How much do you feed?

[Chinadoll]

The 3 kittens are eating me out of house and home. They get free fed and also get to split one of the larger cat cans of food as a treat a day. Instead of just making sure the bowl is always full, should I just feed them a ceratin amount every day? They are pigs!! I started out putting about 2 scoops of food each in their bowls. I noticed when I'd get home from work it would be almost empty so I'd fill it up again. Am I feeding too much, too little? Should I just fill the bowls with one scoop in the morning and one in the evening? Is that to little? Can I be overfeeding them by making sure the bowl is always full? I'm asking because I'm spending a fortune on cat food. I buy Nutro and its getting expensive to buy a bag about every two weeks. Yesterday, I just bought the biggest bag of Nutro I could find in hopes that it will last me longer.

I guess I'm just used to the ferrets. I can buy about 20 to 25 pounds of food and have it last me 2 months for 5 ferrets and that's with them being free fed to. Any advice on how you feed would be much apreciated.

[Randi]

Have a look on the bag and see what it says! You should feed them according to their weight. I think it's a good idea to feed them twice a day. I do that now with Fister. When we just got him up, I fed him whenever the bowl was empty, but realized it wasn't the best for him. Just make sure they get the nutrition they need! :p

Good luck! :)

[Former User]

How old are your kittens? Kittens do need more food that twice a day! May be better to ask from your vet specific instructions.

[Chinadoll]

Look at the bag...duh! My bad. I'll do that when I get home...Although I have a feeling I feed them more than what's reccommended on the bag.

The kittens..Scout is about 5 to 6 months Gigi is about 2 1/2 months and Bixby probably 2 1/2 to 3 months old. Last vet check for shots, the vet said they were completely healthy even a little pudgy(Bixby!...he has a nice belly on him) We go in again for the last set of shots in a couple weeks...I'll have to ask her what she thinks.

I know kittens need to eat more than adult cats...I was just curious as to how everyone else fed their kitties. Their bowls never go empty. If I see them getting low when I get home from work, I fill it up again. I was wondering if a constant supply was too much. It seems like Bix will just keep eating and eating. It seems like a 20lb bag goes in no time.

[AmberLee]

In my experience, cats that have gone hungry (abandonment/mother's illness, etc) are more apt to overeat than those that haven't.

Still, kittens are voracious. I used to call Cassy and Sassy my "furred piranhas" due to their ability to attack the feedbowl in mid-air as I was trying to put it down for them.

Are they eating kitten-specific food? I've heard that they eat less of that (due to it's richness) than a kitten will of cat food. Yes, check with your vet. Good luck.

[Chinadoll]

Yep...they get both Nutro Natural kitten and Nutro Max kitten...
and the can food they get either Iams kitten or Nutro kitten(mostly iams because its so hard to find the large cans of Nutro kitten)

[Cataholic]

My cats are part cat- part bottomless pits. Four of the six eat like they haven't seen food before, and one, Tenny, was truly "starved"...and has a hard time pushing himself away from the bowl, both literally and figuratively!

I do free feed, and kind of 'have to' for Tex. He needs to eat all the time, less he throws up even more. The one thing I have cut out on is the daily bowls of treats for everyone. I now feed Tex a bowl of wet food (treats) and let the others lick the spoon. Lots of whining, but less calories for them!

[Miss Meow]

I fed my two cats three times a day until they were 6-7 months old, then reduced it to twice a day. Now I keep dry food available all the time as they don't eat much of it, and feed canned or raw meat twice a day (50-70g food per cat per meal - they are both healthy and in good shape, so it seems to be right for them).

But when they were smaller, they were like vacuum cleaners - just sucking the food bowl dry. I don't know where it all went!

[jenluckenbach]

My cats eat twice a day. A specific measured amount (they eat in carriers so no one steals another one's food). That amount will be determined by the food you are feeding and the weight of the cat. Keeping in mind that kittens will be different than adults. They eat only dry with 2 exceptions that have a spoonful of canned mixed with their dry to tempt them to finnish. Asking your vet is always a good idea too.(although, they will tell you to feed them whatever THEY sell)

[Fuzzy317]

We free feed Nutro Max Cat - adult. We only give partial cans as treats, maybe once a month.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I now free feed my 3 cats dry food only. I measure it out each day so that I don't give them too much. I used to feed them dry mixed with wet food twice a day. When Pepper was a kitten he was also a bottomless pit. He ate wet and dry kitten food. When he got older I made the mistake of putting too much dry food in their dish. Pepper gained a lot of weight. The vet said that some cats will over eat. I never knew that before because I never had a problem with Storm. I always thought that dogs were the ones that would over eat. Pepper is still a big boy and weighs about 17lbs but he is also big boned and muscular. Now I measure out their dry food each morning and I don't refill the dish until the next morning. They only get treats on weekends. I buy the 20lb bags of food and it seems to last a long time. Good luck. :)

[neko1]

All my guys get dry food. I never fed them any wet food. I did feed them more when they were kittens. Now they get fed measured portions according to weight.

Hey Jen, vets don't necessarily tell people just to buy " their food". At our office we recommend any of the name brand foods to our clients so they don't HAVE to buy from us. The only people that buy from us need the food for specific problems!!! So don't say that ALL vets will sell a client only their food please.

[Piglet]

I quit giving Toby the kitten food (Piglet liked it more than her own food and ate most of it). The vet told me that at twelve weeks kittens can have adult food. Now I have one bowl of dry food for free feeding all day. Wissel was used to this before, but Piglet got two meals a day and tends to just keep eating now because it's there all the time. She is so heavy I can hardly lift her and I'm thinking about taking her to see the vet for some advice.
The three of them share a big can of wet food every other evening. I put it in three seperate bowls, Wissel eats very civilised little bites and takes her time (a real little lady), Toby and Piglet eat like pigs and attack Wissels bowl when they've finished theirs. Wissel always seems dissapointed when she comes back later and finds her bowl empty ('I was saving that!'), so I give her and extra little treat.
I fed Piglet Iams kitten food when she was little but found it so expensive that I switched to Whiskas, which is what I'm feeding all three of them now.

[Glacier]

I leave about two cups of dry food out every morning for the six of them to munch on. Five of them share a can of wet food in the morning. Pete gets his own small can twice a day--it's prescription wet food for his FLUTD. The dry food is also prescription. When Pete was sick, I tried a feeding schedule--the others were not happy with me. Polly Paws yowled incessantly--like she was going to collapse from starvation at any minute! So we went back to the free feeding. They all gained a bit of weight when I changed foods--they had been on a lite diet food when Pete got sick, but they seem to have stabilized again.

When I adopted Onyx he weighed about 7 pounds and was five months old. The shelter staff warned me that he ate his own body weight in food everyday. I thought they were kidding--WRONG!! I am so glad he is finally done growing! He weighs just under 20 pounds now at 18 months old. I just had him at the vet for his annual check-up and the vet says his weight is fine, he's just a huge kitty.

[Chinadoll]

I leave about two cups of dry food out every morning for the six of them to munch on.

That's about what I put out in the morning. About 2 cups...but I have 3 kittens as opposed to 6. Now I know kittens eat more...but jeez, to find the bowl almost empty when I got home when I thought I was putting out more than enough food for the day was a bit disconcerting. I'm going to ask my vet and see what she says. But until I get there, I'm going in 2 weeks. I'll make sure the bowl is always food. Piggies!!

[Glacier]

Originally posted by Chinadoll


That's about what I put out in the morning. About 2 cups...but I have 3 kittens as opposed to 6.

Well, none of mine are kittens anymore so their eating has slowed down alot. Onyx was an eating machine when he was growing. Plus two of my girls are very tiny--five pounds each at over two years old, so they don't eat much....Kittens need a lot of calories to grow. I'd check with your vet, but not worry too much. I'd bet they are just growing like little weeds.