Cat Hungry

[TheFartingCat]

I am feeding my 7 month old male cat Purina Beyond dry food in the morning, (according to the amount shown on the package) as well as one 3 oz can of Purina Beyond wet food in the evening. During the day, he gets occasional treats (Feline Greenies, 4 treats max, as well as dry food, 5 kibbles max). He is a little over 7 pounds right now, and you can tell he's not skinny or overweight, but every time he finishes eating, he wants more. During the day, he spends almost quarter of his time searching for food, and in the morning, he starts meowing at 6:00 AM for food. Now, I'm a deep sleeper, but others in my family aren’t, and they get woken up a lot. I gave him some extra kibble after he finished his wet food to see if anything would change, but he just ate it all and started meowing for more food. He is pretty energetic during the day, and play sessions are usually 2-3 times a day, one in the morning before breakfast, one in the early afternoon, and one right before dinner. Am I feeding him enough or does he need more?

 

[Minxxy]

I am feeding my 7 month old male cat Purina Beyond dry food in the morning, (according to the amount shown on the package) as well as one 3 oz can of Purina Beyond wet food in the evening. During the day, he gets occasional treats (Feline Greenies, 4 treats max, as well as dry food, 5 kibbles max). He is a little over 7 pounds right now, and you can tell he's not skinny or overweight, but every time he finishes eating, he wants more. During the day, he spends almost quarter of his time searching for food, and in the morning, he starts meowing at 6:00 AM for food. Now, I'm a deep sleeper, but others in my family aren’t, and they get woken up a lot. I gave him some extra kibble after he finished his wet food to see if anything would change, but he just ate it all and started meowing for more food. He is pretty energetic during the day, and play sessions are usually 2-3 times a day, one in the morning before breakfast, one in the early afternoon, and one right before dinner. Am I feeding him enough or does he need more?

He is still a young kitty so it's likely he just needs more food. Maybe give him a second can of food just before bed. That may get him through the night.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

They are growing so fast as kittens and they burn off everything they eat so quickly. Dexter is eating 3 cans of fancy feast 3x a day (as well as polishing off whatever Evie and Emerson don't want in their bowls...) and getting a little (like 1/8 tbsp.) of kitten dry food at night. If it were up to him, he would constantly be eating. You can base it on calories- we give him around 400 calories each day, or twice what a 10lb adult cat would get (200 calories).

 

[mizzely]

I would probably use something like this for some of his food at night too.

Doc & Phoebe's Cat Co. Indoor Hunting Cat Feeder Kit - Chewy.com

Or perhaps an auto feeder

Also one thing that really helped my cats was not feeding them as soon as I wake up! Otherwise they tried to wake me on purpose just for food. So I make sure that I do a few other things before feeding them when I wake up.

 

[tabbytom]

He is a little over 7 pounds right now, and you can tell he's not skinny or overweight, but every time he finishes eating, he wants more. During the day, he spends almost quarter of his time searching for food, and in the morning, he starts meowing at 6:00 AM for food.

Your cat is still very much a kitten at 7 months old and is still growing up. Feed him as much as he can eat at one sitting and he needs 200-250 calories a day. You can never overfeed a kitten. He's now going through a growth spurt.
Once he's full, he'll not look for food later till the next feeding time. Reason for him looking for more food to eat after eating is that he's not fed enough.

Don't have to follow labels on cans and packages. Follow your kitty's stomach call. Once he has enough to eat each time, you can roughly feed him on this schedule.

Feed him more wet food as wet food is full proteins and nutrients which he needs as a growing kitten. Dry food is full of carbs. Wet food keeps your kitten hydrated if he does not drink water from a water bowl or fountain.

As he ages and when he's at a year old or so, you'll notice that his food intake will taper down and he may either eat less amount or less time. Whatever it is, feed him as much as you can (wet food) and after his one year, monitor from there and adjust accordingly.

 

[TheFartingCat]

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[tabbytom]

 

[jen]

You have received great advice I just want to chime in that it would be a good idea to add more wet food and not more dry food in the long run, and for a male cat especially.