Back here after about 10 years. This time with just adopted eight months old kittens. Settling into their new home (indoors) after spending four months at the shelter. Supposedly sisters. Aja is a very good looking weight and build. Little sister Chyna is smaller, more slender and just looks younger and more "kitten-ish".
My assumptions are that at the shelter they were fed wet food once a day and grazed in community bowls (mix of Science Diet Kitten and Adult) the rest of the time. That's what I have been trying so far but just Kitten. At issue is that little Chyna seems to eat much less than Aja. Chyna digs in to her 1.3 oz portion but loses interest after after eating about a third. She takes twice as long to eat that third as it takes Aja to clean up her full portion. (Aja eats at a calm, ladylike pace)
Aja has very good manners and does not try to usurp Chyna's wet food or bother her when she's grazing at the shared bowl.
Regarding free feeding, I put an amount of food equivalent to the daily requirements of two five lb kittens. Now, after ten days, the free feeding bowl is getting emptied before morning, the next feeding time. My thoughts were that Chyna is only going to eat all she wants and that is less than Aja. So, I have Aja eating her share plus part of Chyna's share.
Now I'm thinking I need to put even more food down so that it is always available to Chyna. Problem is, I dread the thought of our beautiful Aja becoming overweight and unhealthy. This anxiety was driven home when I met my nephew's cat, Sweet Pea, at Christmas. My nephew took SP when her owner had to go to an assisted living facility. He has her on a diet but poor Sweet Pea weighs twenty pounds.
Thoughts?
By the way: Our previous cat, our boy Sasha, passed away after seventeen years in August. One vet gave Sasha little chance of survival back when he was about two or three years old. But, armed with information and advice from this website, we found a different vet who accepted and acted on that advice.
Aja looks exactly like her predecessor, Sasha.
My assumptions are that at the shelter they were fed wet food once a day and grazed in community bowls (mix of Science Diet Kitten and Adult) the rest of the time. That's what I have been trying so far but just Kitten. At issue is that little Chyna seems to eat much less than Aja. Chyna digs in to her 1.3 oz portion but loses interest after after eating about a third. She takes twice as long to eat that third as it takes Aja to clean up her full portion. (Aja eats at a calm, ladylike pace)
Aja has very good manners and does not try to usurp Chyna's wet food or bother her when she's grazing at the shared bowl.
Regarding free feeding, I put an amount of food equivalent to the daily requirements of two five lb kittens. Now, after ten days, the free feeding bowl is getting emptied before morning, the next feeding time. My thoughts were that Chyna is only going to eat all she wants and that is less than Aja. So, I have Aja eating her share plus part of Chyna's share.
Now I'm thinking I need to put even more food down so that it is always available to Chyna. Problem is, I dread the thought of our beautiful Aja becoming overweight and unhealthy. This anxiety was driven home when I met my nephew's cat, Sweet Pea, at Christmas. My nephew took SP when her owner had to go to an assisted living facility. He has her on a diet but poor Sweet Pea weighs twenty pounds.
Thoughts?
By the way: Our previous cat, our boy Sasha, passed away after seventeen years in August. One vet gave Sasha little chance of survival back when he was about two or three years old. But, armed with information and advice from this website, we found a different vet who accepted and acted on that advice.
Aja looks exactly like her predecessor, Sasha.
