Am I overfeeding this kitten?

[Qu9ke]

I am confused. This is my second kitten I was given to raise. I was successful in raising the first one (the one shown in my profile pic), and this current one is two weeks old and around 240g.

I am confused because her appetite sometimes seems reasonable and eats the expected range according to what I read from this feeding chart I am referencing (6-10ml), and other times she easily downs over 20ml. I feed her every 3-4 hours. I was wondering, is it a good idea to let the kitten eat as much as she wants until she quits even if it seems like a ridiculous amount... I thought stomach capacity was only like 4ml per 100g of body weight, but if that is true then she wants to take waaay more than what the math says her stomach should be able to hold...

One reason I need to know is because she only gained 2 grams within the last 24 hours. Her weight gain since I got her has been pretty sporadic, sometimes gaining around 6g some times while other times she gains over 14g. However this time she only gained 2g. Would I overfeed this kitten if I allowed her to take as much as I described?

 

[Sarthur2]

Let her eat as much as she wants!

The standard advice is that it is almost impossible to overfeed a kitten. Amounts to feed are minimums based on a kitten’s weight, but they can have as much as they want. If they are still hungry, continue feeding. Kittens need lots of nutrition to grow on, and they grow quickly when young.

A 2-week-old kitten should weigh about 8 ounces, and yours weighs a touch over, so yours is about right. However, kittens should weigh 12 ounces at 3 weeks and 16 ounces at 4 weeks, so lots of food is needed. Kittens should continue gaining this way the second month and weigh 2 pounds at 8 weeks, then continue gaining a pound a month for a few months.

 

[Qu9ke]

Let her eat as much as she wants!

The standard advice is that it is almost impossible to overfeed a kitten. Amounts to feed are minimums based on a kitten’s weight, but they can have as much as they want. If they are still hungry, continue feeding. Kittens need lots of nutrition to grow on, and they grow quickly when young.

A 2-week-old kitten should weigh about 8 ounces, and yours weighs a touch over, so yours is about right. However, kittens should weigh 12 ounces at 3 weeks and 16 ounces at 4 weeks, so lots of food is needed. Kittens should continue gaining this way the second month and weigh 2 pounds at 8 weeks, then continue gaining a pound a month for a few months.

Thank you. So there is little possibility of her regurgitating her food back up as long as I allow her to eat only as much as she is willing to take in? It’s vomiting and diarrhea that are my two concerns when feeding her those big amounts. I am a numbers guy by nature, so it is strange for me to go against the math that states her stomach capacity is around 10ml per feeding.

 

[Sarthur2]

The more kittens grow the more they drink! Forget the numbers other than the minimum. Kittens will turn their heads or push away when full. Most don’t vomit or get diarrhea either. Occasionally a kitten will plateau and eat less for a day or two, then grow and start pigging out again. It sounds like you have a healthy kitten on your hands!

 

[Qu9ke]

The more kittens grow the more they drink! Forget the numbers other than the minimum. Kittens will turn their heads or push away when full. Most don’t vomit or get diarrhea either. Occasionally a kitten will plateau and eat less for a day or two, then grow and start pigging out again. It sounds like you have a healthy kitten on your hands!

Oh, I totally understand that kittens will eat more as they grow. It just caught me off guard that the amount she wants does not line up with the charts I have been referencing. Nowhere do the charts say the numbers are minimum requirements. One even said to be careful not to go too far over their calculated stomach capacity to avoid further risk of complications like diarrhea and vomiting. It just is weird how a kitten with a current calculated capacity of approximately 10ml can take 20 or more some times. I won’t argue though as long as she grows at a healthy rate. Having said that I will take your advice and allow her more food and will feed her as long as she will stay latched on. She does seem to have a more positive response with more purring when I feed her until she stops. Thanks for the advice.

 

[war&wisdom]

At two weeks, the kitten could drink up to 14ml in a sitting on average (every 3 hours). Kitten Lady has a chart and some advice about this: Bottle Feeding — Kitten Lady

 

[Qu9ke]

At two weeks, the kitten could drink up to 14ml in a sitting on average (every 3 hours). Kitten Lady has a chart and some advice about this: Bottle Feeding — Kitten Lady

I get that. In fact I reference her content a lot. However this kitten in that age range can often times down up to 25ml, and no I am not force feeding. She consistently drinks over 14ml almost every single time. I just don’t get it. Not just that but her and the previous kitten I raised dealt with constipation. I don’t understand what I am doing to get these cats constipated if it is even my doing. Can overfeeding cause that? I practically have to keep putting her back on lactulose every few days.

 

[Sarthur2]

It’s not uncommon for kittens on formula to become constipated. In fact, we get this question all the time with bottle babies. I recommend adding a couple of drops of olive oil to each feeding. It will soften the poop and help bring it on. Just use olive oil every day and she should become regular.

I love that she is a little piggy! So much better than having a runt who will barely feed and consequently worries you to death. It sounds like you are doing a super job raising her, and she will grow into a very healthy cat!

 

[Qu9ke]

It’s not uncommon for kittens on formula to become constipated. In fact, we get this question all the time with bottle babies. I recommend adding a couple of drops of olive oil to each feeding. It will soften the poop and help bring it on. Just use olive oil every day and she should become regular.

I love that she is a little piggy! So much better than having a runt who will barely feed and consequently worries you to death. It sounds like you are doing a super job raising her, and she will grow into a very healthy cat!

I appreciate that. One other question. I see olive oil brought up a lot on different sites. Is canola oil also okay? I have on occasion given her 2-3 drops of wesson canola oil. I haven’t been giving if to her every single feeding, but I suppose I could start.

I also read on one site in particular to add 3 drops per ounce of body weight, but that seems excessive to me. That would mean giving her almost 30 drops now. I’ll just stick with the amount I have been giving her unless I am told to change it up. I still have plenty of lactulose as well from the vet I plan on using if she doesn’t poop every 3-4 consecutive days. She pooped pretty good yesterday after giving her some, so I stopped to see how she will do for a little while.

 

[Sarthur2]

I think the canola oil should work. I’ve never heard of giving 3 drops of oil per ounce of body weight. That is definitely excessive and might make a kitten sick. Just 1-2 tiny drops per feeding seems to work well.

 

[Qu9ke]

Okay. Now I seem to be having an opposite problem. Instead of pigging out easily eating at least 15ml, she is now only eating maybe around 12ml if I am lucky. It is now a rarity for her to eat up to 14ml. I was planning on transitioning her to feedings spaced 4 hours apart in her third week, but if she is to meet her recommended daily food intake (8ml per ounce of body weight), then that would require her to eat at least 14ml at each feeding if they are spaced 4 hours apart. Should I stick with 3 hours apart for now and just hope that she ends up with more formula in the long run until she decides to eat more at each feeding? I don’t know what the best move is. I fed her just now, and she just barely was able to finish 11ml which is much lower than what she would eat a week ago.

...Also can laxatives mess up their appetite? I have to get her back on a laxative every so often because she just won’t poop, and now she seems like she won’t even go with laxative in her. I plan on calling the vet. This is maybe her 3rd or 4th time I put her back on it. I typically wait around 3 days give or take without seeing poop before I make that decision.

 

[Sarthur2]

Have you tried adding the olive oil drops to each feeding? That seems to really keep things going for most kittens. I think you should try it. Olive oil is more natural than relying on laxatives.

Go ahead and move to 4-hour feedings. She may be more hungry after the longer interval and it will allow more time for digestion. Being constipated can dampen appetite as it results in the kitten feeling bloated.

The other common situation is that a kitten may plateau on growth for a few days, eat much less, then experience a growth spurt and once again be ravenous. This occurs in human babies as well.

The most important point here is weight gain/loss. The minimum feedings apply if a kitten is losing weight. Is your kitten losing weight? If not, let her eat what she wants and forgo the minimums for a few days.

Also, are you gently stimulating her to poop before and after meals? She needs stimulating with a warm damp cotton pad to help her poop.

 

[Qu9ke]

Have you tried adding the olive oil drops to each feeding? That seems to really keep things going for most kittens. I think you should try it. Olive oil is more natural than relying on laxatives.

Go ahead and move to 4-hour feedings. She may be more hungry after the longer interval and it will allow more time for digestion. Being constipated can dampen appetite as it results in the kitten feeling bloated.

The other common situation is that a kitten may plateau on growth for a few days, eat much less, then experience a growth spurt and once again be ravenous. This occurs in human babies as well.

The most important point here is weight gain/loss. The minimum feedings apply if a kitten is losing weight. Is your kitten losing weight? If not, let her eat what she wants and forgo the minimums for a few days.

Also, are you gently stimulating her to poop before and after meals? She needs stimulating with a warm damp cotton pad to help her poop.

Yes I have tried the oil drops, and that didn’t seem to help much, but I’ll continue that.

I am also stimulating her as well, sometimes 3 attempts per feeding just to try and be sure. I typically just feed her first, burp her, stimulate, let her walk around and explore a little, and try feeding her more until she quits with extra stimulation afterwards. I’ll sometimes offer the bottle 3+ times to be sure, but I am careful I don’t force it. I also typically use soft dry tissue since that has proven to work with the last kitten I raised as well as with this one up until she has decided not to poop anyways. Up until then she’d poop just about every day, some times multiple times a day. If wetting a cloth down or something and using that would help I can certainly try, but I have tried it before. I also like to massage her tummy to see if that helps move things along.

We have had her on the 4 hour feedings since yesterday afternoon, so she ate around 6 times so far since then. She has consistently shown she is eating less for her four hour feedings than she did in her 3 hour ones, but like you said she may have just plateaued.

A couple other things... What if she is technically gaining weight, but she isn’t gaining as fast as I have read a kitten is supposed to gain? I read the bare minimum gain should be 7 grams, although 10-14g is more ideal. She some times stops a tad short of that 7g mark. If she does it is around 6 grams, but I have seen it as low as 2 grams once before. Should I still stay the course and stick to 4 hours? If she does stop short of that mark, how many consecutive days should I allow that to happen before I should maybe get concerned she isn’t growing enough and seek help? Thank you for all your help.

 

[Sarthur2]

I say kittens should gain 6-10 grams per day on average. That means somedays more and other days less. It’s not an exact science. As long as she is not losing weight, she should be okay. If she fails to gain any weight at all over 3 days there is cause for concern, but she is okay if she gains 2 grams per day here and there and more on other days.

 

[Qu9ke]

Thank you so much. I am learning things here that most sites that teach how to take care of kittens do not actually seem to say. Most sites I have seen seem to make it come across as if it is indeed a science and a numbers game. “Your kitten better gain this amount of weight, or she will die!” Okay, it’s not that bad, but they make me feel that way. However, I will get concerned if she starts to show trends of slow weight gain or weight loss. For now though I’m not going to worry about it.

 

[Sarthur2]

Good! That’s what I appreciate about this site. We give practical advice from first-hand experience. The guidelines exist for a reason, but we have to be flexible. If a kitten seems healthy overall, there’s no use stressing over weight if the general trajectory is on the right track.

How much does the kitten weigh now?

 

[Qu9ke]

Today is her 23rd day, and she is roughly 315g now. So I guess a 75g increase in around a week since I first started this thread. A 10g increase average spread across a week sounds pretty good now that I think about it. I typically weigh her at night right before feeding and stimulation, so the fact she has pee probably makes her weigh a little more, but as long as I’m consistent with when I weigh then I don’t guess that really matters.

 

[Qu9ke]

Also, to add on to the post I just made... if I was to have to administer laxative if oil does not cause her to poop, is lactulose I got from my vet addictive and cause kittens to depend on it in order to poop, or can I give it to her indefinitely until she becomes more regular? I also have miralax from back when I raised the first kitten as well. I mean if she insists on not going then I see an enema in her future, but that is a ways off yet before I make that kind of call.

 

[Sarthur2]

First, she’s a touch over 11 ounces at 3 weeks, so her weight is perfect. Most 3 week old kittens weigh 11-12 ounces. She’s doing great!

I think all laxatives can be addictive, so maybe try a little more oil. You can actually buy infant glycerin suppositories at a drugstore, shave off a tiny, kitten sized piece, and insert it.This too tends to bring on a poop in a few minutes and is safe to use.

 

[Qu9ke]

Well I doubled her oil intake from .1ml to .2ml which I think equals around 5 or 6 drops. That is how many milliliters I was told to give her for lactulose too, but I am holding on that for now because I am afraid of possible laxative addiction assuming she hasn’t already grown dependent on the stuff.

Also she only seemed to grow like 1g since yesterday, but I’ll refrain from worrying too much unless that becomes a trend.