How much to feed 6-month-old kitten?

[Lorraine97]

My kitten Atlas is about 6 months old now, and weighs about 3.7kg (I've attached a couple most recent photos below) which seems to be heavy for a male kitten of that age, from what I've been reading. He's a medium/longhaired cat, so it's a little difficult to tell his shape from above but when I pat him, I can feel but not visibly see his ribs and spine. He's my first kitten, so I've been trying to work out how much food he needs to eat and there's so much conflicting information out there. What he's currently eating at the moment, is;

Breakfast - I give him half an 85g can of Paw & Spoon Kitten wet food first thing of a morning.
Lunch - On my lunch break, I give him the other half of the can of wet food.
Dinner - He eats another half can of wet food for dinner.

So in a day, he's eating 1 and a half 85g cans of wet food, total. I feed him half cans at a time because he won't eat a full can in one sitting. When I first got him I was feeding him half a can for breakfast and the other half of an evening, but got worried he needed another meal in the middle of the day because of his smaller stomach so he's been having 3 meals of wet food a day for a while now.

I do also feed some dry food, and now that he's been desexed and is getting bigger I'm not sure if I should adjust the amounts he's eating. I'm currently giving him a 1/4 cup of Royal Canin Kitten of a morning before I go to work, which he grazes on throughout the entire day. After his evening meal, he has usually eaten all/most of the kibble from the morning so I've been giving him a very small amount just before I go to bed so he has something to nibble overnight.

I suppose my questions are, should I reduce the amount of food I'm feeding him, especially the dry? Or is what I'm currently feeding OK if he doesn't seem to be overweight? Can you overfeed a kitten? I was told Atlas was a Ragdoll x Russian Blue (highly doubt that!), I know he is obviously a mixed breed but he does seem like he might grow to be fairly large one day? I don't want to overfeed him and be overweight, but I also don't want to underfeed him while he's still growing. Thoughts?

 

[di and bob]

Cats under a year old should be fed as much as they want several times a day. They exert SO much energy just being a kitten, they need it. your boy is going to be a larger cat is all, he most likely needs the calories to grow to his full potential. I leave kibble out for snacks, I get weight reduction grain free at tractor supply. They have many grain-free dry now which are better. I have free-fed kibble to the outside cats for over 50 years and have never had a problem. You feed the best you can afford. You should never visibly 'see' his ribs and spine, that is severely underweight in a cat. The best way to check for being overweight is to get a picture looking down at teh cat from above. if he is bulging out the sides he is fat. (like my older cats) A normal weight means you can feel his ribs by lightly pressing in on his sides. Please try to post a picture like that from above and we can tell you. cats come in all different weights and sizes. Some breeds are 'normal' at 15-16 lbs, and some at 8-9.

 

[Lorraine97]

Thanks for your reply, that is what I was thinking. I know I shouldn't visibly see his ribs and spine, I was just trying to explain that I don't think he's overweight going off what I can feel. I tried to take a couple of photos of him from above, it as very tricky and he would not stay still so they're a bit blurry, I apologise. If it's still unclear from these I can try and take some more tomorrow?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi, no worries about his body condition, he's perfect, and no worries that you're overfeeding him. You can't, especially since he seems to a somewhat self-regulating cat like my angel Poppycat was

As mentioned, he needs as much food as he will eat, possibly for as long as two years because big breed cats mature later

 

[amethyst]

Just going by weight alone is hard to tell, cats just like humans can vary in weight based on genetics. He looks ok weight to me from the pictures, you can see a bit of a waistline. I have a couple domestic short hairs that were around 4.5kg when they were 6 months and they were not overweight they are just big boys, both grew to be roughly 2ft long not including their tails and over 6 kg. I did switch them over from kitten to all life stages food after being neutered but still free fed kibble, along with two meals of wet a day. For the most part though you don't need to worry about feeding too much until they are at least over a year, do keep an eye on his weight since he is neutered, but having ragdoll in the mix there he will still be growing for awhile so will likely need all he can eat at least up to a year if not two.

 

[Lorraine97]

That's good to know, thank you! Definitely needed some reassurance I think

 

[Lorraine97]

Just going by weight alone is hard to tell, cats just like humans can vary in weight based on genetics. He looks ok weight to me from the pictures, you can see a bit of a waistline. I have a couple domestic short hairs that were around 4.5kg when they were 6 months and they were not overweight they are just big boys, both grew to be roughly 2ft long not including their tails and over 6 kg. I did switch them over from kitten to all life stages food after being neutered but still free fed kibble, along with two meals of wet a day. For the most part though you don't need to worry about feeding too much until they are at least over a year, do keep an eye on his weight since he is neutered, but having ragdoll in the mix there he will still be growing for awhile so will likely need all he can eat at least up to a year if not two.

Thank you! If his weight look OK I will continue with what I'm doing then and just keep monitoring him for any major changes

 

[di and bob]

Those pictures were good! He looks great, especially considering he's long haired. Perfectly normal.

 

[cmshap]

For the most part though you don't need to worry about feeding too much until they are at least over a year, do keep an eye on his weight since he is neutered, but having ragdoll in the mix there he will still be growing for awhile so will likely need all he can eat at least up to a year if not two.

Yeah, my cat Willy has had issues with being mildly overweight most of his life, but it didn't become apparent until around age ~3.

Metabolism is highly variable based on genetics. I have consistently had to feed Willy less than the recommended amount (recommended by my vet) because it was just a bit too much for him, specifically. So I've been consistently feeding him about ~80% of the recommended amount for his age and weight, and he's been healthiest at that level.

So, my 2 cents... it may take a little bit to figure out the perfect amount, and in the meantime, I agree with others that it shouldn't be a big concern.

 

[Lorraine97]

Those pictures were good! He looks great, especially considering he's long haired. Perfectly normal.

Yeah, my cat Willy has had issues with being mildly overweight most of his life, but it didn't become apparent until around age ~3.

Metabolism is highly variable based on genetics. I have consistently had to feed Willy less than the recommended amount (recommended by my vet) because it was just a bit too much for him, specifically. So I've been consistently feeding him about ~80% of the recommended amount for his age and weight, and he's been healthiest at that level.

So, my 2 cents... it may take a little bit to figure out the perfect amount, and in the meantime, I agree with others that it shouldn't be a big concern.

Thanks so much for the responses everyone, I appreciate it

 

[danteshuman]

Until 2 years old, feed them as much as they want.