Cat Chat Feline Forum

Kittens now 10 weeks old, just want to check I am giving correct amounts. Male kitten is 1.14 kg and female is 965 gram, female is a smaller build then the male. They get 120 grams each of wet food (Animonda Carny Kitten ) per day and both of them usually finish their bowls, sometimes I'll put down a small amount of dry food although the female is not too fussy for dry food depending on her mood, also a few treats between meals. Is the above amounts acceptable?

I want them to have & get used to regular feeding times and not when they demand it.. as their approaching the 12 weeks should portions be increased?

I'm not an expert, but until someone more experience chips in, I'd say that I wouldn't try to limit what a young kitten eats; I'd let them have as much as they want. They are doing a lot of growing. I understand you don't want them demanding food at random times. But could you try putting a bit more in the bowls, until you reach the point where they don't clear it up? Also, how many meals a day do they get? At that age, I think their food should be divided into 3 or 4 meals. As they get older you can aim to reduce it to 2.

Yes, I used to breed Siamese and have lived with loads of moggie kittens too, and I'd say three meals a day atm and biscuits to browse on, though people seem more scientific these days. But I always let them decide, how much and when ... which I realise is just what you're trying to avoid, but ... THEY will train YOU

You might think you've got the upper hand with a cat, but, always, the cat has the upper paw ...

Honestly, this is not too bad, and it makes life much easier

(I have of course been conditioned by decades of subservience to cats ...)

I too would feed a kitten that age three or four meals a day, and be guided by how much they want to eat. They are growing, and expending a lot of energy exploring the world as well, so need plenty of good quality food to lay down bone and muscle. Cats are designed by nature to eat several small, mouse sized meals a day (not like wolves, which eat massively but less often). Most like to browse, eating part of a bowl and coming back for more later, so frequent small meals of wet food are better than one big bowl. I feed my adults twice a day, morning and evening, in a cool spot that means the food stays fresh for hours - in summer I sometimes put a freezer block underneath it if they are slow to eat.

Thanks for the suggestions. They have been getting fed three times a day and I've now upped their meals to 50 grams per meal, they finish their meals completely. What I have noticed they seem to sleep a bit more now. I assume maybe the extra grub is doing it or perhaps another phase and they are starting to do what cats are famous for ...sleeping

I once read about someone wondering - how is it that cats never get bedsores?