feeding advice

Hi all. I'm going to try asking around in here before phoning my vet.... I think they've labelled my file as "paranoid mom, calls too much"

My kitty, Toby, is 15 weeks old. He's run into some pooping troubles that have ultimately been diagnosed as sensitive tummy... so I'm feeding him Walthams sensitive chicken and rice (wet) and lamb and rice (dry). Since we've made that switch, he's been much better. I realize this isn't formulated for kittens... but I've been working closely with my vet.

The ongoing "problem" was that he gobled his food like he was starving. I'm serious!! It was almost funny to watch him... I could *never* leave any extra food out or he'd eat it all... until his tummy was so full it would bulge.

Plus, at the time, he was underweight for his age.

I was feeding him some extra in an attempt to help his weight catch up and for him to stop crying so much every time I passed the food bowl.

Now all of a sudden there's been 100% change (it's like night and day).
He eats slowly and leaves his dry food for hours... he still eats most of it, it just takes all day...

Is this a change I should worry about - - or did my hungry kitten just finally get full??
Is it possible he was just sooo hungry because he was underweight?? Currently he's 1950g (4.3pounds) which I hear is pretty good for his age...

thanks in advance

I think your kitty's weight is fine for his age, so that shouldn't be a concern.

What is the sensitive stomach from? Is it possible he has IBD (Irritable Bowel Disorder) or pancreatitis? Did Toby have parasites (most kittens do) and was he given meds for them?

I'm not sure why he'd have such a sudden change in appetite unless he has a medical problem or just doesn't care for the food. Kittens do well being fed several small meals per day - remember their stomachs are tiny. Is it possible not to leave food out all day for him? If you fed him individual small meals, you could monitor exactly how much he's eating and it also gives his body a chance to rest and digest the food between meals.

You should give your vet a call and tell him/her about this change in appetite. Sometimes changes like this can be a sign that your kitten's not feeling well.

Thanks for the tips. When I first got him, he was having diarrhea with mucous and a bit of blood. He had normal deworming protocol, and all the stool tests were normal. We changed him to a bland food and gave some antibiotics and everything got normal.

When I tried to switch him back to kitten food, he started throwing up... so he had to stay on the sensitive stomach food. He's been totally fine (no diarrhea or blood).

He did have one bout of blood (on his bum after pooping) the day after one of his shots, but everything went back to normal and the vet figured he might get a bit of colitis when he's stressed.

I was feeding him 3-4 meals a day... and he was gobbling everything like he was starving.

Now I'm forced to leave the dry out all day long, or I don't think he'd ever finish it.

I didn't want to bother my vet again... I call way too often. I'll probably go in and ask though, because this was such an abrupt change in appetite.

Thanks

I don't think it would hurt to call them. It's better to call for something small than not call about something big. Besides, a sudden change in appetite almost always warrents a vet call. Just to make you feel a little better about frequent calls/visits...since I adopted my second cat in September, there has not been a three week period where I haven't been to the vet at least once. Last week, I was there three days in a row! Needless to say, they know me by name...