Food Intake & Content

[slowblink]

I've honestly been wanting to post on this for a while, but have been dreading it because food options for cats seem like such a vast topic.

We've been feeding the cats Life's Abundance dry & wet. For a couple of months we used the grain-free dry, but are just switching back to their regular version of dry food. This was breeder recommended - in fact 9 mo old's health guarantee is extended by a year if we continue using it.... However, since we have recently switched litters I've had a little a-ha moment where I notice our 9 month old kitten sometimes has semi-loose stools. She would often step in them when we had clay litter, and I am now making the connection between poop foot and loose bm's. Not really sure what's causing it - and it isn't all the time, but it's definitely something I'd like to help her with. Her poops are also really smelly - always have been - she's only ever eaten Life's Abundance. So, overall I'm wondering what's the best thing to do for the cats food-wise. Here is what we do and what I am noticing:

Feeding - free-feed Life's Abundance dry food. It is always available. 1/2 can of wet food is given in the am and 1/2 is given in the pm.

9 mo old:
- semi-loose bm's at least 1x weekly
- smelly bms at all times
- fast eater - we tamp down her wet food so she doesn't eat it too quickly, and use slow feeders for dry food.
- has some noticeable weight in the last month/month and a half (are we over-feeding with the free feeding at this age/point or ??)

3 mo old:
- regular bm's (not nearly as smelly as 9 mo old)
- shiny coat
- no problems - just mentioning since food choices impact both of the cats (ideally anyway - we'd feed them both the same thing)


So, 9 month old seems to be a little more sensitive to the food than the 3 month old -- what are good options for food with this in mind? I want to feel good about the food I'm giving them but really don't know where to start or what the best route to take is. Do you stop free-feeding at a certain point in development / should we be giving specific servings to the older kitten? Everything I read says feed as much as they want for a year, but she is really gaining weight quickly so wanted to check in here too.

 

[Koda&Jack]

Hi! I would stop free feeding the kittens and just stick to meal times. You really can’t over feed a kitten, but since the 9mo old is almost a adult cat, I would start to take it away. As with the 3mo old, i would do the same. I found that feeding my kittens raw food has significant helped with their stools. The stools are now smaller and they are less smelly. I make a homemade food using Feline Nutrition’s recipe. It’s budget friendly and I find that it’s the highest quality food around. You are controlling what is in their food so there is no preservatives or any other chemicals. If you can afford it and if you have the time for it, I would highly recommend trying out raw food.

 

[arr]

Just on the point of over feeding, I agree that you can’t overfeed a younger kitten, but you can overfeed an older kitten. Around 8-9 months, my boy started getting overweight according to the body condition chart, even for his very large frame. We now feed him portioned meals and he is on all wet food with just a sprinkle of dry as a garnish. He would eat even more if we let him. He is 10 months now and almost 14 pounds! He’s looking good though, just a little overweight now, but I don’t want to cut his calories too much in case he still has some growing to do.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Yes, at 9 months you really don't need to let him eat all he will eat, especially if he's packing on the pounds. But I do think the three month old should still get all he wants, and they might be a problem unless you keep them separated.

You could put the 9 month old on an all wet scheduled feeding of the Lifes Abundance limited ingredient wet food (pork and duck) and see if that changes anything.

 

[slowblink]

Hi! I would stop free feeding the kittens and just stick to meal times. You really can’t over feed a kitten, but since the 9mo old is almost a adult cat, I would start to take it away. As with the 3mo old, i would do the same. I found that feeding my kittens raw food has significant helped with their stools. The stools are now smaller and they are less smelly. I make a homemade food using Feline Nutrition’s recipe. It’s budget friendly and I find that it’s the highest quality food around. You are controlling what is in their food so there is no preservatives or any other chemicals. If you can afford it and if you have the time for it, I would highly recommend trying out raw food.

Thanks! I'm in my last semester of grad school, so while something like this may be in our future, I don't really have the time to make food for the cats myself right now (hard to find the time to make it for myself - ha!). I have read through some forum posts re: raw and am definitely considering it.

Just on the point of over feeding, I agree that you can’t overfeed a younger kitten, but you can overfeed an older kitten. Around 8-9 months, my boy started getting overweight according to the body condition chart, even for his very large frame. We now feed him portioned meals and he is on all wet food with just a sprinkle of dry as a garnish. He would eat even more if we let him. He is 10 months now and almost 14 pounds! He’s looking good though, just a little overweight now, but I don’t want to cut his calories too much in case he still has some growing to do.

Yes, at 9 months you really don't need to let him eat all he will eat, especially if he's packing on the pounds. But I do think the three month old should still get all he wants, and they might be a problem unless you keep them separated.

You could put the 9 month old on an all wet scheduled feeding of the Lifes Abundance limited ingredient wet food (pork and duck) and see if that changes anything.

We use the microchip pet feeders, so giving them separate portions is very doable right now. That may be what we do for a bit then! Yes - the weight gain probably started arnd 8 mo for us too! Thanks to you both! It's so hard for me to know if it's portions or something in the food that's really contributing to weight gain -- but I'm thinking introducing portions to the older kitten would probably be a good first step.