How To Know How Much To Feed

[kunoichi9280]

I've been feeding Itachi 1/2 of a 3 oz can mixed with a tablespoon (most of the time) of kitten chow. I've been feeding him 3 times a day and it's been fine, but over the last two days he just seems ravenous. Usually he leaves a little food in his bowl and goes back in a half hour or so to finish up the rest. Yesterday and today he's been gobbling it up in one setting. Is it ok to add an extra feeding or increase the amount? I don't have a way to weigh him....he goes to the vet on Wed. for a checkup and vaccines.

ETA: Itachi is 11 weeks old, and both the dry and wet food are kitten-specific.

 

[tabbytom]

Is he still a kitten? Has he reached a year old already? If he has not, he is very much a kitten still and need ti be fed a few times a day and as much as he can eat at one sitting.

Feed him with food meant for kittens or food that's labeled 'For All Life Stages". as he grows near a year old, he'll go through a growth spurt and he may eat more till maybe he's around a year and a half and his food intake will taper off and he'll eat less and the number feeds will also be less.

Just observe and feed him accordingly and adjust the amount of food and number of feeds and you'll roughly get how much he eats each time.

As for weighing him, carry him and weigh together with you and minus off the weight after you weigh yourself again and that'll be his weight.

 

[kunoichi9280]

Is he still a kitten? Has he reached a year old already? If he has not, he is very much a kitten still and need ti be fed a few times a day and as much as he can eat at one sitting.

Feed him with food meant for kittens or food that's labeled 'For All Life Stages". as he grows near a year old, he'll go through a growth spurt and he may eat more till maybe he's around a year and a half and his food intake will taper off and he'll eat less and the number feeds will also be less.

Just observe and feed him accordingly and adjust the amount of food and number of feeds and you'll roughly get how much he eats each time.

As for weighing him, carry him and weigh together with you and minus off the weight after you weigh yourself again and that'll be his weight.

Sorry, I didn't realize I didn't put his age. He's only 11 weeks old. I'm feeding him wet kitten food along with the kitten chow. I've just been worried about overfeeding him.

 

[tabbytom]

Sorry, I didn't realize I didn't put his age. He's only 11 weeks old. I'm feeding him wet kitten food along with the kitten chow. I've just been worried about overfeeding him.

Oh, then feed him as much wet food as he can eat at one go and feed him 4 - 5 times a day. An 11 week old kitten eats lots and they need all the proteins and nutrients from kitten wet food.

Observe how much he eats and add more if he still wants to eat at that sitting. Once he’s full, he’ll move off. You can never overfeed a kitten and don’t worry about that.

 

[LTS3]

11 week old kittens are bottomless eating machines so feed as much food as the kitten will eat There may be days when the kitten isn't as hungry but that's ok.

Leave a bowl of dry food out all day, dumping leftovers out at the end of the day and washing the bowl out. Start with like 1 cup of food (use a measuring cup, not eyeballing the amount) and add more or less so there's minimal waste to throw out at the end of the day. Feed canned food when you are at home. Use a programmable timed feeder if you want your kitten to have a canned food meal when you aren't at home. Canned food is cooked right in the can so it won't go bad if left out all day. Put single meal portion sizes into the feeder to minimize waste. A multi-compartment feeder works great. Any partially eaten food is rotated out of the feeding window at the next programmed time so the cat always has a fresh serving.

 

[maggiedemi]

Right now my cats are getting 1/2 cup of dry food each at 7am. They graze on that. Then at 7pm they each get 3oz of canned food with water added.

 

[di and bob]

It's impossible to feed a kitten, especially one under 6 months, too much. I have always fed all my cats under one year of age as much as they want for the first year, then worry about their weight. Kittens metabolism and boundless energy make them able to eat like this, it';s not until they settle down as adults that tehy gain weight.

 

[kunoichi9280]

Thanks everyone! I guess I'll stop worrying about it. He seems to want an extra feeding more then he necessarily wants that much extra food in one setting, so I'll go ahead and add in a 4th feeding and/or dry food to graze on when I'm not here (but I'm usually here).