kitten throws up often

So we recently got our 3rd cat, Anna. She is now 5 months old and super sweet. We havent had any issues with her except very shortly after she eats she throws up. This happens about once every 3 to 4 days. Im assuming she is either eating way to fast, or way to much. Because it is always exactly what she just ate and within 10 to 20 minutes after meal time. I noticed when we first got her that she can eat alot, and is never full. She inhales her food, then goes to the other cats bowls for more. So the first few times we fed her i just let her eat as much as she could. Then after throwing up twice i thought maybe she was eating too much. So i cut it back. Due to our work schedule, we feed them around 7 in the morning. Then the next meal is around 5 or 6. Ive tried feeding her on a plate and spreading the food, but when i came home today i noticed she still threw up. I keep reading for kittens, you need to feed them as much as you can. So how much should i be feeding her per meal and per day? Shes about 5 and a half pounds and she seems to be perfectly fine on half of a 3oz can per meal...but i know she needs more than that 3 times a day. Also is it ok for her to be eating what the older ones eat, or does she need kitten food?

She needs to eat kitten food up until a year old. Kitten food has extra nutrients a growing kitten needs.

On the other hand, her throwing up could be a sign of sickness. I would advise you visit your vet as soon as possible. If she's throwing up, she's loosing fluids, so she may need extra fluids in her from the vet.

She's so hungry because, even though she's eating so much, a large quantity is being thrown up.

Please let us know how it goes.

Well like i said its not too often, its once about every 3 to 4 days, just after one big meal. So she def gains the water and food back within a day of throwing up, she cant get enough of both. Other than that she seems perfectly fine so i dont know

My kitten, around the same weight, eats about 1.5 to 2 6oz-cans of wet food a day, 3oz per sitting. I space meals out to 6 or 8 hours between meal times (I stop by in the afternoon to feed my kittens or use a timed feeder), and I personally don't leave dry food out for them to snack on. It sounds like your kitty eats around half that amount, but if she's a normal weight, I suppose that's just what works for her? Though, can you feel her ribs and the ridges/grooves of her spine? If you can, she may need a bit more weight on her.

It could be that some ingredient doesn't agree with her stomach. For example, I noticed that my kitten regurgitates duck pretty quickly after eating, so I've stopped giving her duck. Maybe keep a track of what food/brand you feed her, so that you can note the ingredients of the foods she throws up and if there's a common ingredient you could avoid?

Thats a good idea, I was wondering if shes alleric to something or not agreeing with it. I'll need to start keeping some notes then on what shes eating and see if i can pinpoint it. Because its either shes over eating, eating too fast, allergic, or something more serious. So im hoping its just something with the food. Im also switching her back to kitten food, didnt realize that needs to be for a year.

Im wondering if she couldve been a stray, because she eats like there is no tomorrow. She inhales her food and eats every crumb, then she will go polish off the other 2 cats food. She did that the first few times we got her, and I let her because I just thought she was hungry. But once she started getting sick I had to stop that. Another thing she did, when I would put all our cats food, she would take 2 bites of hers and go to the others and start demolishing there food. Which was the same food at the time. So now i have to watch and monitor her.

If you're suspecting that she's just eating too fast, you could try feeding her with a slow feeder plate, or even just putting her food on a plate with an upside-down cup in the middle (like a bundt cake mold) so that she has to move around the plate as she eats. Or feed her in smaller portions more frequently.

If she's eating double-triple her portions (by eating the other cats' food), it could be that she's just legitimately hungry and has some food aggression, or has something like worms that increases her appetite. But it sounds like she has a clean bill of health from the vet. I think feeding her as much as she'd like as a kitten is a good rule of thumb.

I think that the main difference in kitten food is that it's usually more high in fat and high in calories, both of which kittens need more of (kittens need twice the amount of calories per weight than adult cat do). But any nutritionally-complete cat food can generally be fed to kittens without adverse affects.

If you're out all day you can get simple feeder balls (would also be easy to make one) just measure a portion of the kitten kibble and put it in the feeder the kitten bats the feeder around and occasionally some kibble drops out, you can still feed the wet at 7am and 6pm. She shouldn't be eating too much too fast if she can't get it all at once.