Suddenly eating way more!

Starting about two days ago, Zissou suddenly started eating way more food. She used to eat about a half a cup of dry and an ounce and a half of wet.
Yesterday I gave her the whole 3 oz package of wet, which she licked the bowl clean, and still ate a whole cup of dry. So, eating about twice as much as usual, although according to the package she is eating the right amount from what I can guess her weight is.
She is seven months old, and I feed her Iams kitten dry food and the wet food (kitten, mostly) packets (chunks with gravy).
Is she about to have a big growth spurt? Is she sick? She has been growing a lot recently, I've had to loosen her collar more often. She is nowhere near being overweight and never has been.

Secondarily, when should I start feeding her non-kitten food. I was going to right after this bag of dry, but she's going through it faster (used to take a month to eat 4 lbs). Do you wait until after they finish growing to feed adult food? I've heard about 8 months, but the package says 1 year?

likely kitty is just growing

A growth spurt sounds like a reasonable explanation. Her eating more might also be due to something as simple as the weather. It's starting to get a little warmer here, and I've noticed that Jamie is eating more as a result. We go through this every spring.
Most vets seem to recommend that you feed kitten food until about one year of age. At seven months, your cat is still growing, and needs the extra nutrients.

My question then is... Should I feed her more wet food?
My goal before was that she ate wet food and then the dry was a snack so that she never went hungry and didn't wake me up at the crack of dawn because she was.
Now that she's eating so much I would like to continue this setup but then I would be feeding her maybe five ounces of wet instead of one and a half? Will she get a little chunky-monkey before she grows and is this normal? I know I got a little chubbly right before a growth spurt growing up. right now I'd say she is even a little underweight (not from lack of feeding!)

I have never had a pet before...

I rather think that dry food puts on more weight than wet food, because of the carbohydrates. How many ounces of wet food you feed daily really depends on the food itself. I don't see anything wrong with free-feeding a kitten with no weight problems. Perhaps you could give her canned in the morning and evening, and leave out dry for in-between? Even if you switch her to dry in the morning, she'll still probably wake you up for breakfast.

I don't know if this is true or not but I was told by my breeder that you can never overfeed a kitten because it is constantly growing. My girls have started to eat more recently. I feed them wet food pouches but there is always dry food on the side for them to graze on if they get peckish. If they have eaten their wet food and want more, I give it to them

Originally Posted by Pui Hang

I don't know if this is true or not but I was told by my breeder that you can never overfeed a kitten because it is constantly growing. My girls have started to eat more recently. I feed them wet food pouches but there is always dry food on the side for them to graze on if they get peckish. If they have eaten their wet food and want more, I give it to them

Click to expand...

We always had adult cats, until we got Jamie at ten weeks, and were given the same advice.

Kittens hit a huge growth spurt around 7 months. I recently had 10 kittens in the house who were all about that age and I swore they were going to bankrupt me with all they were eating, lol!

You can give her any food that is labeled "for all life stages". Most foods actually fall into this category. It's fine to switch her at any point.

Well.
Today I have given her 3 oz (a whole packet) of wet, half around noon and half about 6 pm. She has eaten less dry today. I think I've figured it out. She eats the dry all night long, and just barely nibbles at it during the day.
I figured it out because I noticed that her bowl is usually full before I go comatose and then nearly empty when I wake up. Hmm...
I'm pretty sure she's not being overfed! I'm assuming she weighs about 6 lbs, and she's 28 weeks. So the label of the dry says she should be getting between 3/4 and 1 cup, and the wet about 3 whole pouches.
I'm amazed at how little she had been eating before if less than the normal amount seems like she's eating a TON!

Sasha is piling on the food and he turns 14 next month. This is a reverse for him as he starts eating more in the Fall.!?

Originally Posted by sashacat421

Sasha is piling on the food and he turns 14 next month. This is a reverse for him as he starts eating more in the Fall.!?

Click to expand...

For a cat that age, I would schedule a vet visit. Increased appetite in an older cat is a possible sign of hyperthyroidism or diabetes. Both are treatable but it's important to know what you are dealing with.

Originally Posted by semiferal

For a cat that age, I would schedule a vet visit. Increased appetite in an older cat is a possible sign of hyperthyroidism or diabetes. Both are treatable but it's important to know what you are dealing with.

Click to expand...

I never thought of that because he's always had a hearty appetite. He's very active and his water consumption hasn't gone up - that was one thing in particular I was watching - and he's in great spirits and is very lovng and even-keeled. I've been on cruchtes for the past couple of weeks but I'll definitely make an appt and have Eric take him in. Thanks!!!!