6 Months Old, Potentially Norwegian/Maine Coon Mix

[HikariS]

Hello everyone!

We found a kitten on our porch 4 days before Christmas. The vet estimated he was 8 weeks old at the time, but may have been a bit older just very underweight. If I remember correctly they mentioned he had his adult teeth earlier than the vet expected



Him at the beginning of January.

We already found one cat that has Norwegian Forest cat traits, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s got some big kitty genetics.

He’s now 6 months old, neutered about a month ago, 8 pounds, and very active. Our other cat put on a lot of weight when she hit 1 year and I want to try to cut back properly this time, but I’m concerned if he is a larger breed he may not be getting enough nutrition.
Him silly stretching in the window recently lol.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Are you feeding him as much as he wants right now? With kittens, that's normally the rule of thumb until about one year (longer for certain breeds, like Maine Coons, but you don't know if he's that or not ?

Anyway, what are you feeding him now, and how much? And what exactly are your concerns? You're not trying to cut back yet are you?

 

[HikariS]

Are you feeding him as much as he wants right now? With kittens, that's normally the rule of thumb until about one year (longer for certain breeds, like Maine Coons, but you don't know if he's that or not ?

Anyway, what are you feeding him now, and how much? And what exactly are your concerns? You're not trying to cut back yet are you?

Currently he’s getting two 3oz cans of Weruva kitten food a day plus however much Purina kitten dry food he’ll eat. I’m wondering how people handle the transition to adult portions and when that should be, as well as if I should consider feeding more longer if he seems to be growing longer than normal

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Normally you start feeding less food at around one year, however, for larger breeds that might be at 18 months. So if at one year he is still growing taller and longer, you can continues letting him eat as much as he wants. Once he has stopped growing, then exactly how much to feed will really depend on how large he ends up being, and how you want to to do. Will you feed scheduled meals only, free feed, etc. Many people free feed and many people put their cats on scheduled feedings. It's all up to you. And the amount will depend on how active he is and his size. As he gets closer to one year being full grown, we can help you with all that.

 

[tabbytom]

He’s now 6 months old, neutered about a month ago, 8 pounds, and very active. Our other cat put on a lot of weight when she hit 1 year and I want to try to cut back properly this time, but I’m concerned if he is a larger breed he may not be getting enough nutrition.

6 months old is still a kitten and big breeds cats at one year old is still very much a kitten as big breed cats takes around 2 years to mature.

Feed them well with wet food meant for kittens as these food are full of proteins and nutrients to aid their growth and also wet food keeps them hydrated. Feed them as much as they can eat at one sitting and feed them 4 - 5 times day.

For normal breeds, they mature at 1 year old and around 7 months old, they'll go through a phase called Growth Spurt where they tends to eat more than usual and after entering their early first year, their food intake and number of times per day will slowly taper off.

 

[Alldara]

Cats can delay their growth if lack of nutrition as well. So that is something to be mindful of when bringing a cat in from outside.

I usually start tapering off at age 2. I've had cats keep growing until then.

At around 1 yr, I begin ensuring that their dry food is given through movement. You can start watching calories at this point but err on the side of 'a bit more food'. Consider also that he should be on the high end if very active. You don't want to provide not enough micronutrients for his body and metabolism.