Cat Loves to Eat - Controling his Weight

[vvicin01]

We have a 10 month old male cat that loves to eat! He was a stray that we rescued at 4 months.
He weighs 10.5 pounds and is very active. I have him playing and running a lot but I am concerned when he slows down. We feed him
(2) 3 oz cans of Wet Fancy Feast (chicken pate and turkey giblets) along with a small portion
of cooked chicken (about 1 tbl). He also has some dry Fancy Feast - only about 1/3 cup.
I know it seems a lot but he was eating over 3 cans a day. We feed him cooked chicken to satisfy
his craving for human food. He is very solid but the little guy likes his food. Any advice?

 

[tabbytom]

A 10 month old cat is still very much a kitten as it has not reached maturity yet. At 10 months old, your cat is going through a phase called growth spurt and during this time, your cat tends to eat more than usual and this will go on till he’s a year plus and after that his food intake will taper off.

At this point of time, feed him as much as he can eat at one sitting and feed him several times a day as it is important that he eats the right amount as he is still growing up. A normal breed cat will mature at one year old and bigger breeds matures at 2 - 4 years.

At 10 months weighing in at 10.5 lbs is normal weight and being a male cat, he‘ll be bigger and heavy than female cats. Very importantly is to make sure he gets his daily calorie intake of 200 - 250 calories per day if he’s an average active cat and if he’s a very active cat, he needs around 300 calories. If he does not eat enough and does not meet his daily calorie intake per day, he’ll be hungry and therefore ask for food.

Feeding cooked chicken will not help him as cooked chicken does not have the formulated vitamins and minerals your cat needs. Just continue to feed him can food and check how many calories is stated on the can. Do not satisfy him with human food or else he’ll not eat the can food and as I mentioned, cooked chicken is not healthy for him unless you do it right so that he gets all the vitamins and minerals that is needed.

 

[CatladyJan]

What tabbytom said. Kittens are still developing and need the proper nutrients for brain and body development. I've always given kitten food until 12 months.

 

[CaseysMom]

Thank you for posting this, as I have a 10 month old female kitten who is eating me out of house and home, and I was wondering if this was normal too! She seems recently to have started eating and playing more, and I wondered if she might be having a growth spurt. It sounds like both of our babies and are healthy and normal!

 

[stephanietx]

My boy weighed 9 pounds when I took him to be spayed at 6 months. LOL He eventually grew into that weight. Your kitty is still very active and should still have a high metabolism. They need to eat lots of nutritious food at that age. You can start transitioning to kitten food, which is high in calories and nutrients, to adult food. I started at about 9 months and just gradually increased the adult food portion until he was 100% adult food shortly after turning 1 year old. He's now 12 yrs old, but still sometimes gets the zoomies like his little kitten self.

 

[tabbytom]

For kittens that have not matured or reached 1 year old, feed them food meant for kittens and after they have moved on to one year old, slowly transit them over to adult's food.

Or, you may feed them food labeled 'For All Life Stages' and feed them now and all the way into adulthood. My boy was rescued when he was around 3 weeks old and have been on food labeled 'For All Life Stages' till now and he's a healthy 7 year old boy.

 

[vvicin01]

Thank you so much for your feedback. Our Louie would probably eat all day non stop. I believe living in the wild as a kitten he was starving and would eat anything in sight. I am sure he ate out of garbage cans, bugs and dead animals. When we captured him his face and nose was filled with dirt from digging into the ground and rocks for food. We are trying to reassure him that he will have meals everyday, but I think his nature is to gorge and eat like there is no tomorrow. The last month or so he has gotten better and he seems to be adjusting to our pattern. However, it takes a lot to distract him and not think of food all the time. He is very healthy and playful. I think in time he will learn that he will always have food and can trust us. We have own many cats before but this little guy is truly unique Thank you again.

 

[tabbytom]

Thank you so much for your feedback. Our Louie would probably eat all day non stop. I believe living in the wild as a kitten he was starving and would eat anything in sight. I am sure he ate out of garbage cans, bugs and dead animals. When we captured him his face and nose was filled with dirt from digging into the ground and rocks for food. We are trying to reassure him that he will have meals everyday, but I think his nature is to gorge and eat like there is no tomorrow. The last month or so he has gotten better and he seems to be adjusting to our pattern. However, it takes a lot to distract him and not think of food all the time. He is very healthy and playful. I think in time he will learn that he will always have food and can trust us. We have own many cats before but this little guy is truly unique Thank you again.

It is natural for Louie to scavenge for food all the tile while he living in the wild as there’s not enough food to keep him full. No he’s strictly indoors and have regular meals, he’ll get adjusted very quickly. As I mentioned in the earlier posts, he is very much a kitten and let him have as much food as he can eat and once he turns into an adult, his food intake will taper off and also he is assured that there is always food for him and he don’t have to scavenge for food anymore.

I remember that when my boy was rescued and when he had his first few decent meals, he’ll growl at me while eating when I touch his plate as he was afraid that I take his food away as he did not have normal meals when he was outside. That went on for several meals until he realized one day that I was not trying to steal his food. He then knew that I was feeding him and he had his meals regularly and he was allowed to eat as much as he can. So soon after that, he did not growl at me anymore.

 

[lisahe]

Thank you so much for your feedback. Our Louie would probably eat all day non stop. I believe living in the wild as a kitten he was starving and would eat anything in sight. I am sure he ate out of garbage cans, bugs and dead animals. When we captured him his face and nose was filled with dirt from digging into the ground and rocks for food. We are trying to reassure him that he will have meals everyday, but I think his nature is to gorge and eat like there is no tomorrow. The last month or so he has gotten better and he seems to be adjusting to our pattern. However, it takes a lot to distract him and not think of food all the time. He is very healthy and playful. I think in time he will learn that he will always have food and can trust us. We have own many cats before but this little guy is truly unique Thank you again.

It's great to hear that Louie now has a good home with you! Keep feeding what he wants for now -- and even longer if his metabolism and activity remain high enough that he doesn't gain too much weight. But watch him carefully: Some cats never quite get over their food insecurity. We have one who has been with us for almost nine years now (she and her sister were scrawny and underfed when we adopted them, they were in a household with too many cats) and though she's somewhat better, she still gets nervous about her food, despite having been fed well for so many years. She has a tendency to eat too quickly or too much, which can cause regurgitation, and she sometimes she vomits stomach acid if she goes too long (as she perceives it!) without a meal. She also has a tendency to gain weight so we have to be careful with her portions. On the bright side, she isn't very picky about her food! Playing with her is a good distraction and she's the most cheerful cat I've ever seen. I hope Louie manages to get over his food issues better than Edwina has!