Feeding a Bengal Kitten

I won't be bringing home my new kitten until early December (she's only 5 weeks currently) but I've been wondering about feeding. Of my 2 adult cats I currently have both came to me as older kittens and during the time they were kittens we free fed, but have now switched off of that. Both of them now eat 1/3 cup of a no-filler, high quality dry cat food once a day and have been doing very well on that. However, my kitten will be 12 weeks when she comes home and I know she'll have different needs as far as meals go. I also don't know if this will factor in but she is half Bengal (purebred mother) and I know they are very athletic, active cats (and she's a VERY active little girl already). How much and how often would you recommend feeding a high-energy, growing kitten? I know it will vary between individuals and I'll have to take a little time to see how she does and adjust accordingly but I'd love to have a starting place. She won't be coming home for a while yet but I hate not to have a plan and I'm not very experienced in the needs of little kittens. The closest I've gotten was a litter our family cat had when I was about 5 and at that age I mainly paid attention to playing with the kittens.

Hello!

I've got a fair bit of experience with this since our kitten has only been here three months. It's likely your kitten will want to eat little and often in the early stages. It's also likely that it will enjoy wet food to begin with, check with the breeder what brand and type of food the kitten has been eating before, and make sure you have some. After a couple of weeks  you can start changing the food slowly to a brand you want to feed. Sudden diet changes can cause upset stomchs and discomfort, making it hard to adjust to a new home. As you mentioned Bengals are typically very active and the kitten will be growing so expect her to be very very hungry. generally I free feed my 5 month old, we don't work set shifts and it's not possible for me to routine feed wet which she still needs at the moment. I leave wet down, mixed with dry and leave kibble on the side. She also gets pure chicken meals in the evenings as well (spoilt brat) I swear sometimes she eats better than we do!

In reality, you won't be able to over feed her until she's at least 6 months anyway so it's just a case of making sure the right food is available when she wants it, watch her water intake as well, all that activity means she will need water, and if she doesn't take to drinking very well you will need to feed wet as cats are meant to take 70% of their moisture from their diet.  You could also try KMR  milk if all else fails.

It sounds like you're about to have your hands full though!