# How much should I be feeding my 5 month old kittens?



## yellowdaisies (Jan 25, 2011)

We've recently stopped free feeding Spencer and Lily their dry food, because it seemed like they were beginning to eat less wet food in favor of dry. Also, they're indoor only cats, so I don't want to run the risk of them becoming overweight. I'm not sure that would ever be an issue for Lily, but I could definitely see Spencer overeating. He loves his food! 

I've read about an all wet food diet on here, and I'd like to do that (with maybe the occasional dry food treat?). 

How much canned food should a 5 month old kitten eat every day? They are eating Wellness and Merrick BG. The Merrick BG website doesn't have any feeding guidelines, and the Wellness site says a 5.5 oz can for each 6-8 lbs of body weight, but that is for an adult cat. Kittens need more, right? We can't switch them to kitten Wellness, because they don't like it. 

At their vet check up 2 weeks ago, Spencer weighed a 6 lb 5 oz and Lily weighed a 5 lb 13 oz. They probably weigh a little more than that now, I would guess.

Also, how much wet food will your cats eat in one sitting? I've never seen either of our cats eat even half of a 5.5 oz can, although they've come close. (We're feeding them twice a day). 

And, if you have any suggestions about switching from always having dry food out with 2 wet meals a day to scheduled meal times only, I'd appreciate it.  They don't seem to be too thrilled about it so far, but it's only been a day. 

Thanks for your help!


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

The recommended feeding amounts on the cans invariably overstate the amount that should be fed. That said, how much a cat will/should eat depends a lot on the cat. So, you'll need to experiment a bit. Perhaps try a few ounces each meal and then go up or down from there, depending on whether they leave a lot behind or gobble it all up and then look around for more.

If possible, I'd feed them three times a day, since kittens need to be fed more often. I'd also give them as much as they want, since they're growing and they're so active. I'd worry about portion control when they're a bit older. 

My girls (both a little under 2) split a 3 oz can between them twice a day, and 9 times out of 10 they don't finish that. They also get about 1/8 of a cup of dry, more as a snack than anything. But, they're both very small...Muffs is 8.5 lbs and Abby is 7.5 lbs...so, not much bigger than your two!


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## Gloworm (Nov 19, 2010)

*Dry food ingredient comparison*

Woops wrong place


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