My 5 month old kitten always acts like she is starving

sdjkitty

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Hi everyone,

My boyfriend and I have two cats that we got last year and are just a year old now. So in July (about 2 months ago) we decided to add a new addition to our home named Sansa. She gets along fine with the other two, it's just that she has a huge appetite. She cries every time we feed them (we feed them raw food 3 times a day) and she gobbles it down so fast sometimes she starts coughing. Then she will try and jump up to her sisters bowls and steal from them. She also is not fussy like our other cats as she will eat any human food that falls onto the floor (we have to watch our plates at dinner) and she will eat things off the floor.

I was just wondering if anyone else has this issue, or if it eventually will go away.

Thanks :)
 

sivyaleah

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While I'm no expert in kitten care (never had one!) a couple of things come to mind.

First is are you actually feeding her enough?  Kittens need a lot more food than you'd think. It's great that you're feeding raw but it may not be quite enough for her.  I seem to remember that kittens should be fed pretty much "on demand" until about a year old.  If you are giving all 3 the same amount, then I'd suggest giving the kitten more.  It's also possible that kittens need a different amount of nutrients in the raw food than adult cats.  

Second and unlikely, is an underlying health issue.  When was the last time she was at the vet? Did they do any routine tests?

Hopefully others with kittens will jump in to help you.  Also, I think this would be better off in the Cat and Kitten Care forum - it may get more attention there.  You can flag your post and request it to be moved if that makes sense to you.
 
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sdjkitty

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Thanks so much for your speedy reply. I am new to this so I am not to sure how to flag to move it to kitten care, but I will try to do that.

We do normally give her a bit more than the other two, but not on demand like you are saying, maybe we should start to feed her considerably more food.

As for the vet, she hasn't probably had a full check up since before we adopted her (about 2 or 3 months ago) but we did just take her to the emergency vet because of what seemed to be an infection in one of her paws.. The vet had no answer to. (we are probably going again tomorrow because the paw has worsened) I'm not sure at all if that could also be related to the appetite?
 
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sdjkitty

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If she was in pain, I'd think her appetite would diminish lol :D
That's what I was thinking too (the night we brought her to emergency, she was refusing to eat, but now she is back to normal with her "starving" ways) I was just throwing it out there to see if anyone could have related the two,maybe something I didn't see. :p
 

GoldyCat

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If you're feeding her just "a bit more" than the adult cats she may not be getting enough. How much does she weigh compared to the others? Generally kittens need about 2 times the calories per pound of body weight.

Also, if she has an infection her body could be burning more calories fighting it off.

I would try increasing her feeds, maybe by giving her an extra meal or two in between the regular 3 times a day rather than more food all at once.
 

missmimz

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He's have very high nutritional needs and should be fed as much as they want. What raw food are you feeding? If she's hungry, feed her more. 
 

LTS3

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I agree - your kitten is likely just really really hungry and isn't getting enough food to meet her needs. Try either givng more food eat each meal time or giving her an extra meal or two. You may also want to supplement her with a kitten canned food.
 

profdanglais

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My 4.5 month old kittens are free-fed dry food and get a tablespoon of homemade wet 3-5 times a day. If they eat all their wet food and still act hungry I give them more, but with their small stomachs they need frequent small meals rather than a lot all at once. They seem to go through phases of being ravenously hungry, probably when they're in a growth spurt, And I've learned just to roll with it. Everything I've read says you can't overfeed a kitten :).
 

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Connor and Murphy are just short of 7 months old and I can hardly believe how much they eat.  I give them each a thing of soft food twice a day - sheba perfect portions - and I keep their bowl full of dry kitten formula all the time.  They're oinkers.  And if I'm late with their soft food they stand in front of me meowing until I give it to them.  They're very bossy.  Haha
 

msaimee

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I suggested this to someone else on a similar thread--it's possible your cat may have parasites. Did the vet ever prescribe her a de-wormer? Worms deplete cats of nutrition and they feel as though they're starving even when eating ravenously. Stool samples don't always reveal the presence of parasites, sometimes blood tests are needed. If your cat has even been outdoors or come into contact with outdoor cats, or never was given a de-wormer as a kitten--  it would be worth it to ask the vet to prescribe a de-wormer. A single dose of Drontal (which costs around seven dollars) could resolve that issue if that's the problem, and won't hurt the cat even if it isn't the problem.  
 

Primula

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Connor and Murphy are just short of 7 months old and I can hardly believe how much they eat.  I give them each a thing of soft food twice a day - sheba perfect portions - and I keep their bowl full of dry kitten formula all the time.  They're oinkers.  And if I'm late with their soft food they stand in front of me meowing until I give it to them.  They're very bossy.  Haha
And isn't it funny how they can tell time?
 

krisrg

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Kittens can be little eating machines!

The 3 3-month-old rescues I am fostering can sometimes eat around 10% or more of their body weight in a single day. That's like a 100-pound person eating 10 pounds of food in a day!

I asked a similar question a few days back:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/326410/are-my-foster-kittens-eating-too-much

In any case, if you're not free-feeding, be ready to continue feeding at a single sitting until it stops eating, or when you think it has had enough. The one thing you would like to avoid is for your pet to eat too much in a single sitting, and then barf the whole thing up.

I feed my 3 rescues a raw diet exclusively, 3 times a day. I always have a little extra food, just in case they want more. Some days they eat less, some days a lot more. As someone mentioned on this thread, they seem to go through growth spurts.

I have also found that where my three "monsters" are concerned, adequate amounts of bone and fat in the mix seems to satiate them sooner.

However, you still might want to get your kitten examined by a vet, if you haven't done so already.

Kris
 
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sdjkitty

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I'm sorry I haven't been back on to reply to everyones helpful answers! I think it was the issue of not feeding her enough so thank you to everyone who let me know :) she just got her spay done and she seems to eat less now Aswell.

This is her in her onesie recovering from her spay, after she refused the dreaded cone. ;)

 

GoldyCat

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I'm sorry I haven't been back on to reply to everyones helpful answers! I think it was the issue of not feeding her enough so thank you to everyone who let me know :) she just got her spay done and she seems to eat less now Aswell.

This is her in her onesie recovering from her spay, after she refused the dreaded cone. ;)

What a beautiful kitty :love: It's a good thing I don't know where you live or you'd probably be short one kitty by now. :D
 

msserena

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kittens should be fed as much as they want to eat. I always left food down for them constantly when they were babies. Once they are around one, then you can start feeding in portions or less or whatever.
 

sophie1

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Now that she is spayed, she'll need less food than before.  But, over the next few months her appetite will pick up again, then it will gradually reduce to adult maintenance level sometime after 1-1.5 years.  

The best guide is to watch her body shape and weight, unless you want to free feed like I do (raw food in chilled bowls).  That made my cats' transition from their voracious kitten appetites to their current adult levels very easy to manage.  All I had to do was keep the bowls full.  At the peak around 10-11 months old, the two of them were eating a pound of food a day.  They're now down to the 8-10 oz range, and they're at pretty much their ideal weights.
 

werecat

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Hi everyone,

My boyfriend and I have two cats that we got last year and are just a year old now. So in July (about 2 months ago) we decided to add a new addition to our home named Sansa. She gets along fine with the other two, it's just that she has a huge appetite. She cries every time we feed them (we feed them raw food 3 times a day) and she gobbles it down so fast sometimes she starts coughing. Then she will try and jump up to her sisters bowls and steal from them. She also is not fussy like our other cats as she will eat any human food that falls onto the floor (we have to watch our plates at dinner) and she will eat things off the floor.

I was just wondering if anyone else has this issue, or if it eventually will go away.

Thanks :)
 
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