How to Avoid Starving My Kitten Without My Older Cat Getting Fat?

So now that my kitten is six months old, I have started to have a lot of trouble with making sure that she and my other cat still get the amount of food that they are supposed to have. I was putting 2/3 of a cup of their all stages food in their dishes each morning and each night. This seemed to work fine since there was always food left in the bowl.

Well now it isn't working anymore. The bowls are completely empty by the time I get home from work. My cat complains that he is starving when I get home and even the kitten mews for food. I am assuming that my kitten is now eating some of the older cats portion. My concern with raising the amount of food they are given is that he would then eat extra (like he did when we were just free feeding with him eating whatever he wanted) and gain weight. I don't know how to make sure that both cats get the food they need.

Any ideas?

Kittens should have as much as they want, so I wouldn't worry about your kitten becoming overweight at this point -- probably not until a few months later (hoping someone has a better estimate of what age is best).

I'm a little confused on whether you free feed or not? Or do you leave food out during the day but not at night? 

Would your schedule allow you to do timed feedings? If you can, the easiest thing to do is feed your cats in separate rooms to ensure they've eaten everything.

Or feed your kitten an extra portion separately in another room when you get home or before you leave but still allow him access to the free food during the day (hopefully, he doesn't eat the older cat's food now that you're feeding him a bit more).

I'm not worried about the kitten getting fat. Just my cat who eats with her. What I do food wise is put 1/3 cup of food in each of their bowls in the morning at around six am. I also put another 1/3 cup of food in at night around 6pm. Lately, I've had to feed them right when I get home at 4:30pm and then again before I go to bed since they eat all of the food.

I was keeping a better track of who is eating what when I got home today. It seems like the kitten is eating a lot more. The adult cat will eat several bites then walk away.

Okay then I'm assuming your problem is how to give food to your kitten since your kitten doesn't eat all his food at once, am I correct? 

Perhaps you could feed your kitten more wet food. Wet food tends to be eaten much quicker than dry food. So maybe in the mornings, you feed your kitten wet food (in another room, if you can) and put down the dry food for them. Since your kitten has a full stomach, it might eat less of the dry food/stop stealing from the older cat.

Wet food would be a great solution. Unfortunately, I can't get her to eat it anymore. I was giving it to her for several months and suddenly she won't touch it (I've tried several brands and flavors). Maybe my older cat got to her and told her how gross it is since he doesn't eat it anyway.

I think this weekend I am going to try watching to see who is eating when to make sure both are getting the food they need. I fed them two cups of food all together yesterday. Looking at the food package it is possible that they just need this amount of food. Carrot (the older cat) is on the line between needing 2/3 cups of food and 1 cup so it is possible he is just eating more as the season is starting to change. She's supposed to be eating more since she's a kitten and has been eating 2/3 cups all the way along until now. Possibly she is growing again. She is teething (a tooth literally dropped out of her mouth yesterday) and her nails are growing like crazy.

Is it possible for cats to need different amounts of food during different seasons? We've only had Carrot since March.

I've found that my cats eat more in the fall and winter. Even though they're indoors, they put on a little extra weight for winter and grow a thicker coat. It comes off again in the spring.

Your kitten might be starting a growth spurt as well, which would make her hungrier of course.

So I weighed both cats today. Carrot (the three year old cat) is 13 pounds. The vet who saw him originally (in March) says his ideal weight is 9.5 pounds (he was 10 pounds at the time). So he is gaining weight! 

To me he does but I'm not good at judging (only cat I've known for sure weighed 20 pounds! not joking sadly). But how the heck did you manage to weigh them?

I've been given this chart and this thread before to compare the look of a cat's body: 
[thread="213862"]Ideal Weight For Cat  [/thread]

From what I see, your Carrot looks very close to ideal, maybe leaning a bit towards overweight in the first picture. 

I think scheduled meal times will be very helpful. You might have to schedule more feeding times for the kitten.

Tsukiyomi said:

 
To me he does but I'm not good at judging (only cat I've known for sure weighed 20 pounds! not joking sadly). But how the heck did you manage to weigh them?

Click to expand...

First I get on the scale with the cat in my arms. Then I put the cat down and weigh myself again. Subtract the second weight from the first to get the cats weight.

mingking said:

From what I see, your Carrot looks very close to ideal, maybe leaning a bit towards overweight in the first picture. 

I think scheduled meal times will be very helpful. You might have to schedule more feeding times for the kitten.

Click to expand...

Love this chart. I will definitely work with the scheduled meals then, with more for the kitten.

NewYork1303 said:

 
First I get on the scale with the cat in my arms. Then I put the cat down and weigh myself again. Subtract the second weight from the first to get the cats weight.

Click to expand...

Ah that method

As for his weight it hit me shortly after posting (after losing track of the thread) but one way to tell if my memory is correct is feeling the cats spine there should be a thin layer of fat on the sides.

"

2.  You can no longer feel your pet's ribs

With gentle fingertip pressure, you should be able to feel your pet's ribs easily. If you can only feel cushioned body wall, your pet is carrying too much weight."

Tsukiyomi said:

 
Ah that method

As for his weight it hit me shortly after posting (after losing track of the thread) but one way to tell if my memory is correct is feeling the cats spine there should be a thin layer of fat on the sides.

"

2.  You can no longer feel your pet's ribs

With gentle fingertip pressure, you should be able to feel your pet's ribs easily. If you can only feel cushioned body wall, your pet is carrying too much weight."

Click to expand...

Oh cool. That works for dogs, but i didn't know you could do that with cats.