Feeding Too Much?

[beeva_h9]

Hi I have a 7 month old cat and I feed him and a Sheeba proportions one at 9am and one at 12am. He also gets dry food during the day, usually 1/3 cup but recently it’s been about 2/3 a cup because he’s been eating so much. He weighs 7.8 pounds and he and his mother are smaller cats. Am I feeding him too much? He chooses when he’s hungry it’s not like if I leaveout food he will eat until it’s gone. Also when I got his claws trimmed they said they were splitting which could mean he needs more moisture in his diet. Does he? And if so how do I do that?

 

[EmersonandEvie]

I don't know about the claws thing (I've never heard that personally but maybe someone will chime in that knows more!) but he sounds like a perfect weight. Since he is a kitten he is growing very quickly and needs all the calories he can get...you can't overfeed a kitten! Continue to give him as much as he will eat until he is a year and then you can do 2 to 3 meals a day.

Wet food is very important in a cat's diet. It keeps them fuller longer and provides extremely important moisture (ESPECIALLY in males). Plus, it is much more biologically appropriate than kibble, because it typically has a higher protein content and low carb content. If you can (budget wise), maybe give him a portion (1/2 of a tray) at 9am, 12pm, 3pm, and 6pm. Or something like that. Just a suggestion.

What is his name? Do you have pictures? Pictures are always welcome here.

 

[beeva_h9]

I don't know about the claws thing (I've never heard that personally but maybe someone will chime in that knows more!) but he sounds like a perfect weight. Since he is a kitten he is growing very quickly and needs all the calories he can get...you can't overfeed a kitten! Continue to give him as much as he will eat until he is a year and then you can do 2 to 3 meals a day.

Wet food is very important in a cat's diet. It keeps them fuller longer and provides extremely important moisture (ESPECIALLY in males). Plus, it is much more biologically appropriate than kibble, because it typically has a higher protein content and low carb content. If you can (budget wise), maybe give him a portion (1/2 of a tray) at 9am, 12pm, 3pm, and 6pm. Or something like that. Just a suggestion.

What is his name? Do you have pictures? Pictures are always welcome here.

Thank you so much! And his name is remmy

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Remmy! I love it. I have an Emerson whose nickname is Emmy. He is my avatar.

You can try other kitten food too. My own kitten (Dexter) has done awesome on Fancy Feast kitten. You can feed bigger cans of stuff too, just make sure it is "all life stages" food and no just for adult cats.

 

[tabbytom]

Hi I have a 7 month old cat and I feed him and a Sheeba proportions one at 9am and one at 12am.

I agree with what EmersonandEvie mentioned on the wet food.

To add on, Remmy is only 7 months old and he is still very much a kitten. Kittens needs lots of proteins and nutrients from wet food in their formative and growing up years. Wet food also keeps Remmy hydrated as male cats are very prone to UTI.

At 7 months old, he's probably going through his growth spurt and therefore he's eating more. Feed him as much as he can eat at one sitting and a few times a day. He is full of energy and he burns off calories very fast.
Wet food is full of proteins while dry food is full of carbohydrates.

You can feed him food labeled 'For All Life Stages' as mentioned. My boy is on that since he as rescued when he's just 3 weeks old. He's 3 years old now.

Once he reaches 1 year old, his amount of food intake may slow down and eventually will taper off. After that, he'll eat less in amount and number of feeds and his activities will slow down but he'll still be active. He'll likely to sleep most of his time. But do engage play time with him when he's awake.

Is he neutered? If not, please have him neutered as neutering him will help him in a number of ways as his health will be better, he'll not try to escape to look for mates and his urine will not have a pungent smell or he might start spraying in and around the house. Neutering will also calm him down and thus making him a better pet.

Here are some articles for you to read on neutering :-

why-you-should-spay-and-neuter-your-cats.22304
when-to-spay-or-neuter-a-cat.33415
spaying-and-neutering-what-to-ask-before-the-surgery.30217
spaying-and-neutering-what-to-look-for-after-surgery.30218

As for the splitting of nails, cat sheds the outer layer of the nails by using the scratch post or other surfaces. While doing this, the outer layer of the nail is shed and therefore you can find them all over the house. As for the splitting, I guess that in the process of scratching the scratch post, sometimes the outer layer did not come out as a complete piece and it stays back looking as split nails. My boy sometimes have this split nails. They will remove it while they are grooming their paws.

how-to-best-take-care-of-cat-claws.29669

 

[ArchyCat]

The rule of thumb I have seen about feeding kittens is, "If there is no leftover food, you are not feedingvhem enough!". You might also leave out some kitten kibble forr him until he is fully grown.

 

[HPeters]

Id suggest free feeding a dry kitten food and feeding multiple meals of wet kitten food every day, as for the claws- if your using pet nail scissors (i prefer the scissors over the guillotine) they shouldnt splinter but i have used human nail clippers (not ideal) and noticed that they cause the cats nail to splinter

 

[abyeb]

Here’s a helpful article: How Much Food Should I Feed My Cat?

At 7 months, Remmy is still a kitten, and free-feeding is usually recommended at this age, to ensure that kittens get all the nutrition that they need to grow into healthy adult cats. If Remmy is the “scarf ‘n barf” type (like my Charlie), then you’ll probably have to do scheduled meals. Be sure that you’re giving him kitten food, or food labeled for all life stages. Remmy is a very handsome boy!