Kitten Eats/steals Food

[Happycat0213]

I got my first kitten at 9 weeks old. He is 8 months now. He is extremely affectionate, gets along great with our 4 dogs, and 2 kids. He doesn't like to be alone and constantly squeaks for attention. The problem is he eats anything edible in sight. I caught him with a taquito on his mouth last night....it was spicy and he had already eaten half of it. We feed him quality, expensive canned food twice a day. I just opened the fridge and he jumped in to get blueberries. I don't know what to do. We started putting him in his crate while I cook or we eat, but is there something I am missing? He was neutered a month ago and he's gotten worse. I'm concerned that I'm not giving him something he needs in his diet, but he is a good weight and his coat looks great (shiny black). Thanks!!

 

[ArchyCat]

He is still a growing kitten.. or more like a teenager at the moment. They still need a lot o food at this age since they are still growing.

 

[LTS3]

You might not be feeding enough. Cats who don't get enough calories daily will seek out any food in your home to eat. Try increasing the amount of food at each meal and / or add a third or fourth meal.

Are you feeding canned food or dry food? What brands? Some brands of canned food are really low in calories, especially 3 oz cans. It may seem like a lot of food to you but calorie-wise it's not enough for a cat. Kind of like you eating nothing but a single carrot stick for breakfast and then another carrot stick for dinner and that's your entire food intake for the day.

 

[Happycat0213]

We feed him canned food - Instinct Kitten grain free. We do 2 x 3oz cans a day and then give dried chicken treats. Thanks for the advice. I gave him 2 of the cans this morning to see how he does. I hate to think that we aren't feeding him enough.

 

[maggiedemi]

I doubt he'll be able to eat 2 cans at once though. Can you add a third meal, lunch maybe?

 

[Happycat0213]

He ate 2 cans at once just now and then tried to eat my breakfast. I will change tomorrow to 3 meals a day and see how he does. We have dry food we can add too, but we have been exclusively feeding canned food.

 

[maggiedemi]

Wow, he's an eating machine!

 

[LTS3]

Two 3 oz cans for each meal might be too much eventually but for now feed that much or more to your cat until his hunger is satisfied. You can leave a little dry food out for snacking on, maybe no more than half a cup.

You can also feed some "all life stages" canned food to your 8 month old cat. These come in larger can sizes. 3 oz cans aren't a lot of food or calories.

 

[Happycat0213]

That he is!! He is my first kitten so I don't know if it's normal. My parents have had lots of cats and. they said he eats more than any cat they've had :-o I want to feed him so he's content, but don't want to overfeed. I will try these suggestions.