Feeding Too Much?

[Johnriii]

I know a pretty decent amount of "basic" information about how cats can be. however, I assumed way too much about how life would be with two energetic balls of fur coming into my life back in October. relatively speaking, things have been wonderful. yes, we've had to take the curtains down in the bedroom and living room, and have replaced the blinds in both rooms, and removed all of my wife's salt and pepper shakers from the "tall" shelves. with all of that, you can't possibly stay mad at them for more than 10 seconds at a time. with all of that being said, Chloe, the dark girl, has developed a slight "football" shape as you look at her from above. at just over 6 months, maybe this is normal, or maybe it isn't. she actually has a switch from left to right when she walks! this of course does not slow her down, as she plays very vigorously with her sister Zoe (pronounced Zo-ee), and her little pooch doesn't slow her down at all from jumping 4 feet from the floor up onto my counter and tables. up until about two weeks ago, we let them both eat free on the dry food pretty much all day, and they nibbled till the bowl was almost empty. then they would share a small can of wet food after 10pm, with no food again till 0600 when I'm leaving for work. Is this too much food, and should I try to get them on a schedule at this point? or am I overreacting about a little baby fat? my assumption was that Cats are not like dogs, that they wouldn't overeat, but apparently that may have been a wrong assumption, at least for Chloe.

 

[EmmiTemmi]

The general rule is that kittens should be allowed to eat however much they want. That being said, the other rule is 20Cal/lb of cat (with kittens needing up to double). When you leave the free feed dry out, are you measuring out the recommended amount for two kittens? Also, a problem with free feeding is that one cat may eat a majority of the food out, while the other eats much less.

Around 6-7 months is when I started switching my boys from free feed to scheduled meals, so you could start heading in that direction. A benefit to scheduled meals is you can more easily tell how many calories they're consuming (and if either have any appetite changes), and adjust from there depending on weight gain/loss. At 6 months they'll still be gaining regular weight, and maybe the little bit of pudge you're seeing means a growth spurt is approaching! If you're very worried about the weight gain, contact your vet and they can advise you on what to do.

 

[MissMolly08]

Cats can definitely overeat! My cat is not good at self regulating and got up to 17lbs being free fed dry food! I switched her to all wet with scheduled meals and she is slowly losing the weight (down to 13.8!).

 

[Johnriii]

Cats can definitely overeat! My cat is not good at self regulating and got up to 17lbs being free fed dry food! I switched her to all wet with scheduled meals and she is slowly losing the weight (down to 13.8!).

I've learned so much taking care of these two from such a young age. they are so different, even though they are siblings.

 

[duckpond]

normally you should feed a kitten all it wants. but i would watch the carbs, cats need a Katkins diet At her age i wouldnt restrict her food to much. If you think she is to heavy maybe have the vet check her out? What you are seeing may also be a primordial pouch, some cats have them, some don't. But its not a sign of overweight in cats. If you google primordial pouch and cats you can get a good idea of what it looks like. My skinny cat has one..lol

Also this time of year cats, even my indoor cats who are not cold, often put on a bit of extra weight for the winter. They will loose it easy as soon as the days are longer and we get into spring.