3 Month Old Kitten's Eating Habits

[petercotton]

Hey everyone.  I have been reading this great site for a little, but this is my first post.  I am hoping you all can give me some of your great advice.

A month ago I got a 2 month old kitten (Maine Coon and domestic long hair mix).  At her last vet appointment 2 weeks ago she was 2.6 pounds.  Upon getting her I was feeding Purina One Healthy Kitten Formula.  She never had any problems eating it.  I would let her free feed on the recommended manufacturer amount.  She would always eat it all by the next morning.  Upon reading this site and some others I decided I would gradually switch her to a mixed diet of canned food along with dry Wellness Core Grain Free Kitten Formula.  She gets a 3oz serving each day, half in the morning and half in the afternoon.  She gobbles the canned food right up.  Doesn't matter the brand.  I have been rotating Wellness Core, Nature's Variety Instinct and Blue.  

I followed Wellness' guide for transitioning her to their dry food.  Slowly having more of their food and less of Purina's over the course of a week.  When I first started the process she would eat all the dry food and the canned food.  However, as the week progressed and it was more or the Wellness food, she did not eat as much as when the Purina was mixed in.  I guess I should mention she is getting a 1/2 cup dry along with the 3oz serving of canned.  I still leave the dry out for her to free feed throughout the day, but now when morning comes around there is still a little of the dry food left.

I suppose I am asking if this is normal?  Is she not eating as much of the dry because it is of a higher quality (not as many fillers and whatnot) and because she is also getting good canned food?  Today is the first day that the dry is all Wellness, so I guess I will see how that goes.  She is very active and runs and plays a lot, so she definitely has not slowed down at all.  Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks.

 

[Kieka]

Yay on the food switch! A good quality food is very beneficial and, as you are finding, they tend to eat less when they get better food. As long as she is happy, healthy, playing, running, etc I wouldn't worry about it. Feeding guidelines are just that, guidelines. There are days when you feel like eating more or less and the same will apply to your kitty.

If she isn't eating all her dry consistently I wouldn't worry about measuring amounts out though. My cats have free feeding dry food all day long in a gravity feeder. Rocket's looking a little round, but we think it may be her winter coat coming in she's 1.5 years so this is her first real winter coat, but the boys are perfect weight. They are all pretty good about just grabbing a few bites throughout the day as needed. The measuring is really more for a cat who needs a calorie restriction or is on a feeding schedule.