How much should kittens be eating??

[TingaTinga]

I know people say kittens wont overeat but im going through cans like theres no tomorrow. The 3 cats are 5 mths, 6mths amd 7mths old. They are on smilla kitten cans (200g) we go through about 6 cans a day. Is there a cheaper alternative?

 

[danteshuman]

Until they are 2-2.5 years old; they are still growing. So give them all they want.

Cheaper? Buy a healthy kitten dry food & feed each cat 1/2 of a 3 oz can (fancy feast size) 1-3 times a day. I know the whole wet versus dry versus raw food debate. But I have known a few cats that were not related & lived to be 17, 19,20 & 22 eating mainly science diet. You know what increased their life spans? As vet care advanced through the decades, they lived longer.

Personally I feed my cat Blue Buffalo Wilderness dry food & wet food. My spoiled kitty eats mostly wet. Look for limited ingredient foods that do not contain wheat or corn (if you can) & ones that have a higher protein content. I still think Science Diet is a good brand to.

 

[Maurey]

I’m guessing you’re in the UK or in the EU? Smilla is the most budget I’d go, personally, as it’s already chock full of unspecified byproducts — any other kitten food not full of grains or legumes is going to work out a lot more expensive or same price range. Are your kittens of any specific breed? The oldest should start slowing down on food intake by around 10 months (if they’re not of a large, slow-growing breed), so you’re in the home stretch! 6 cans isn’t a huge amount for 3 kittens, to be honest, especially with their ages.

That said, it may be worth comparing prices and caloric density (as you’ll need to feed more of a food with lower calories, cheaper foods can work out more expensive) of Smilla kitten to Animonda Carny Kitten, Wild Freedom Kitten, Feringa Menu Kitten, and Bozita Feline Kitten. You’ll probably get the best prices on Zooplus or somewhere else online, so it’s definitely worth shopping around. Also worth introducing and feeding a rotation, both so you can take advantage of any sales, and so that your kittens are used to a variety of brands :>

Zooplus Prices (worth checking back, as they will often discount certain brands):
Smilla Kitten Saver Pack 12 x 200gr - £6.99 Smilla Kitten Saver Pack 12 x 200g
Animonda Carny Kitten Saver Pack 12 x 400gr - £14.49 Animonda Carny Kitten Saver Pack 12 x 400g
Wild Freedom Kitten Saver Pack 12 x 200gr £12.99 Wild Freedom Kitten Saver Pack 12 x 200g
Feringa Menu Kitten Saver Pack 24 x 200g Feringa Menu Kitten Saver Pack 24 x 200g £22.9
Bozita Feline Tetra Pak Package Kitten 16 x 190g Bozita Feline Tetra Pak Package Kitten 190g £11.99

Based on current Zooplus prices I’d go for the Smilla saver pack, or the slightly more expensive but better quality Carny Kitten. Always worth shopping around, though :>

 

[TingaTinga]

Thanks for all that much appreciated. Theyve had several foods and while not particularly fussy they eat this smilla food with gusto. The carny kitten they ate but got a little picky with it hemce the change to smilla. I'll have a look and see which ones may be better

 

[Sarthur2]

Kittens eat like this until they are about a year old. I’m frankly surprised you’re not going through more. At similar ages mine ate 3 cans a day plus dry food. I hope you find another brand they like that is less. I feed mine the Fancy Feast pates.

 

[Ellis75]

I would also put out some dry food for them, like others said. It's cheaper and helps fill them up if they're not full from their wet food. At their ages, you could leave it out to free feed probably at least until the youngest reaches a year or so. There's of course a lot of debate about dry vs. wet and everything, but as far as I know there isn't any research to say that all wet is necessarily better than wet + dry, especially when they're so young and should be getting all the calories they want. I'd suggest figuring out how many cans of wet food you can afford to feed each day, then putting out a kitten kibble for them to snack on and get their fill.