5 month old kittens want to eat every 4 hours?

Hi there. I am a new cat mommy to two 5-month old Ragdoll kittens. They are cute as a button and are super hungry all the time too! They seem to want to eat every 4 hours. Is this normal? I split a can of wet food at around 1.2 - 1.7 ounces (35-50 g) of food at each feeding. I also leave out dry which they will nibble on at night or during the day when I don't feed them every 4 hours. I'd prefer they don't eat much dry, though, as I will be a member of the "wet food only" club once they settle in (they have only been in my home for a week).

The girl has a tendency to LOVE wet food so will gobble up her portion and some of her brother's so quickly that she will often then vomit it back up 15 minutes later. So, I don't mind feeding smaller meals more often as long as I am at home, but this will not last forever.

I want to be sure they get fed enough, but I also do not want them to think that mommy has nothing to do all day but feed them, so that there is no real schedule.

Is there any advice out there? 

Many thanks for your help!

In general, kittens should be given as much as they want to eat. Their growing bodies need all that food 1 .2 oz of canned food several times a day may not be enough. What brand of food are you feeding? Try giving an entire 3 oz can or half of a 5.5 oz can to each cat at every meal time. If the kittens eat their fill and leave some food in the bowl and don't go back to eat within 30 minutes or so, adjust the food amount for the next meal.

Consider using a programmable timed feeder to provide the meals so you can go out of the house and do errands and such and not worry about making it home in time to feed the cats. I like the Petsafe 5 compartment feeder.

The kittens should settle into a routine within the next few weeks so they'll learn when they get their meals.

Thanks for your response. I feed better brands of wet (Schesir, Almo Nature, Catz fine foods). The problem is that if I give more, my female kitten overeats and pukes it up. This  has happened a number of times over the last week (I have only had them for about 8 days now).

Her brother is much better at regulating his intake. She, however, is a wet food fiend and can eat too quickly, therefore too much and then regurgitate it all up. She then won't eat for hours because she feels the trauma her body has experienced.

The problem with most feeders is that they are not designed for wet food. I really do not want to leave the food out longer than I have to. It is currently 35C (100 F) and I don't have air conditioning. While it is cooler in the house than outside, it is still warm.

So, I feel like I have to be the wet food police. It is a bit of a tricky situation. Hopefully, it will be sorted soon.

Konuku said:

 
The problem with most feeders is that they are not designed for wet food. I really do not want to leave the food out longer than I have to. It is currently 35C (100 F) and I don't have air conditioning. While it is cooler in the house than outside, it is still warm.

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Actually programmable timed feeders such as the one I linked to work just fine for canned food There are ways to keep canned food from spoiling, such as adding extra water to it or freezing the food into portion sizes and placing the frozen chunks into the feeder to slowly defrost. Some feeders include an ice pack to keep food cool. Canned food can be left out all day. It may get dry but most cats are ok with that.

You can start to "time feed" the brother cat, so that he learns to eat quicker, or else the food will be taken away. Sounds harsh, but it'll pay off in long run! You don't need to have the sister always puking up the food afterwards, that's not good on their systems either. 

I would stick to a timed plan/schedule and give them enough time needed for the sister to finish her meal. Once she's finished, take up both meals, even his, even if he isn't finished. Keep the consistency and the male kitty should learn that he has a limited time to eat his wet food, otherwise its gone. Now this being said - does he prefer dry food? Once the wet food is taken away, he may just graze on the dry food if he's still hungry. In this case, this could be good or bad, as the training process might not work then.

As another option, you could also feed them separately to ensure that they both get their required wet meal/portion.