Expert: KC - 9/22/2007

Question
Hello,
I am very confused on how much I should feed my 6 month old kitten. I am worried she is going to get overweight because all of the other kittens and cats in the neighbourhood are. I was feeding her 1/2 cup in the mornings but she would eat it all by the time I got home fomr work. I don't want her to be hungry but I also don't want to be over feeding her.

Answer
Hi Stephanie,

That is a wonderful question!  So many people just feed them how much they will eat and let them 'graze' all day.  Then, 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 giving 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 6 months, the twice a day diet should be perfect.

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 few grains (grains contain carbs and sugars which increase weight).  I feed 1/4 to 1/2 of canned food both a.m. and p.m.  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 chicken, 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 pet that is used to grazing all day, about a week to get used to it w/out begging a lot.  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.  If you only have one cat, then once a day may be sufficient.  

Hope this helps.