Is this too much to feed a 5 month old kitten?

Rayzieka

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I recently brought in a stray kitten about two months ago, vets confirmed he's about 5 months right now.
At his first checkup he was 5.1lb but that was a month ago and hes weighing about 7 1/2 on my scale and he definitely feels less like a stray kitten when picked up.
They couldn't confirm what he may be but hes got some characteristics of being part maincoon so perhaps that explains his intense growth since I've brought him home. (Or maybe I'm over feeding him...)

I feed him when I wake up and when I make dinner, and a few other various treats are thrown in.
Wake up: 1/3 cup Purina one dry kitten food + 1 rounded table spoon of friskies wet food
Dinner: 1/3 cup Purina one dry kitten food + 1 rounded table spoon of friskies wet food
And some nights before I sleep I'll throw an extra 1/3 cup of dry food in is bowl so he doesn't keep us up begging.
I do give him rewards for things like baths/nail clipping and sometimes for playing gently (usually a churu tube)
And on Saturday's I give him a half cooked egg yolk.

:oops: writing this all down does make me feel like I'm over feeding him but I'm just not sure if his hunger is because hes growing or if hes greedy.
He has an apt for the 30th for neuter so I'll run it by the vet then if I can.

So I guess I just wanted some advice or thoughts on if I'm feeding him too much and what's recommended :p Thank you.

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Furballsmom

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Hi
It's impossible to overfeed kittens, they need multiple small meals throughout the day preferably of wet food with some kibble for snacking and for overnight. You aren't feeding him nearly enough canned food. The kibble is too heavy on empty carbs, and more wet food throughout the day will help balance out his nutritional intake. He will need a lot of food until he's at least a year old but more likely until he's about two.

Keep in mind that many vets are not experts in kitten nutrition.
 

stephanietx

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You cannot overfeed a kitten. When my little one was 5 months old, he got wet food 4x a day and dry food offerings as needed and out all night when he was confined to his room. He was 8 pounds at 6 months, but the vet wasn't concerned. She told me his body would catch up and it did. Kittens have such high metabolism rates and they're so active that their bodies need all the nutrients it can get. Just be sure you're feeding him kitten wet and dry. Start introducing adult food when he's about 8 or 9 mos old.
 
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Rayzieka

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Hi
It's impossible to overfeed kittens, they need multiple small meals throughout the day preferably of wet food with some kibble for snacking and for overnight. You aren't feeding him nearly enough canned food. The kibble is too heavy on empty carbs, and more wet food throughout the day will help balance out his nutritional intake. He will need a lot of food until he's at least a year old but more likely until he's about two.

Keep in mind that many vets are not experts in kitten nutrition.
You cannot overfeed a kitten. When my little one was 5 months old, he got wet food 4x a day and dry food offerings as needed and out all night when he was confined to his room. He was 8 pounds at 6 months, but the vet wasn't concerned. She told me his body would catch up and it did. Kittens have such high metabolism rates and they're so active that their bodies need all the nutrients it can get. Just be sure you're feeding him kitten wet and dry. Start introducing adult food when he's about 8 or 9 mos old.
o_O Oh wow really?
I've never cared for a kitten by myself so I had no idea lol. My prior cats have all been adults or free-fed by family.
The last stray kitten I took in with family years ago is currently very over weight so I wanted to do it right this time lol.
Thank you for the advice, I'll start giving him a scoop of wet food whenever he sits by his bowl if it's a bit in-between meals.
 

Furballsmom

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Thank you for the advice,
He's lucky to have you :vibes::heartshape:

About the older kitty, try feeding him/her just wet food. Cats that don't get any more dry food and just canned typically will slowly lose weight, which is the only safe way for cats to lose weight. Also, see if you can gradually help it to get more exercise such as walking around the house with it's food dish in your hand so s/he follows you, and placing the food dish on a step (if you have stairs), then up two steps and so on.
 
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tabbytom

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writing this all down does make me feel like I'm over feeding him but I'm just not sure if his hunger is because hes growing or if hes greedy.
Kittens are eating machines. feed them 4 - 5 times a day and feed them as much as they can eat at one sitting. Kittens are full of energy and they eat, sleep poop, pee and play and sleep.

You can feed your kitten wet food meant for kittens as this type of food is full of nutrients and proteins to aid the growth of the kitten and wet food keeps them hydrated.

A guide to how much wet food to feed is observe how much your kitten can eat at one sitting and this will be roughly your gauge for each feeding. A kitten will always look for food if he's not fed enough.

As your kitten is around 7 months old, he'll go into a phase called growth spurt and during this time, he tends to eat more than usual and this will go on till he's about a year or so and slowly his food intake will slowly taper off.

Once he's an adult, another way to feed him enough for the day is that he'll need roughly 200 - 250 calories per day if he's a normal active cat and 250 - 300 calories per day if he's a very active cat. The total calorie per can is printed on the label.
The other way is feed him according to the call of his tummy. This is what I do with my boy. I don't free feed him and I don't feed him dry food. I feed him whenever he's hungry. I calculated, my boy needs around 200 - 250 calories per day as he's a normal active cat.

For kittens, best is to get wet food meant for kittens and once they enter into adult age, you have to change their food to adult food or you may get wet food labeled 'For All Life Stages' and you can feed your kitty with this now and through out and don't have to worry about transiting him over to adult food. I feed my boy wet food labeled 'For All Life Stages' since he was rescued at around 4 weeks old and he's coming to 7 years old in a month's time.
 
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