Can feeding raw affect behavior towards food??

[cris-e]

I have a growing suspicion about my 8-week-old kittens. One is ours, Figaro, while the other, Oto, is only staying with us temporarily until his new owner moves to a pet-friendly appartment. We're feeding Figaro raw and some canned, while Oto's owner has asked us to feed him dry kibble, which is what she's going to feed him because she works full time. The thing is, their attitude towards food is COMPLETELY different:

- Figaro (raw fed kitten): When he's hungry, HE'S HUNGRY. He'll meow at us endlessly, follow us around, even climb up our pants to try to get at the food while we're preparing it. Once he gets his plate he devours it pretty much without chewing and is usually done in less than a minute. When he's done, he meows for more, and if someone gets home just 10 minutes after he ate, he'll go meow at them too and see if he can get more food. We seriously think if we gave him his weight in food, he'd try to finish it. When one of us is eating he won't leave us alone, he'll try anything to get at the food no matter what it is, even fruit.

- Oto (eating only dry kibble): He only meows for food when he's VERY hungry (rarely because we make sure to feed them often enough). Once he gets his plate he'll initially start eating excitedly but then slows down and usually leaves some food. Once he's done, he finds something else to do. If one of us is eating he'll be curious and interested, but if wet put him back down on the floor or distract him with a toy, he'll forget about the food.

This could be a personality thing, but the difference is so clear that I'm having doubts. Has anyone else noticed any difference when feeding a cat raw?

 

[missymotus]

None of my cats or kittens beg for food, or swallow their raw without chewing and at a fast rate. Perhaps you need to do larger and/or more frequent meals for your little one.

Mine are taught from a young age not to climb on the dinner table while I'm eating.

 

[carolina]

None of mine beg for food either..... They will come to the kitchen at meal times and wait for me to prepare dinner, but they pretty much stay put by the door..... Then when I am done it's game - they RUN to their feeding places..... and scream their little heads off for me to put their plates down NOW :lol3:
But that's because they :heart3: Love their food They don't eat too fast, and they do chew their food.....
Are you feeding him enough?
How often and how much?

 

[whollycat]

You don't say what portion sizes each kitten is getting, or how often, so I'm only guessing here. Also, wondering if one kitten is larger than the other? Are the kittens related? Breed?

Regardless of size, etc., at only 8 weeks of age, kittens can, and should, eat quite a lot and around 4-6 times a day. They are growing and need more food than an adult cat will, and more times per day.

Sounds to me like the raw fed kitten is not getting enough to eat when he is fed. I would up his food intake to see if that helps.

The kibble fed kitten seems to be getting enough to eat, and therefore once full, he is disinterested in any more food. Either that or he isn't too interested in the food to begin with--or he is smaller in size than the other kitten.

With my Maxie (Maine Coon), he had the appetite of a lion when he came here as a wee little bubby--he could easily out-eat full grown Abby, and still does (and he's also a lot larger than Abby now too).

He's not overweight, so all his food is used by his body as it should be. He just requires more food.

I have fed raw to all three of mine since late 2005, but we did have kibble and canned (up 'til 2002) and then canned only (up 'til 2005). Abby and Izzy eat 3 times a day; Maxie 4 meals minimum to this day.

HTH a bit.

 

[cris-e]

For Oto we weigh about 40g of dry kibble (1.4 oz, a little more than the amount recommended on the bag) in the morning which he eats throughout the day, and some days he doesn't finish it. We don't even divide it into portions with him because he just stops eating and we pick the food up. With Figaro we're pretty much scared to overfeed him because he seems to eat whatever's in front of him. I'm sure raw and dry kibble can't be compared weight-wise, but he's eating about 25g (0.9 oz) per meal, which seems like a lot (his meals add up to about 13% of his body weight per day). We've more than doubled his portion size since he got here two weeks ago and apparently it still isn't enough. I'm thinking of putting down double his normal portion tomorrow morning to see how much he eats. If he were to over-eat could he get sick or throw up or something?

As to frequency, we've been feeding them 4 times a day, and ocassionally 3 (with bigger portions) when we were going to be out during the afternoon, though I guess we could have added a fourth meal late at night instead. Should I maybe increase to 5 meals a day?

And to answer WhollyCat's other questions, they are brothers from the same litter, and they are domestic short-hair cats. Figaro (the raw-fed kitten) was the smallest of the litter, and Oto was the largest. They're around the same size and weight right now, though Figaro is still slightly thinner.

Thanks so much for your input!!

I'll let you know how my free-feed experiment with Figaro goes tomorrow.

 

[missymotus]

25g isn't much, my kittens easily eat 70-100g per feeding.

 

[mschauer]

On a dry matter basis you are feeding Otto 144 g a day of food and poor little Figaro is only getting 25 g. "Dry matter basis" means how much is left after all the water to removed. I assumed 10% moisture content for the dry food and 75% for the wet food. Those are pretty typical values but the values for the food you actually use may be different. I would expect them to be close.

Otto (40 g, 10% moisture) = 36 g DMB * 4 = 144 g /day

Figaro (25 g, 75% moisture) = 6.25 g DMB * 4 = 25 g / day

You need to feed Figaro more.

 

[cris-e]

Thanks so much for the moisture calculation!!! The only thing is that the amount I mentioned for Oto is actually what he eats IN THE WHOLE DAY!!!! I weigh out 40g and put his bowl down repeatedly throughout the day, but I never need to add more food, because he always leaves enough for the last meal of the day, and even then he usually doesn't finish it. Anyway, I guess the calculation would go like this:

Otto (40 g, 10% moisture) = 36 g DMB * 1 = 36 g /day

Figaro (25 g, 75% moisture) = 6.25 g DMB * 4 = 25 g / day

Even so, Oto is still eating more than Figaro. I just tried giving him 50g at once and he finished it all, so I guess I should keep trying bigger portion, maybe he'll eat even more.

Missymotus, and anybody else with kittens, how much weight in food do your kittens eat per day? And how old are they?

Thanks!!!!

 

[mschauer]

Sorry! I should have realized there couldn't be *that* big a difference in  how much they were being fed! 

 

[cris-e]

Oh!!! And for the swallowing food whole problem, we're chopping his food into bigger chunks. He's chewing now, but just barely enough so he can swallow it and keep eating more!!!

 

[cris-e]

Ok, so assuming Oto's eating 36g DMB per day (less in reality), I'll try and calculate how much that would be equivalent to in raw food:

36g + 75% moisture = 144g of raw food per day

144 g / 4 = 36g per meal

I think I'll just stick with 50g per meal for now though and see how that goes.

Also, we sometimes feed Figaro canned. Do you know how much moisture I should calculate then?

 

[mschauer]

Do you weight the kittens on a regular basis? That's really what you should do to ensure they have enough to eat. Not all kittens will need the same amount. There is probably a percentage of their current weight that they should gain on a weekly basis but I don't know what that percentage is.

The rule of thumb with kittens is to feed them as much as they want.

 

[mschauer]

Ok, so assuming Oto's eating 36g DMB per day (less in reality), I'll try and calculate how much that would be equivalent to in raw food:

36g + 75% moisture = 144g of raw food per day

144 g / 4 = 36g per meal

I think I'll just stick with 50g per meal for now though and see how that goes.

Also, we sometimes feed Figaro canned. Do you know how much moisture I should calculate then?

The 75% moisture I used is for any wet food be it raw or canned. But it is only a typical amount. I see you are in Peru. Does the canned food have the moisture amount on the label? In the US that would be in the guaranteed analysis part of the label.

Here's a kitten weight chart you might find helpful:

http://www.petscorner.com.my/hills/images/kitten-chart.pdf

 

[missymotus]

Missymotus, and anybody else with kittens, how much weight in food do your kittens eat per day? And how old are they?

Litters 4-12 weeks will eat around 50-100g each 4 times a day, but I have a very active breed. The youngest I have here at the moment is 5 months, he eats around 100g 3 times a day with a bone 'snack' as well.

 

[cesg]

I can share with you my experience of raising almost 300 kittens that some kittens eat a LOT and some kittens eat way less then you would think they should.  Raw feeding should actually make them feel more satiated as it its nutrition is more easily absorbed and there is less plant based ingredients that are harder to digest.

I also don't believe that kittens under 6-8 months can't be over fed.  As it has been said they have so much growing to do and play so hard, they often don't want to waste excessive amounts of time eating. 

I would however suggest you be careful to not feed every time he screams for food as you'll just enforce the behavior that if he wants food he should be obnoxious to get it. 

 

[cris-e]

thanks so much everyone!!! we've increased his portion size and that was definitely the problem. i feel bad for not having realized this before

and yes, we have a small scale that we used to weigh them on but they've grown and are now over the maximum weight so we're going to try and get another one. the kitten growth chart was very helpful!!! oh, and i found the moisture percentage on the canned food as well, thanks!!

 

[whollycat]

thanks so much everyone!!! we've increased his portion size and that was definitely the problem. i feel bad for not having realized this before

Aw, you didn't know, so you asked--that is what matters.

I bet you have one content little fella now. So awesome!

For what it's worth, I have never gotten wrapped up in exact amounts to feed my kitties (past and present), even pre-raw days. They are all individuals, just like us, so their food requirements can vary just like ours. I pay more attention to how they feel physically when I examine them head to toe every week or so. Since mine are all adults now, I also weigh them if I'm in doubt by how they "feel." I do know how much each of them eat per meal because I do use the same sized spoon to plate their food up, so if it varies by much, I know to keep an eye on that kitty for illness. He or she just might have not been as hungry, but it is good to be aware what their "normal" intake usually is. This is for adult kitties--kittens, they are little eating machines!