3 Month Old Kitty Wont Eat A Lot + Special Question

[Ayaka]

We got a new kitty added to the family a few weeks ago. Her name is Kairi (Kai-ree). She's had two other owners before us, the original owners that had her from birth was assumed of abusing her in a trashy trailer. Not sure if they just assumed they physically abused her because of the environment, but I know for a fact that the trashy environment is considered abuse, which our vet had claimed. We did take her to a vet, and shes in fact a special needs kitty, and is blind in her right eye, not completely but probably has very little eyesight 5% at most. Her tail is also shorter than usual and has a kink in the middle of it which causes her problems of balancing on all four paws.

On to the eating problems, when we got her we fed her the food they provided, but she wasn't very fond of it which is normal for a kitten that moved to a different environment, after a few weeks she was eating more but would never eat past half a bowl of food. We started feeding her half a bowl a day and she still wouldn't eat all of it.

Long story short we fed her once a day because she'd never finish her dry food. After another two weeks of this, we decided to get her wet food since she craved the tuna we gave her before we took her to the vet. After we gave her that she scrambled to get to it and chowed down at it. But she still isn't eating two cans of wet food a day. I read on the internet that kittens need at least 4 cans of wet food a day, or 2 cans + dry food. Not sure if that's true, because shes struggling to just finish 2 cans alone. She's an appropriate weight when we took her to the vet, she weighed 4 pounds, and is about to hit 4 months old this month. So, I want to know what the appropriate serving size and how many times a day a 3-4 month old kitten should be eating.

I'm unsure if its because shes blind in one eye that she can't see the food or has problems remembering theres food in her bowl. Other than that shes fine, I just wanted to make sure if it's perfectly normal for her eating habits to be this way.

Another side question for any of you who can help me with this problem. She has a sleeping problem, not exactly "sleeping" but when she sleeps she often likes to be at the edge of the bed to sleep, but while shes waking up she tends to fall off the bed. I thought this was just an accident and wouldn't happen again, but it's happening a lot. Not sure if I should get some pillows to put at the end of the bed so she can fall on that. We try moving her, but she just goes back to the spot she was in again. Anything I can do to prevent or help with this situation?

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
Bless you for taking in this baby, and for being sensitive to her needs!

I'd put some pillows out for her.

Also, granted she's older than a month but she's still young and has had a challenging start. With that in mind, it's suggested to feed about 4 small meals a day, as much as she will consume plus some food overnight, either kibble or wet. (Canned food can be left out for several hours or you could arrange some ice under the food dish.)
The quantity is up to her, however much she wants. When there's just a little left on the plate each time, then you've given her as much as she wants.

Weigh her regularly (a bathroom scale can work) to make sure she's continuously gaining until she's the size she'll be, (your vet can help with that if you're unsure at that point) and then she'll still need to eat a lot until she hits adulthood at about a year. If she's a big breed that could take another year, and then, you're golden

 

[tabbytom]

Ayaka, welcome to TCS!

Thank you for adopting Kairi

As Kairi is still very much a kitten at 3-4 months old, she needs to be fed 3-4 times a day and feed her as much as she can eat atone sitting. You can never over feed a kitten.

Feed her canned food (wet food) as she needs all the nutrients and proteins from meat based food and also canned food (wet food) has a high moisture content which your kitten needs.

She'll continue to eat lots till she matures at one year old (assuming Kairi is the normal breed cat). Bigger breed cats take 2 -4 years before reaching maturity.

Once she reaches and past her matured age, her food intake will slow down, meaning she'll eat less and also less often. You'll notice the change in her eating habits as she age. Do not worry if she starts to eat less as she age. Just worry if she's not eating at all. Always have a fresh supply of filtered water for her. If she is getting enough moisture from the wet food, she may not drink from the water bowl but some cats will still drink even though they are fed with wet food.

As for her sleeping 'problem', can you place a small chest about the height of the bed or slightly higher son that she does not roll off? Guess its only temporary that she'll be sleeping in this pattern. Cats change sleeping styles quite a bit.

Just shower her with lots of love and attention and don't forget to have her spayed when right time comes :- why-you-should-spay-and-neuter-your-cats.22304

And Christmas is around the corner, please make sure that Kairi does not get into any of the decorations :-

cats-and-christmas-tips-for-cat-owners.29650
christmas-trees.383417

Feel free to ask questions and many cats here are willing to offer their expertise and also do check-out the many interesting articles we have for you here in :-
ams

Enjoy your stay

 

[Furballsmom]

LOL tabbytom and I were typing and posting at the same time...

 

[tabbytom]

LOL tabbytom and I were typing and posting at the same time...

How did you know?

 

[tabbytom]

I'm unsure if its because shes blind in one eye that she can't see the food or has problems remembering theres food in her bowl.

Oh, I forgot to add this, a cat cannot see directly what's under their chin and hence, besides using their nose to smell, they also have whiskers or some short sensory hair if that's what is is called under their chin. Like wise, they have these short sensory hair on their lower legs as well. They use these to feel around and sense vibrations on the ground.

 

[Ayaka]

Hi!
Bless you for taking in this baby, and for being sensitive to her needs!

I'd put some pillows out for her.

Also, granted she's older than a month but she's still young and has had a challenging start. With that in mind, it's suggested to feed about 4 small meals a day, as much as she will consume plus some food overnight, either kibble or wet. (Canned food can be left out for several hours or you could arrange some ice under the food dish.)
The quantity is up to her, however much she wants. When there's just a little left on the plate each time, then you've given her as much as she wants.

Weigh her regularly (a bathroom scale can work) to make sure she's continuously gaining until she's the size she'll be, (your vet can help with that if you're unsure at that point) and then she'll still need to eat a lot until she hits adulthood at about a year. If she's a big breed that could take another year, and then, you're golden

Ayaka, welcome to TCS!

Thank you for adopting Kairi

As Kairi is still very much a kitten at 3-4 months old, she needs to be fed 3-4 times a day and feed her as much as she can eat atone sitting. You can never over feed a kitten.

Feed her canned food (wet food) as she needs all the nutrients and proteins from meat based food and also canned food (wet food) has a high moisture content which your kitten needs.

She'll continue to eat lots till she matures at one year old (assuming Kairi is the normal breed cat). Bigger breed cats take 2 -4 years before reaching maturity.

Once she reaches and past her matured age, her food intake will slow down, meaning she'll eat less and also less often. You'll notice the change in her eating habits as she age. Do not worry if she starts to eat less as she age. Just worry if she's not eating at all. Always have a fresh supply of filtered water for her. If she is getting enough moisture from the wet food, she may not drink from the water bowl but some cats will still drink even though they are fed with wet food.

As for her sleeping 'problem', can you place a small chest about the height of the bed or slightly higher son that she does not roll off? Guess its only temporary that she'll be sleeping in this pattern. Cats change sleeping styles quite a bit.

Just shower her with lots of love and attention and don't forget to have her spayed when right time comes :- why-you-should-spay-and-neuter-your-cats.22304

And Christmas is around the corner, please make sure that Kairi does not get into any of the decorations :-

cats-and-christmas-tips-for-cat-owners.29650
christmas-trees.383417

Feel free to ask questions and many cats here are willing to offer their expertise and also do check-out the many interesting articles we have for you here in :-
ams

Enjoy your stay

One more question to either of you that can answer it. I'm not sure if this is "not recommended" or "abnormal" but I watched the show "My Cat From Hell" since I'm a huge fan of that show, and got the idea of spoon feeding, although I batted my eye to it, I tried it with Kairi, and turns out shes more comfortable eating by spoon feeding. I have this plastic miniature spoon and she took a liking to that a lot.

Another thing I forgot to add, would I need to put her on medication for Cardboard chewing and paper chewing? Shes a fan of that, and we had to get rid of all our cardboard boxes because of that, and we have to keep paper-like materials away from her. She started getting into the trash to get napkins to tear up, but we went to the store recently to get a different trash can with a lid on it, so that problem cleared up quick. I'm not sure if this is a behavior that can be stopped, or if we have to hide these things for a long time.

 

[tabbytom]

Spoon feeding is fine. I used to spoon feed my boy when he kind of not finish his food when he was younger.
Now, if he dose not finish or if I want him to eat more, I bring his plate up and he’ll continue to eat till he don’t want to eat anymore.

Please use feeding plates made of ceramic, porcelain or stainless steel materials and same for the spoon.
Plastic plates or bowls and spoon are no good as they harbor bacteria and may cause feline acne.

Use hot water to wash the ceramic or porcelain plates at least twice a week as tiny hairline cracks not visible to the naked eyes may also harbor bacteria but they are much better off than plastic.

As for biting cardboard or cardboard boxes or paper, it is normal for them to bite. It’s part of their playtime and just want to chew on something crunchy. BUT if your kitty starts to chew on everything and anything, then it could be a behavioral problem which might have to be checked by the vet.

Also, from now till she’s 7 months old, it’s teething period for her. So she may be biting more on cardboard boxes or her soft toys. Get her some soft toys or rolled up soft towels for her to chew. Teething periods will have them chewing at things and you may even find some baby teeth stuck to the things she chew or on the floor. The rest of the baby teeth may be swallowed by her during meal times or vacuumed up when you clean the house.

By 7 months old, all her adult teeth will be in.

 

[Ayaka]

Thank you so much for the information. I actually did find a baby tooth of hers a few weeks ago, I panicked and was confused because I didn't know kittens also lose their teeth, but I looked it up and was reassured it was completely normal, so now I keep it in a little baggy since she lost her first tooth. Or well, her first tooth living here that I could find lol. I've decided to feed her only half a can, because that's how much she can handle per serving. I'm unsure on a feeding schedule, I was thinking of every 3-4 hours a day, 3-4 times a day for feedings. since I wake up a little late to around 9:00am. Not sure if thats not enough hours in between per feeding, I've tried researching and only found charts for week old kittens, not month old ones.

 

[tabbytom]

Feed her 3-4 times a day and as much as she can eat. Sometimes it’ll be 5 times but don’t worry on that. It can also depends on her if she wants to eat that many times. Once a schedule is kind of fix, stick to it but it may change so don’t be too fixed on it.

Every cat is different so go according to what is comfortable for her and no need to follow feeding charts. It’s just a guide. Just feed your kitty well in her growing up year.

 

[lisahe]

Another thing I forgot to add, would I need to put her on medication for Cardboard chewing and paper chewing? Shes a fan of that, and we had to get rid of all our cardboard boxes because of that, and we have to keep paper-like materials away from her. She started getting into the trash to get napkins to tear up, but we went to the store recently to get a different trash can with a lid on it, so that problem cleared up quick. I'm not sure if this is a behavior that can be stopped, or if we have to hide these things for a long time.

One of our cats also loves to chew and shred paper and cardboard! We put the paper towels where she can't reach them and store the toilet paper in a cabinet but let her chew on corrugated cardboard and shred newspaper all she wants. Well, pretty much all she wants: she loves shredding recipes. And she'll gnaw on books so we have to keep library books in a box. You're doing the right thing to keep the trash inaccessible. Ireland is five, so I'm not going to say anything about cats outgrowing this sort of behavior.

I agree with tabbytom that some toys can help. Ireland likes her Wiggle Worm and some of Petstages' other toys (link here). But she likes shredding and gnawing even more.

I completely agree with tabbytom about feedings, too: it's always interesting to make your own schedule fit with a cat's! One thing that's helpful is to feed something especially caloric as a bedtime snack. It helps prevent getting jumped on in the morning by a hungry cat.

 

[Kflowers]

Mine were cardboard and paper shreds for awhile. You'll probably want to put your toilet paper in a cabinet, oh forever.

I just wanted to say you've given her a lovely name.

 

[tabbytom]

A kitten will go through several phases in their growing up age. They can be a destroyer of things when they're young as they are playful, but with the right guidance with love and patience, they'll get to learn what's right and what is wrong, maybe not 100% but they do learn especially when they are still a kitten. Keep talking and having conversation with her and see her response. This way, you'll get to understand cat language and they understand hooman language.

What they do now maybe not carry over to their adulthood. But certain things will stay.

Many times, it's a cat thing so let the cat be what a cat supposed to be. We cannot change their nature but life style, yes and we can improve on it so that they live a happy and healthy life.

For me, I give my boy all access pass to the whole house. Cleared all cabinets top so that he can go up high and built shelves to extend his runway. He's allowed to be on counters and tables and intoner wardrobes. Let him inspect everything when we come home from shopping or if we are having our meals. Even if we are having sushi. He'll smell the food and we tell him it's not for him, just smell will do and after that he'll just walked off. He doesn't snatch the food. This all begins from a very young age and he has learnt it well, I should say.

So don't worry, feed him till his heart's content and as for the other issues like chewing boxes, you may ask them in the cat-behavior.5 forum.

You may want to check this out. It's a very interesting article with many 'Why's' and you can first jump to item #31 and after that read the whole article for all the 'Why's':-
why-do-cats-the-ultimate-guide-to-feline-behavior.33924