Need some advice abt feeding my kitten?

I have a 4 month old kitten who's maybe about 4.5 lbs. right now I feed him about 3 oz of wet food (1 small can divided into two meals) daily, sometimes a little more or less depending on what he eats. He also has 1/2 cup of kibble left out for him to eat, though he doesn't usually finish it all.

Basically I've been rotating brands a lot so he doesn't get picky, and he seems to be doing fine on that. Right now he's eating orijen dry food and I've been trying a few different wet foods but so far we like merrick and weruva, but that's getting expensive so I got some Sheba and Fancy feast for him too.

First of all, am I feeding him the right amount? He always seems willing to eat more and when I reach in the cupboard he meows for more food. Second, what's the best way to feed him that's not too expensive? I don't see myself buying him the orijen again cuz I can't do $25 a bag on a regular basis. And third, should I transition him to wet only? If any of you guys feed wet only, how much do you spend on average feeding your cat? Thanks

Hi!   Welcome to the site

First, i believe with kittens you feed them as much and as often as they want to eat, cause they are still growing and developing and they exert a lot of energy which will require a lot of food. Usually on any brand of food you get recommended guidelines to feed kittens.

It's better to feed your cat, no matter what age, only wet food. Dry food fed kitties are much more likely to develop problems with urinary tract. 

I strongly recommend that you check out Dr Pierson's blog about feline nutrition http://www.catinfo.org That's where i started to learn about it and has been tremendous help and an eye opener when i first stumbled across it

Anyway, bottom line is better to feed your cat the cheapest wet food than the most expensive dry food.

By the way, Fancy Feast classic (regular pate) & Sheba are the best among the cheap wet food brands and don't have grains. SO if you are really on a tight budget, stick with these two, but occasionally add some other brands/flavors that your kitty likes if you can.

When i was feeding my adult cat wet food, Fancy Feasts is what i was buying (he didn't want to eat fancy grain free brands). I fed 2-3 cans a day, which roughly comes down to 80 cans per month and buying them at my local grocery store 10 for 6$ it came down to 50$ per month. 

I ended up switching to home-made raw food for my cat which is even cheaper and much healthier

Hope that helps.

Yes, kittens should be fed as much as they will eat. They need all that food for their rapidly growing bodies. 1/2 cup of dry food and one 3 oz can per day doesn't seem enough food to me. Your kitten may be preferring canned food over the dry food so that may be why the dry food isn't touched. Try feeding more canned and less dry.

A 100% canned food diet is best if you can try to do that Fancy Feast Gourmet / Classic and Sheba are just fine and affordable. There are many other affordable brands. Here are some TCS threads:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/308964/healthy-but-affordable-canned-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/257683/cant-afford-premium-cat-food-anymore-help

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/306956/new-affordable-petsmart-brand-d

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/292890/4health-now-has-affordable-grain-free-wet-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/248594/best-hopefully-affordable-canned-food-kitten

Most of these threads have suggestions for adult canned food which is completely fine to feed to a kitten. Most adult foods are labeled as "for all life stages". You just need to feed more of the food for a growing kitten. 5.5 oz and larger sized cans can stretch out your dollar. Those little 3 oz cans don't have much food so you need to buy a lot more of those which adds up in cost over time.

Other less expensive wet brands/formulas that are Grain Free:

Friskies Cat Concoctions Salmon & Liver

Grreat Choice (Petsmart brand)

Friskies Turkey & Giblets Dinner

Purina Pro Plan True Nature

Under the Sun

Triumph

Thanks for the suggestions!! It's good to know there are some friskies varieties that don't have grain/corn, I'll have to check that out.all I remember about friskies from my last cat was my mom cracking open a can and the smell totally ruining my breakfast. :/ I'm also looking at pet valu's health diet which is super cheap, anyone try that before?