Kitten Portion Control?

[Antarcticat]

Hey all! I have a 4.5 month old kitten who has an absolutely voracious appetite. I don't want him to become a grazer for all the health reasons and I don't think he really can be; he will eat any food I put in front of him, no matter how much, what time, or how recently he's eaten.

I usually feed him 2-3 times per day, once before work, once after, and once later in the evening on occasion. I've been experimenting with the amount he gets per serving and it really doesn't appear to matter because no matter how much he gets, he'll eat it all.

The one recurring thing I've heard is that kittens should be allowed to eat as much as they can for the first six months of their life.. I'm skeptical of doing that with this little guy. Should I be letting him gorge though? How much did you feed your furbaby when s/he was a kitten, and how often?

 

[himawari]

I didn't get my cat when he was a kitten but I have read articles. I would suggest increasing the amount of food you give him when you do feed him rather than free-feeding him. 'Cause that way you can see how much he eats too

 

[Antarcticat]

That's what I've been doing the past few weeks. Problem is, it seems like he'll eat everything I give him no matter how much I give him! Moderation in general tends to be an issue for him; he'll play to the point of exhaustion without realizing how tired he is too. I have to set limits for him on pretty much everything, problem is that when it comes to food I'm not quite sure how to set that limit.

 

[LotsOfFur]

He's still so young. I would increase the number of feedings each day. My kitten is almost the same age as yours and he is offered wet food no less than 4 times per day and I offer him a couple of kitten kibble feedings also.

They are growing so fast at this age so it is hard to overfeed them.

I can't tell you the amounts of food my kit eats at each time it's offered because he has older cat siblings and they like to eat in shifts, sigh* cats ya know

 

[Antarcticat]

I've tried to give him larger portions to compensate for the lower frequency in feeding times, but I think I'm gonna take your advice. He gets a full 3oz can of blue buffalo kitten wet food every day and an amount of blue buffalo kibble that I've been trying to hammer down to something consistent. I figure maybe he needs a full serving of kibble in addition to the wet.

 

[tabbytom]

Hello Antarcticat, your kitten at 4.5 month old is very much a kitten. They don't reach adulthood till they are one year old and some breeds takes up to 4 years or so to matured as adult cats.

It's good that you are giving him timed feeding due to your work schedule. Keep it that way. Just like what LotsOfFur mentioned, a kitten need to be fed at least 4 times a day and you can never over feed a kitten. They can eat lots at one sitting and once they have enough, they'll stop. If They keep asking for food means that they are not fed enough.

They need proteins (wet food) to grow. Get him wet food meant for kittens or for all life stages. Once they gets older, the food intake will taper down.

3oz is not enough. A kitten needs more than that as they are very active and they burn lots of calories.

 

[maggiedemi]

How much dry food are you giving him? When my cats get 3oz of wet food per day, they get a half cup of dry food per day along with it. I split all that into 3 meals.

 

[rubysmama]

He gets a full 3oz can of blue buffalo kitten wet food every day and an amount of blue buffalo kibble that I've been trying to hammer down to something consistent. I figure maybe he needs a full serving of kibble in addition to the wet.

I just looked on the Blue Buffalo website, and this is the feeding guide for the chicken kitten canned food. It looks like each flavour has different guidelines, so maybe you could check their website for the

Feeding Instructions
Up to 20 weeks of age, feed as much as your kitten will eat in 3 or 4 feedings per day. 21 to 30 weeks of age, feed about 2/3 can per pound of body weight per day. 31 to 52 weeks of age, feed about 1/2 can per pound of body weight per day.
BLUE Wilderness - High Protein Healthy Cat Food

 

[Antarcticat]

3oz is not enough. A kitten needs more than that as they are very active and they burn lots of calories.

Oh yeah, I figured as much! The 3oz is just what he gets wet every day; I've been giving him Blue Buffalo kibble in addition to that, usually around half a cup to a full cup, but I was hesitant that the latter might've been too much until I got responses in this thread. I totally get what you're saying with kittens burning a lot of energy though; mine's a Savannah/Bengal mix, so he's got a LOT of energy to burn!

How much dry food are you giving him? When my cats get 3oz of wet food per day, they get a half cup of dry food per day along with it. I split all that into 3 meals.

I started by giving half a cup too, but that didn't seem to be enough-- I upped it to a full cup and lately I've just been concerned that it was too much; one of the cats my family had when I was a kid grew obese and wound up with diabetes, and I think that's what's made me apprehensive. Sounds like at this age it'd be pretty impossible to give him too much though. Maybe the solution is to give a full cup divided in two feedings (in addition to his 3oz wet), so he's not overeating in one single sitting.

 

[orange&white]

My kitten will be 11 months in a few days and I still feed her all she wants (3 meals a day). Through her first year, she has days when it seems like she's eating enough for 3 cats and days where I worried she didn't eat enough. Their bodies grow in spurts...so does their appetite. Even now when she's almost full-grown, she eats 3 ounces some days and 5 ounces on others (raw diet). When she was little, she could eat 8 ounces of food some days!

I'd keep feeding your baby all he'll eat. You have quite a few months to go before worrying over portion control.