This is my first post outside the Behavior subforum
Well, I come today with a pretty straightforward question: how much should 3-4 months old kittens eat? We adopted Coco and Kylo about a month ago, with around 8 weeks, and they are around 14 weeks now.
The first days, we had them on a free feeding basis, as both the foster lady and the vet told us "let them eat as they want, they are kittens and they need to eat a lot". This is dry food I'm talking about, with wet food cans around 3 times a week. During these days, I noticed they usually left some krispies in their plate (sorry, this is how we usually call dry food here!), and didn't eat more until they saw their plate full again.
Later, after reading a lot and watching a lot of Jackson Galaxy videos, we started to feed them 4 times a day. Also, respecting the suggested intakings in the
package. The second vet (the one the foster association has an arrangement with, and where both kittens are being vaccinated and will be neutered) told us that we should follow strictly the doses at the packages, and on the days we give them a can of wet food, give them less dry food. This second vet said kittens can get obese so correct intakes must be respected since the beginning.
What I see is that they are now obsessed with food. They jump on their plates as soon as we present them, and start meowing a lot while we prepare them. Also, when their scheduled time is nearing, they will follow us if they see we are eating something (could be just a banana) and even meow a little asking for food.
So what do you usually prefer with kittens? Should they eat at will, or it's important to follow instructions on rations? And is it definitely better to use them to 3-4 feedings a day instead of at will?
Thanks!
Well, I come today with a pretty straightforward question: how much should 3-4 months old kittens eat? We adopted Coco and Kylo about a month ago, with around 8 weeks, and they are around 14 weeks now.
The first days, we had them on a free feeding basis, as both the foster lady and the vet told us "let them eat as they want, they are kittens and they need to eat a lot". This is dry food I'm talking about, with wet food cans around 3 times a week. During these days, I noticed they usually left some krispies in their plate (sorry, this is how we usually call dry food here!), and didn't eat more until they saw their plate full again.
Later, after reading a lot and watching a lot of Jackson Galaxy videos, we started to feed them 4 times a day. Also, respecting the suggested intakings in the
package. The second vet (the one the foster association has an arrangement with, and where both kittens are being vaccinated and will be neutered) told us that we should follow strictly the doses at the packages, and on the days we give them a can of wet food, give them less dry food. This second vet said kittens can get obese so correct intakes must be respected since the beginning.
What I see is that they are now obsessed with food. They jump on their plates as soon as we present them, and start meowing a lot while we prepare them. Also, when their scheduled time is nearing, they will follow us if they see we are eating something (could be just a banana) and even meow a little asking for food.
So what do you usually prefer with kittens? Should they eat at will, or it's important to follow instructions on rations? And is it definitely better to use them to 3-4 feedings a day instead of at will?
Thanks!