I'm really confused about how many calories my kitten should eat!!!???

hollyelvis

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LTS3

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Ignore everything you read online and on pet food labels and just feed the kitten as much as he will eat :) Kittens need tons of food for growth. They can't get fat. Feed both canned and dry, more canned if possible with some amount of dry for snacking on. When the kitten reaches a year old or so, you can reduce the amount of food so that your cat is eating roughly 20 to 25 calories per pound of body weight daily.
 

Juniper_Junebug

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Can I piggy-back off the original post with another related question, since I've been wondering about the same thing? The difference between kitten and adult calories can be a lot, especially for a small cat. My kitty is anywhere between 7 and 10 months old, and shy of 7 pounds. As an adult, that would mean only 140-175 calories, whereas now she is eating as much as 300. With that kind of difference, I would have guessed I should be transitioning over a period of a month or more. If so, should I wait until one year to start, or start when she is one year minus the transition period? Or will she naturally start eating less when she's ready? Thanks!
 

Hoboforeternity

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Ignore everything you read online and on pet food labels and just feed the kitten as much as he will eat :) Kittens need tons of food for growth. They can't get fat. Feed both canned and dry, more canned if possible with some amount of dry for snacking on. When the kitten reaches a year old or so, you can reduce the amount of food so that your cat is eating roughly 20 to 25 calories per pound of body weight daily.
it's the same with 7 month old? i give her about 50% more my adult cat eats but sometimes she meows for more. should i just give her as much as she wants?
 

LTS3

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it's the same with 7 month old? i give her about 50% more my adult cat eats but sometimes she meows for more. should i just give her as much as she wants?
Yes. Every cat is different but in general if a cat is constantly hungry and showing hangry behavior (counter surfing or digging in trash cans to find more food to eat, screaming, scratching / biting, trying to eat your dinner, etc) give more food. Most cats will start to want less food as they get to a year old or so.
 
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