# Letting kittens eat as much as they want - when does that end?



## yellowdaisies (Jan 25, 2011)

The title is pretty self explanatory.  I've got almost 9 month old kittens - should I still be letting them eat as much as they want, or should I start portion-controlling?

Here's my situation:
Lily - not picky at all, but I'm worried she's not eating enough 
Spencer - SUPER picky, but I'm worried he's eating too much!! He's always meowing for food!! 

So clearly, this question is for Spencer. 

p.s. Spencer is on an all-wet diet (Wellness grain free and BG) because he's getting chubby...Lily eats wet (Weruva, Merrick, Merrick BG, and Wellness grain free) and dry (Merrick BG)


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## raecarrow (Oct 27, 2009)

Once they start getting chubby, I would start portion controlling. It is something of a sign that they have stopped growing. If Lilly isn't getting chubby, I wouldn't cut her back.

I had to start cutting back Teddy's food when he was a 1.5yo cause he started getting chubby. But his intense obsession with food didn't start easing up until he turned 3.


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## laurief (Jun 22, 2008)

The kittens I have raised have grown like gangbusters for the first 9 mos of their lives, then suddenly their growth screeches to a near-halt at 9 mos. At that point, any "baby chubs" start to trim down, as do their appetites. So see what happens to your kits over the next month. If Spencer doesn't start to trim down at all, you can start portioning his food.

Laurie


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## yellowdaisies (Jan 25, 2011)

Thanks!  
raecarrow - "intense obsession with food" - that's the perfect definition of what Spencer has!!! That boy drives me NUTS! :-D 

I won't cut Lily back, because I feel like she barely eats enough as it is. She was 3 lbs lighter than Spencer the last time I weighed them. 

When I do start portioning his food, how much should I be feeding him? Keep in mind it's all wet food. The cans I have say 1 can per day per 6 lbs - he's 10.8 lbs so I guess that would be almost 2 cans...? That seems excessive to me... But it also says twice as much for kittens, which has always seemed like a LOT of food to me -- 3-4 cans a DAY?? Don't worry - he's not eating 3 or 4 cans a day...although sometimes I think he'd like to...


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## MinkaMuffin (Apr 1, 2011)

Female cats are supposed to be lighter than males, so just because she is 3 lbs lighter doesn't mean she's unhealthy. She looks fine in the photos you have in your signature, but I don't know how old they are.

You might want to start with 1 1/2 can for him and then just monitor his weight. If he starts losing, bump him up to two cans, and if gaining, down to one can. Unfortunately, trial and error is basically the only way to figure out how much a cat needs to eat. xD

Oh, and a lot of the time, the portioning on the back of the can is wrong, its usually better to go by calories.


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## yellowdaisies (Jan 25, 2011)

I think I made it sound like I think Lily is unhealthy - I absolutely don't think she is - she's extremely active and looks and feels very healthy, so I'm not worried about her. It's her brother I'm worried about!!

If it's better to go by calories, how do I know how many calories he needs? I'm assuming it would be like a human where it's adjusted for age and size...


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

My twins weighed their age up until 8 months (2 months old, 2 lbs., 4 months old, 4 lbs., etc.). When they reached a plateau, I cut back on their food a bit. They've never been free-fed.


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## yellowdaisies (Jan 25, 2011)

marie73 said:


> My twins weighed their age up until 8 months (2 months old, 2 lbs., 4 months old, 4 lbs., etc.). When they reached a plateau, I cut back on their food a bit. They've never been free-fed.


I've heard this before, but it's never been true of our cats! We got them at 4 months (between 4 and 5) and they weighed 6 lbs (Lily) and 7 lbs (Spencer).


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

My girls are all on the small side. Gigi is only 7 lbs. It's all hair. :grin:


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

Abby's the same way, but she's always been small. I had to wait until she was 4 months old to have her spayed, because she had to be at least 2 lbs...and she didn't hit 2 lbs until 4 months!

Yellowdaisies: I find the amount recommended on the can is invariably too much.


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## MinkaMuffin (Apr 1, 2011)

yellowdaisies said:


> I think I made it sound like I think Lily is unhealthy - I absolutely don't think she is - she's extremely active and looks and feels very healthy, so I'm not worried about her. It's her brother I'm worried about!!
> 
> If it's better to go by calories, how do I know how many calories he needs? I'm assuming it would be like a human where it's adjusted for age and size...


Once again, its trial and error, but at least with calories, you can switch foods with more ease. On Catinfo.org, there is information about how many calories a cat should get, and yes, it depends, on weight, age, gender and activity level.


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