How much should I be feeding him?

livvyliv42

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I have a kitten that just turned 4 months old on December 2nd, and up until this point I've pretty much just been feeding him as much as he wants to eat each mealtime. I know that once he gets older, I'm going to need to start actually measuring out his meals, but I'm not quite sure how much he needs. I feed a combination of Weruva's Cats in the Kitchen canned foods, and Orijen Cat and Kitten dry food to supplement as my work schedule prevents me from giving him canned food alone. I know that Orijen recommends a 1/4 cup per kg of body weight until the cat is 1 year old, and then has a feeding chart to follow, and Weruva recommends 1oz per pound of body weight if fed alone. But if I'm combing them, I have no idea how much to feed! I don't want to overfeed my cat and risk his health. I mainly feed him the canned food, the Orijen is just a handful or less to hold him over while I'm at work or overnight. Also, I've heard mixed opinions about switching up his wet food? Some people say it could irritate his stomach, others say that rotating his food regularly allows for variety and more nutritional benefits, but I'm not sure which is true. I know he loves the Weruva, he can't stop purring and winding around my legs at mealtimes! But I'm Wollongong to rotate other foods if that's better for him. I'm also including a picture of Orijen's feeding chart, if that helps.
 

sivyaleah

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Feeding amounts, can be different for every cat due to activity levels, genetics, and health.  I seem to remember that an adult cat should eat about 6 to 8 ounces a day, preferably wet but if not, the kibble should be as high protein as one can find in their area (we use Orijens).

Quantities can vary, an extremely active, large cat (along the lines of a Maine Coon for instance) might do better on 8 ounces. And kittens do need more food and pretty much "at will"  up until about a year old.  

It's going to be up to you to pay close attention to whether or not they are gaining, losing or staying at a specific weight.  Keep in mind kibble is way more concentrated with calories and a cup can easily be close to 500 calories in some brands.  This is obviously too much, so you need to really weigh it/use measuring cups or spoons  to see how much you're feeding.  Many people assume that they are feeding much less kibble than they actually are.  

Both of our adult cats are served 3 ounces each in the morning and same in the evening.  However, they never eat the whole 3 ounces at each sitting so we supplement when out of the house by leaving a small amount of kibble out for them. By small, I mean a tablespoon or so each.  Some days they eat less and some days they eat more.   

FYI, I think most on this site believe feeding a rotation diet is the better way to feed cats.  Yes, this way they experience other flavors and are likely not to get bored with one type.  Also, it's a good idea just in case you for whatever reason can't get their usual brand.  Trying to get a cat to eat what it isn't used to can be difficult for some of them, and if suddenly you are not able to locate the only 1 type you feed them can throw them into a feeding crisis LOL.  But if you rotate proteins and even texture they will usually take to new foods faster.

Overall, wet food will satiate the appetite more effectively than kibble.  Personally, when we are home during the daytime we feed much more canned food, Use of kibble limited on weekends/holidays.  
 
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livvyliv42

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Thank you so much! The only problem I'm having now is finding how many calories are in a 6oz can of Cats in the Kitchen. I found some people claiming the original Weruva 5.5 cans only have 84 calories, which seems much too low! I'll be doing more research and hopefully find out the calorie count for sure.
 
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