Expert: KC - 1/3/2008

Question
How much should I be feeding my 15 week old kitten Alfie? He is an indoor cat but is very lively. At the moment we are only feeding him dry food and I just top up his bowl when it is empty but he is starting to get a little pot belly...!

Answer
Hi Ria,

That is a wonderful question!  So many people just feed them however much they will eat and let them 'graze' all day.  However, by allowing them to graze, many end up facing the consequences of an overweight, unhealthy, and possibly diabetic cat when it becomes an adult.

As a general rule, I feed both my cats and dogs only twice per day.  They are given treats in between, on occasion, but are never allowed to graze (snack) all day long, as all carnivores are meant to eat larger portions at once rather than frequent small portions.  This is better to maintain weight, healthy teeth, stomach, and gastrointestinal tract.  Younger kittens and puppies need more frequent meals, but at 15 weeks, the twice a day diet should be perfect.  However, you can safely feed 3 meals a day until he's around 6 months old if you'd prefer.

I always feed both canned and dry for various reasons and only feed a high quality, super premium food.  Please read some of my past answers regarding food brands, by-products, and commercial food ingredients.  The better the food, the less your pet will eat and the fewer digestive problems you will notice.  Science Diet, Eukanuba, and some of the other so called 'top' brands do not contain quality ingredients, sadly, and can contain harmful fillers.  Not to mention, the premium foods are very less likely to lead to diabetes and weight problems...not to mention other health issues.

I personally feed all of my cats the Nature's Variety, Wellness, and/or the Innova brands of food.  They are all made from human-grade, organic ingredients with no fillers and grains (grains contain carbs and sugars which increase weight and are horrible for cats).  I offer 1/4 to 1/2 of canned food both a.m. and p.m. (slightly less for younger cats).  As soon as they walk away from the bowl, I immediately pick it up and offer dry.  The dry is left down for 10 minutes, max, and then picked up.  No food is left down during the day.  I occasinally offer a few kernels of dry during the day for a treat or else cooked or raw chicken, beef, organic treats, etc.  I usually feed around 12 hours apart also, give or take an hour or two.  With this schedule it will take a cat that is used to grazing all day about a week or two to get used to it without begging a lot...they have to learn to fill up at meals, which is a natural carnivore diet, rather than snack and never get completely full.  Also, cheap dry which is loaded in grains, when they graze on it, causes blood glucose spikes every time they nibble on it...they become addicted to it and when the blood glucose level drops, they become hungry again.  It's basically the same cycle you see in people who eat a lot of sweets or junk food.  A proper diet will prevent this and when they fill up on a good food won't feel hungry all day long and want to nibble on dry.  Once they are used to it, they should seem totally satisfied if you are using a good quality food.  Also, the higher the protein content, the more filling it will be.  You will also notice on this feeding schedule that you will be scooping the litter box at regular times, once in the morning and once at night after meals.  If you only have one cat, then once a day may be sufficient.  

Hope this helps.