#1
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Calorie intake for 5 month old kittens?
My two kittens Pebbles and BamBam are 5 months old, and last week at their vet visit, weight 6.2 lbs (2.8 kg) and 5 lbs (2.2 kg) respectively. I'm feeding them canned Wellness Grain Free (the 12 oz cans) 3 times a day: 8 am, 6pm and a smaller portion around midnight. They easily eat 1.5 can a day and I'm wondering if I'm feeding them too much. They eat about 50% of their food right away, and then graze on the rest. It's often gone before the next feeding.
Each can of Wellness is about 450 - 500 calories each, so combined, they're eating 675 - 750 calories a day. They don't eat any dry food, and very few snacks. Pebbles is bigger but I can still see the waist indentation. I read that adult cats should eat 25-30 cal per lb, and that would translate to less than 350 cal for both cats. Obviously, they are still kittens and need to grow, but am I feeding them too much? When should I start feeding them less? How much should I feed them? Thanks in advance for reading this. I might be obsessing too much, but I'd rather start with proper eating habits than have to correct overeating issues down the road. |
#2
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As simplified as this may sound - the kitties will let you know. One day you will go to feed them their second feeding and you will notice there is leftover food. That will be a sure sign you can cut back a bit. Maybe do smaller portions for their feedings or cut back on the amount of feedings in a day.
You are right as to the amount for adult cats. I never really stress over it. I feed my guys what they want to eat. Most times it amounts to about a small 5.5 ounce can each a day. But I have some big eaters (translate that to big cats) who probably eat closer to twice that. I have found with all the kittens I've raised that around the 6 - 9 month stage they start to slow down with the amount of food they eat. Kittens need a larger amount of food just because of their pure rambunctiousness. They get the zoomies so many times a day they burn off a ton of calories. Once they start maturing into adulthood the zoomies slow a bit too. Dart, at almost six months, is starting to not eat as much as he was before. He can still pack away more food in a day than three of my adult kitties at three years old. With my seven month old raw eaters I feed approx 2 cups of raw twice a day plus a large can of Wellness in the morning. Occasionally I add another can of Wellness at night.
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Assumptions do nothing but make an ass out of u and me. We can stick our heads in the sand for only so long before it starts choking us. Face it folks. The pet population is bad ALL OVER THE WORLD! |
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