How much should I feed a 7 mo kitten?

We've adopted our second cat when she was four months old, and she's nearly doubled in size since we've had her. she's gone from looking like a fluffy kitten to a full grown cat with a head that's too small for her body, lol. Now that her growth spurt seems to be over, I'm not sure how much I should be feeding her. She loves to eat, so it's hard for me to tell if she's genuinely hungry or just loves treats as much as I do. Does anyone have any suggestions? 

Every cat is different so no one can tell you exactly how much you should be feeding other than a general "feed your cat enough to keep the cat from losing or gaining weight". Are you free feeding your cat or are you doing timed meals? A 7 month old is still slowly growing a bit so you don't want to cut back on food unless you notice a lot of food going uneaten.

Tiggers said:

We've adopted our second cat when she was four months old, and she's nearly doubled in size since we've had her. she's gone from looking like a fluffy kitten to a full grown cat with a head that's too small for her body, lol. Now that her growth spurt seems to be over, I'm not sure how much I should be feeding her. She loves to eat, so it's hard for me to tell if she's genuinely hungry or just loves treats as much as I do. Does anyone have any suggestions? 

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I would buy some scales & weigh her. For every month of kittenhood, she should weigh 1LB.

Primula said:

 I would buy some scales & weigh her. For every month of kittenhood, she should weigh 1LB.

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Well, I wouldn't say that's exactly true.  That would mean every cat should weigh 12 pounds when they reach one year.  Not so.  My two boys are one day apart in age.  When they turned one year old, one weighed 9 pounds, one weighed 16 pounds .   The 9 pounder STILL weighs 9 pounds.  The 16 pounder now weighs 12 pounds, his perfect weight. 

We free fed them as kittens, and obviously one was a complete little piggy .   I always heard "let them eat as much as they want", so i did.  I just kept filling the food bowl every time I turned around, and then poor Darko had to pay the price later on.  He STILL has to watch what he eats .  Also, what are you feeding her...dry food or wet food?  Timed, wet food is probably best for cats who tend to "balloon" out.  Wet food tends to make them feel more satisfied.  

It is true that at 7 months she is still growing, so you don't want to deprive her, but you also don't want to over feed her.  Is she getting enough exercise?  I would hope as a kitten, she is running around like crazy.  My Darko never really got too crazy in his antics, and that may have been part of his problem. 

The "one pound per month" rule is mostly only for little kittens---you want a 4-week-old kitten to weigh about a pound, an 8-week-old kitten about 2 pounds, a 12-week-old kitten about 3 pounds. But after 4 months the rule doesn't really apply. Some little girls only weigh 5 pounds full-grown, some big boys weigh 16 pounds and aren't fat.

Because nobody can say how big your kitty is supposed to be, you can't go by weight (a vet who actually examines her may be able to give a ballpark estimate though). You have to go by body condition. If you can't feel her ribs, or you can just barely feel them but they have a lot of fat over them, she's too fat. If you can easily feel her hip bones, she's too skinny. What the scale says is not as important as what you can see/feel for yourself.

mrsgreenjeens said:

Well, I wouldn't that's exactly true.  That would mean every cat should weigh 12 pounds when they reach one year.  Not so. 

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That's why I specifically said "kittenhood".

Thanks everyone for the feedback! 

I hadn't heard of the one-month rule, but at 4 1/2 months she weighed about 4.5 lbs, so she was pretty spot on, I guess! We haven't weighed her since; our scale doesn't pick up anything under 10 lbs. 

We feed her mostly wet food 2-3 times a day. I was mostly concerned because when we first adopted her she would eat her  food so quickly that she'd make herself sick! I have no idea what her life was like before ending up at the SPCA, but I wonder if maybe she went hungry before. At any rate, I guess I'm confused as to whether seven months means that she should be fed in larger kitten portions or closer to that of an adult cat. I don't want her to be hungry, but I don't want to over feed her and end up with an overweight cat, either! 

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@mrsgreenjeens

She gets SO much exercise, and she gets into everything! Our other cat was never like this when she was young, but this one has more energy than everyone in the house combined! She will literally bounce off the walls. That was one reason that I always wanted to make sure that she had plenty to eat; she certainly seemed to need it. But now that she's getting older and has grown seemingly overnight, I wonder if and how I should start editing her portions.  

I use a food scale to weigh my kitten. I put it on the floor, put a shoebox on it, tare the box, then he comes and lies in the box. I do it every month and adjust his food accordingly.
My little guy is 7 months and about 7 pounds, and he winds up getting about a half cup of kibble (Wellness kitten) and about 3 oz of canned (I feed a variety of canned foods though, so it depends, some days he gets twice that). Once you figure out her weight, base how much you give by what's recommended on the back of her food (some foods also include activity level in their recommendation). Then adjust if she gets too thin or fat.

Tiggers said:

We feed her mostly wet food 2-3 times a day. I was mostly concerned because when we first adopted her she would eat her  food so quickly that she'd make herself sick! I have no idea what her life was like before ending up at the SPCA, but I wonder if maybe she went hungry before. At any rate, I guess I'm confused as to whether seven months means that she should be fed in larger kitten portions or closer to that of an adult cat. I don't want her to be hungry, but I don't want to over feed her and end up with an overweight cat, either! 

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She was probably hungry before adoption. This was why she ate so quickly because either she was afraid the food source would disappear or she had had to compete with other cats for food.

My cats get wet food three times a day, but they always have kibble to free feed on. Others might disagree with this, but it has always worked for me.

Aww, poor kitten! I hate to think of her has being hungry or wanting for food. 

As for the dry kibble at night, that's a good idea. Thanks! I think I'll do that.

Tiggers said:

Aww, poor kitten! I hate to think of her has being hungry or wanting for food. 


As for the dry kibble at night, that's a good idea. Thanks! I think I'll do that.

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My cats have dry kibble 24/7.