 1/2 lbs, which is consistent with her mother. She doesn't have a huge appetite, eats about 1 1/2 to 2 3-oz cans of wet food a day, and grazes on dry. She has an extremely high energy level - she can usually be found pursuing her quest to shatter the land speed record, or making alarming 5 ft+ straight vertical leaps and 10 ft+ horizontal ones.
Gus, a neutered 6 1/2 month old, 6 lbs 2 oz when I got him from the shelter 3 weeks ago, but now nearly 8 lbs. He put on 9 oz in his first 7 days while fighting off a URI. He's a very solid cat, huge paws, probably going to be big. Yesterday he had 5 cans of wet food, and I've stopped providing dry food for grazing to him in the last two days, though I'm not sure whether I should put it back. He has his crazy kitten moments, though not like the Claudelet - he can usually be found eating, snuggling, or following you around complaining that you are not snuggling him.
My vet feels that while kittens are growing, they should be able to eat all they want. I definitely agreed with Claude, but Gus's devotion to food has alarmed me a bit.
So my first question: How much should Gus be eating? I have no idea where Gus would top out if I fed him everything he felt he could eat. Should I let him have it until he's a year old, or should I get started now on making sure he doesn't pudge up the way he looks inclined to? And right now, the cats are not integrated yet, so it's easy to feed them according to their own requirements. But once they're fully living together, how do I make sure that Claude has access to enough food but Gus doesn't get too much?
And my second question: I've been feeding them strictly food designated for kittens, but many of the more highly recommended brands don't offer kitten formulations. Is "all life stages" food really okay for growing kittens? Which ones are the best? This all seems like it will get much easier once they're a year old.
For what it's worth, my feeding philosophy is that any cat food company, no matter how well-regarded, could suddenly find itself in a recall nightmare. And any cat food company, no matter how well regarded, has its passionate, informed detractors. And I definitely don't want my kittens getting too married to any one brand or flavor.
So I rotate through about a dozen types of canned cat food, and never repeat one more than a couple of times a week. I've got them on BB Wilderness, BB Freedom, Wellness, Nutro MaxCat (no one likes this), Royal Canin (the favorite), Science Diet, Nutro Natural Choice, all kitten formulations. The dry food is BB Wilderness Kitten. I'd be willing to try raw, but it seems very intimidating to me, and I probably wouldn't feed it exclusively, since I've heard worrying things about that, too.
Thanks!
I have two older kittens:
Claude, a spayed 7 1/2 month old, just over 5 lbs, very fine boned and small but very healthy. I've had her since she was 8 weeks old. She's been on the low end of percentages all her life, and early on my vet told me she felt she was probably going to top out at 6, 6 1/2 lbs, which is consistent with her mother. She doesn't have a huge appetite, eats about 1 1/2 to 2 3-oz cans of wet food a day, and grazes on dry. She has an extremely high energy level - she can usually be found pursuing her quest to shatter the land speed record, or making alarming 5 ft+ straight vertical leaps and 10 ft+ horizontal ones.
Gus, a neutered 6 1/2 month old, 6 lbs 2 oz when I got him from the shelter 3 weeks ago, but now nearly 8 lbs. He put on 9 oz in his first 7 days while fighting off a URI. He's a very solid cat, huge paws, probably going to be big. Yesterday he had 5 cans of wet food, and I've stopped providing dry food for grazing to him in the last two days, though I'm not sure whether I should put it back. He has his crazy kitten moments, though not like the Claudelet - he can usually be found eating, snuggling, or following you around complaining that you are not snuggling him.
My vet feels that while kittens are growing, they should be able to eat all they want. I definitely agreed with Claude, but Gus's devotion to food has alarmed me a bit.
So my first question: How much should Gus be eating? I have no idea where Gus would top out if I fed him everything he felt he could eat. Should I let him have it until he's a year old, or should I get started now on making sure he doesn't pudge up the way he looks inclined to? And right now, the cats are not integrated yet, so it's easy to feed them according to their own requirements. But once they're fully living together, how do I make sure that Claude has access to enough food but Gus doesn't get too much?
And my second question: I've been feeding them strictly food designated for kittens, but many of the more highly recommended brands don't offer kitten formulations. Is "all life stages" food really okay for growing kittens? Which ones are the best? This all seems like it will get much easier once they're a year old.
For what it's worth, my feeding philosophy is that any cat food company, no matter how well-regarded, could suddenly find itself in a recall nightmare. And any cat food company, no matter how well regarded, has its passionate, informed detractors. And I definitely don't want my kittens getting too married to any one brand or flavor.
So I rotate through about a dozen types of canned cat food, and never repeat one more than a couple of times a week. I've got them on BB Wilderness, BB Freedom, Wellness, Nutro MaxCat (no one likes this), Royal Canin (the favorite), Science Diet, Nutro Natural Choice, all kitten formulations. The dry food is BB Wilderness Kitten. I'd be willing to try raw, but it seems very intimidating to me, and I probably wouldn't feed it exclusively, since I've heard worrying things about that, too.
Thanks!
