Is one can of wet food too much for a kitten
Feeding Kittens 101: What to Feed, How Much, and How Often
What to Feed Kittens
Your kittens dietary requirements are going to be different from an adult cats dietary requirements. To help a kitten grow healthy and strong, their food typically requires:
Margie Scherk, DVM, DABVP of the Cats Only Veterinary Clinic in Ottawa, ON, Canada, described this in detail at the Central Veterinary Conference 2013 in Kansas City: Young cats have growth requirements, which include an increased proportion of animal-based protein and more calcium and phosphorus.1
Your new kitten will likely have tons of energy and engage in rowdy play, so their food needs to support their body as they burn calories exercising as well as expend energy for growth.
Feeding Kittens Wet Versus Dry Food
Wet and dry cat food are commonly available in kitten formulations, and there are pros and cons to feeding each. To decide which option best suits your kittens needs, talk with your veterinarian and get their recommendation. Here are some pros and cons of each:
Wet cat food is higher in moisture, so it can be beneficial in keeping kittens hydrated, flushing out the urinary tract, and helping kidneys stay healthy. However, wet food tends to stick to the teeth more, which can be associated with dental disease and painful cavity-type problems for cats.
Dry cat food is easier to feed in mutli-cat homes and can help scrape tartar from the teeth. However, some cats can overeat with dry food and gain excessive weight, which can be associated with arthritis, heart problems, blood pressure problems, respiratory problems, or diabetes mellitusjust to name a few.
How to Select a High-Quality Kitten Food
It may take some initial time and energy in determining which food is right for your kitten, but your efforts will be rewarded in a healthy, happy, beautiful kitten.
The best way to find the healthiest kitten food is to compare foods, choose a few possible options, and then talk with your veterinarian about which of those is best for your kitten. Consider the protein source in the food and pick a diet that does not contain a lot of filler ingredients.
How Much to Feed a Kitten
Kittens are growing rapidly at this young age and eat a lot of food compared to adult cats. We want to provide their bodies with everything necessary for growth, but we also want to develop healthy long-term eating habits.
Feeding guidelines are variable by kitten. However, most often, using the feeding directions on the bag or can of food is a good starting place, and then you can adjust as needed for your kitten. Your veterinarian can use metabolic formulas to calculate the number of calories required per day based on your kittens current weight.
We want kittens to come hungry for their meal, but we also dont want them to be feeling so hungry that they devour the entire meal in a few seconds. Often, young kittens may eat to cup of food at a time.
If your kitten is thin, we may need to increase the caloric requirement per day. If your kitten is gaining too much weight too quickly, we may need to cut back. Your veterinarian will use a tool called a body condition score to assess your kittens weight.
Healthy Kitten Growth Rate
A general rule of thumb in kittens is that they typically gain about 1 pound per month.
Often, a kittens weight is about 1 pound at 1 month (4 weeks), 2 pounds at 2 months (8 weeks), and so on until about 4-5 months.
Kittens do most of their growing (both height and weight) within the first year and then stabilize from there. Many of the growth plates of the bones in the kitten skeleton close by about one year old.
At this time, after much of the growth is finished, your vet will typically switch your kitten to an adult diet.
Feeding Methods for Kittens
There are two main ways to feed kittens. Each of these ways have pros and cons, so consider the details and talk with your veterinarian about free-feeding versus portioned meal feeding.
Free-Feeding Method
Free-feeding kittens is usually done with dry food, leaving a bowl out all the time so the food is readily available. This is convenient for pet parents, especially if they have busy schedules.
The benefit to this type of feeding is that your kitten can eat when they want and ideally self-regulate how much they need.
One disadvantage to this is that some kittens will overeat and gain excessive weight. Another disadvantage is that in a multiple-cat household, the older cats have access to and may be eating the kitten food.
This is not always healthy for the older cats needs, and more dominant cats may control the kittens access to the food bowl. In these cases, the kitten may not be getting enough to eat. It can be hard to track an individual cats eating habits when they share a free-feeding bowl.
One way to deal with this is by using a microchip-activated feeder that only opens when it scans your kittens microchip. Just make sure another cat is not guarding this feeder and keeping the kitten from eating.
Meal-Feeding Method
Meal-feeding kittens is the second option for feeding. This works well with wet food that cant be left out all day. Feeding specific portions at certain times is also helpful for monitoring exactly how much and what kind of food each cat is eating in a multiple-cat home.
Meal-feeding is more time-intensive for pet parents and tends to require a more routine schedule. You need to make sure you are able to feed your kitten often enough with this type of feeding. There are some cat food bowls that work on timers to automatically release a measured amount of dry food at specified times.
Kittens can also learn to use their instinctual hunting behavior to work for part of their daily food. This helps keep your kitten healthy mentally and physically.
There are many interactive bowls, balls that disperse dry food slowly, and other options available to keep your kitten occupied so his/her meal is not gone in a few seconds.
How Often to Feed Kittens
Younger kittens (6-16 weeks) need to be fed several meals per day, if you are not free-feeding.
As they are growing and burning calories, we want to keep their bodies supplied with energy. Feed meals every 6-8 hours.
Your veterinarian will figure out the total daily calories that your kitten needs, and you can divide that between the number of meals per day. Typically, by the time kittens get to 4-5 months, they can be transitioned to two meals per day, still feeding the total number of daily calories, but in less frequent, larger meals.
Reasons Your Kitten May Not Be Eating
If your new kitten is not eating well or has diarrhea, call your vet and schedule another checkup.
Sometimes intestinal parasites can cause gastrointestinal upset in kittens. It is common for kittens to come home already infected with parasites. They can get some parasites through the placenta before birth as well as in the milk from the mother cat.
Some of these parasites can also be transmitted to people, so good hygiene and preventive care are important.
Bottle Feeding/Orphaned Kittens
Sometimes a mama cat is no longer able to care for her kittens, and we need to help them. This is a big but rewarding task to take on.
These kittens are often days to a week old (they may still even have their eyes closed). They must be bottle fed, every few hours, initially, with kitten milk replacer formulas.
You also need to use a washcloth to gently wipe their genitals after eating to stimulate urination and defecation, as they are unable to do this themselves in the first few weeks.
These bottle-fed kittens are very loyal and loving, but they do require extra attention regarding socialization since the mother cat is unavailable to teach them acceptable play and biting behaviors.
A good reminder comes from Ed Carlson, CVT, VTS (Nutrition). Kittens that are abandoned by their mothers should be carefully examined for visible birth defects such as a cleft palate and medical attention provided by a veterinarian if necessary. Supplementation with a milk replacement formula or a surrogate mother will be necessary to raise abandoned or orphaned kittens. 2
To learn more about cat pregnancy and kitten care, check out PetMDs complete cat pregnancy and kitten guide.
References
References:
Margie Scherk, DVM, DABVP: Feeding Cats with Different Nutritional Needs: A Dilemma in the Multicat Household, Central Veterinary Conference 2013 - Kansas City.
Ed Carlson, CVT, VTS (Nutrition): Neonatal Nutrition: Feeding Puppies and Kittens from Birth to Weaning, 41st Annual OAVT Conference & Trade Show.
Featured Image: iStock.com/chendongshan
How To Calculate How Much Wet Food to Feed a Cat
Why Its Crucial to Calculate How Much Food to Feed a Cat
You might wonder why its important to determine the exact amount of wet cat food you should give your cat? As of 2017, an estimated 60 percent of cats in the US are classified as clinically overweight or obese. Thats about 56.5 million cats who are too heavy, and extra weight has a dramatic, negative effect on feline health.
Overweight cats are at an increased risk for congestive heart failure, skin disorders, infections, diabetes mellitus, complications associated with anesthesia and surgery, hepatic lipidosis (a potentially fatal liver disease), and some types of cancer.
Feeding cats wet food is never as simple as just opening up a can and letting them eat until theyre full. Indoor cats, in particular, tend to burn few calories throughout the day, and they become bored, which we all know can lead to excessive eating and weight gain. Pet parents need to take a strategic approach to measuring out cat foodto prevent or deal with weight gain in cats.
How Much Wet Food Should I Feed My Cat?
For starters, have your cat evaluated by a veterinarian. He or she will weigh your cat, identify your cats ideal weight, and determine the number of calories your cat should take in every day to reach that goal.
A pet calorie calculator can also get you into the ballpark. If your cat is severely overweight, your veterinarian may recommend a prescription cat foodfor weight loss; otherwise an over-the-counter weight control cat foodshould suffice.
Next, look at the label of your cats wet food. At best, the feeding instructions will be somewhat vague, and they certainly dont apply to every cat in every situation. It helps do some math. A wet cat foods caloric content should be listed somewhere on the label.
For example, American Journey minced chicken and tuna recipe provides 73 calories per 3-ounce can. If you cant find this information, look it up on the manufacturers website or give them a call.
Lets say your veterinarian has determined that your cat should take in 240 calories per day. In this example, you simply need to divide 240 by 73 to determine how many 3-ounce cans of the American Journey chicken and tuna recipe you should offer your cat daily.
240 / 73 = 3.3
Therefore, your cat needs to eat roughly 3 1/3 cans of this food per day.
Cat Food Portions Matter
Cats who have a hard time keeping slim should be fed several measured meals of cat food throughout the day rather than having 24/7 access to food.
How often should you feed your cat? You and your veterinarian can discuss the right frequency based on your situation. But, in general, cats do best when they eat multiple smaller meals throughout the daytwo at a minimum, but more might be better.
The math that you just performed can help inform your decision. In the example that weve used, the cat should be eating 3 1/3 cans per day. Wouldnt it make sense to feed three meals of one can each with the extra third of a can added to the last meal of the day? Whatever you decide, simply divide the number of cans you need to feed in a day by the number of meals you want to provide, and youll have the right portion for each meal.
If youre watching your cats weight, youll also need to subtract the calories provided by any treats you give as well as any dry food you offer. If it helps, keep a log of your cats daily caloric intake goals and then track the food and cat treatsyou give throughout the day to help keep your cats weight on track.
Small-Portion Wet Cat Food Trays
Foods that are already divided into meal-sized portions, like Sheba Perfect Portions grain-free multipack and Nutro Perfect Portions grain-free multipack can reduce the chances that you will inadvertently feed too much at any one time.
