Not Eating Enough?

[Grayland]

19 week old MC male is playful and very happy. The vet said that he's in purrfect health with a weight of 7.5 pounds. He's supposed to be eating just over 7 ounces per day however he's eating 4-6 ounces with breakfast being his biggest meal....about a 2 ounce portion. He was being fed a homemade lean ground beef based mix with some other stuff mixed in but at the suggestion of the vet I've been trying a commercial raw mix, again ground beef based. He seemed more interested in it at first but after a few days went back to the old habit of eating the 4-6 ounces. I was free feeding however lately I've been taking it out of the fridge 3-4 times a day for his meals.

Now I know he's healthy but I expected a bigger appetite with the MC....anyone else experience anything like this?

Thanks in advance

 

[Koda&Jack]

Have you tried some different foods? I feed both my kittens a raw homemade food, but I make it with chicken. I don’t know if switching to a chicken based diet will help. If you are worried about him eating not eating enough I would try to sprinkle some treats or anything he likes on top of the food to entice him some more. I would also stop the free feeding, which I assume you have already have, doing this will definitely help with his appetite. I would worry to much, a cat will eat when it wants to eat. If he is starting to lose weight, act lethargic, etc. I would take him to vet. In the meantime, I would just keep close eye on him and continue feeding him as much raw food as he will eat in one meal time. It’s better to over feed a young kitten rather than under feed them! Hope this helps!

 

[lisahe]

I agree with everything Koda&Jack suggests: setting mealtimes is a good thing and cats definitely need variety in their diet. Since this is a kitten, it's probably best to keep feeding lots of daily meals but that's a good habit to get him into and a good practice anyway for raw food that shouldn't sit out too long.

 

[Grayland]

Ok thanks! I actually went back to his original homemade raw ground beef this morning, thawed some out then cooked it and once it had cooled and fat drained out offered him some which he ate....geez, talk about fickle. I also got some beef liver which i cooked and will incorporate into the daily meals be gets. I'm sticking to meal times as opposed to the free feeding too.

I'm hoping that as he gets older he'll have a less discriminating palate as all the options so far are very good food. I hope it doesn't go on for the 4-5 years it takes for these MC's to stop growing lol.