Kitty feeding

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  • 26 December, 2013 at 8:36 pm #798146
    Jordan
    Participant

    Hi there!
    My little Ludo is now three months old. I got him at a shelter and he was used to dry food, so I have been feeding him the Iams kitten dry that he is used to, which he seems to like. I read that free-feeding kittens is okay since they seem to just graze on their food all day, which is easier since I am away at work during the day. But he seems to eat an awful lot! I fill up the bowl with 1/4 cup in the morning and it is empty by the time I get home, and he usually wants more. It seems like every five minutes he runs to his bowl to eat a few kibbles. He does more than exercise it off, he’s quite the little ball of energy and loves to jump and run around and play all up until bedtime. It just seems like he’s a little piggy sometimes with as much as he seems to want to eat. It seems like this is normal, especially for how much energy he has, but I just wanted to double check and make sure I’m not overfeeding him. He is growing quite quickly (stop it!) and judging by the size of his paws and ears he is going to be a big boy.
    I was also considering introducing some wet food to him, although He seems to do well with the dry food, and has no problem drinking plenty of water. What are your thoughts on feeding him?

    Thanks!

    26 December, 2013 at 8:49 pm #798147
    Jeankit
    Participant

    Warm welcome to TDK Jordan & Ludo. IMHO wet food is a great option/choice as food for your kit.
    Yes, you can continue to have dry kibble available with water too. I keep quality dry food out all of the time w/water. My cats get better wet food as additional noms on a daily basis. You can also check out more chat/links on food on right side of this screen.

    26 December, 2013 at 10:04 pm #798149
    JerseyJoan
    Moderator

    Hi Jordan, welcome! Ludo sounds like a blast! It’s hard to gauge how big he will get, and by extension, how much he should eat. My Leela gained a pound a month for a year, settling in at 12 pounds until an illness took a bit of weight off. My boy Comet loves his crunchies too, and is now a big guy, but not overweight. I would think that as long as Ludo has lots of energy and plays a lot, he should be fine having some crunchies to snack on while you are out and then something else later. When he hits the one year mark, you will know his eating habits and be able to adjust them accordingly, and your vet should have some input too.

    27 December, 2013 at 12:25 am #798163
    prairiecat
    Participant

    Hi Jordan, welcome to ‘TDK’! Loved seeing Ludo as the Christmas kit of the day. I read somewhere that while dogs will happily overeat, cats generally won’t eat more than they need. Don’t know if it’s true, but if Ludo is an active and growing kit, I’d tend to let him have as much dry food as he wants. Talk to your vet about it to be sure, but I’ve also read that male cats might do better with a wet food instead of dry, to help prevent urinary infections. I give my boy Jes both, he gets wet food for breakfast and dinner, but I keep a bowl of crunchies out and he seems to appreciate having that to snack on between times.

    27 December, 2013 at 10:18 am #798192
    jcat
    Participant

    Yes, I wouldn’t recommend dry food 24/7 because in some male cats it can cause the formation of crystals in the bladder which block the urethra and this is life-threatening within a matter of hours. It won’t happen to all male cats by any means, and it may only happen to a small proportion of them (hard to know, since no one seems to be keeping track) but it does happen. It has happened to other people on this site and it happened to my Max, who nearly died and had to have emergency surgery (which is never cheap), and it is just something that I would never want to go through again and never want anyone else’s animal to go through either. So I would always give male cats mainly wet food (and raw — that is another option you might want to investigate). It’s good that he likes to drink water. If you do decide to keep giving him dry food, you must always have fresh clean water available for him — he may never need it but one day he might. Also check the pink tag on nutrition for more advice on this subject.

    27 December, 2013 at 10:22 am #798193
    jcat
    Participant

    BTW, female cats seem to be pretty good at keeping their food intake and energy expenditure equal and their weight down but male cats are notoriously hard to keep from putting on weight, especially after they have been neutered. So while he is an active and playful kitten I wouldn’t worry too much but you may have to keep an eye out in future, just to make sure he stays at a healthy weight. Modern pet foods (wet and dry) make it easier for cats to put on weight than their diets in nature would.

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