How Do I Help Him Grow To Be Bigger?

[MistyDawn]

My sweet Maine Coon, Alaska, is now 20 weeks and just shy of 8lbs. From my understanding, this is on the small side for a male Maine Coon baby. I posted in another thread about how I was feeding a very nutritious food (Orijen) he wasn't that into, but I want to do what's best for his nutrition and reaching that maximum potential, that he will still like. He isn't thin or anything. In fact, he has some kitty tummy flab hanging down, despite being this young. He's just not that big.

Would feeding him raw and/or cooked beef, chicken, or eggs instead of cat food be a good idea? He does go crazy for people food. Eating with him around is like a battle. If I go this route, what foods, and cuts, are best? How much would he need per kg? Are there vitamins or supplements I can give him to help him better reach his full size potential?

 

[Furballsmom]

I would try and fill him up with more cat food to see if his appetite calms down a bit because it sounds like he's legitimately hungry. My guy likes bits of hard boiled egg in addition, and he gets a combination of various canned food, dry food and store bought raw as I'm working to avoid him getting too much of any one starch or protein. For your growing baby that might be the answer rather than human food or supplements. With plenty of the appropriate food, he will get as big as his DNA and various genetics intend. Thank you for caring so much!

 

[Ladewyn]

You certainly can homecook for your kitty. However, if you do decide to feed a homemade diet, even in part, you need to balance it. You cannot just feed chicken breast or beef cuts. He will likely become very ill if you do that. You need to follow exact recipes (properly formulated by feline nutritionists) with the exact fat/protein/carb/vitamin/mineral balance. There are recipe books, I highly recommend you work with your vet to find appropriate recipes for your cat (especially since he's just a kitten and even slight nutritional deficiencies can be catastrophic to their health and well being...and will result in smaller growth). If you lean toward homecooked food, there is a homemade diet board on this site you should check out

Honestly, I'd try not to force him to grow bigger based on the maximum potential of Maine Coons. His maximum potential is determined in part by his genetic makeup, and as such *his* full potential may be smaller than the average Maine Coon, and there's no way to know exactly how big he is capable of growing because of that. I would simply ensure he's getting a lot of balanced, high energy, high protein food. As long as he's getting enough food to satiate his kitten appetite, he will likely grow to *his* full potential.

 

[Furballsmom]

I should explain my thinking, cat food is formulated with vitamins, minerals etc that our felines need. Also I'm not sure at what age kittens are supposed to be shifted from kitten to adult cat food but if you aren't feeding him kitten food you might check into that.

 

[Ladewyn]

I should explain my thinking, cat food is formulated with vitamins, minerals etc that our felines need. Also I'm not sure at what age kittens are supposed to be shifted from kitten to adult cat food but if you aren't feeding him kitten food you might check into that.

Kittens should generally be on a kitten food for the first year, though Maine Coons have a longer "growth" phase than other cats, and can be kept on kitten food for a longer period to compensate. I don't know the exact recommended time period though, it could be an extra two month, or an extra six. If he was purchased from a breeder, I'd check with them.

 

[Neo_23]

Kittens don’t need to eat kitten labelled food. They need food high in animal based protein just like all cats. They just need more of it than adults. The only reason it’s not advised to feed “adult” labelled food to kittens is because manufacturers get away with decreasing the amount of protein in cat food for adults and loading it with carbs. This is not good for any cat.

 

[LTS3]

Here's the TCS forum on raw and home cooked diets where you will find more info: Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food

If you do raw, you will need to supplement unless you feed a commercial brand of raw food such as Rad Cat.

For home cooked diets, you do need to supplement.

The easiest way to supplement is to use a pre-mix such as EZComplete with boneless organ less meat of any type. You can buy such meats from a supplier like Hare-Today.com, chubs from the pet store (read the label as some do contain bones and organs), or whole cuts of meat that you buy from the supermarket or butcher shop (make sure they don't contain broth or flavorings or stuff) that you cut up yourself.

Raw egg yolk or a whole cooked egg can be given as a treat. Raw egg white is a no-no because it affects the cat's body's ability to absorb vitamin B.

Kittens eat a ton of food so you just give them as much food as they want to eat. Kittens grow at their own rate so adding supplements and the like to the diet may not help much if at all.

 

[Ladewyn]

Kittens don’t need to eat kitten labelled food. They need food high in animal based protein just like all cats. They just need more of it than adults. The only reason it’s not advised to feed “adult” labelled food to kittens is because manufacturers get away with decreasing the amount of protein in cat food for adults and loading it with carbs. This is not good for any cat.

I would rephrase that to say an adult cat doesn't need to eat *adult* labelled food. A kitten should always eat food labelled/formulated for growth. An adult cat can do okay (though not great imo) on a higher carb lower protein diet, but a kitten will be at a far more severe detriment
Basically, you can feed food formulated for growth--or growth and maintenance--to an adult, but you run into trouble feeding kittens a food formulated just for maintenance in adults; hence why in a homecooked meal you have to make sure the recipe is appropriate for kittens.

 

[lalagimp]

Tom isn't even a maine coon, but I had him grow up on Natural Balance and Nature's Variety and he hit his 13 lbs, no problem. Then I kept free feeding him, and he grew up into a beautiful blue lard, and by the time he was 3 or 4 we did slow and steady dieting for 4 years. Your lovely cat is going to grow up into whatever cat they grow up into, and more food is only going to mean more calories AFTER your cat is done growing. Feed him a balanced diet of 2 ideals: the best you can afford, and the best they will eat.
If you can afford to do a homemade diet and he loves it, then do it, after you've done all your research. It's going to be full of moisture and hopefully no carbs. Tom and Stew are on rabbit and turkey homemade after Tom developed health issues on a dry diet.
If you decide to stay on dry, because of the two reasons previously mentioned, then I can direct you to Dr Elsey's cleanprotein. It's less than 5% carb and I believe 58% animal protein. They sell it on Chewy or their site, and I have the girls on that and wet food. They're too stuck up for homemade.

 

[cheesycats]

I fed my Maine coon mix natures variety raw boost from the time he was 4 months to adulthood. He got to be 15 lbs. though he was only 6-7 when I got him. He REALLY filled out a little before a year. And he wasn’t even full mainecoon. Maybe just keep with the good food and make sure he gets his fill everyday and he will hopefully fill out himself eventually.

 

[MistyDawn]

I might have been wrong about him being a small fry. I switched foods to one he likes better and he's knocking on 9lbs before he's even 5 months!