How much to feed a kitten?

[Jennyfi]

Our new Maine Coon kitten seems to be always hungry. He's eight months old and big (probably about 4.5kg) but not fat at all.

We've had him four weeks and so far he's scoffed everything we've put down within 10 seconds. He's on wet food only (Whiskas), as dry food seems to upset his stomach. Yesterday he ate five pouches and would quite happily have had a sixth if we'd caved into the pleading meows!

The guidelines for Whiskas say an adult cat should have 3-4 pouches, but I know kittens need more. Does he really need 6+ pouches? I don't want to starve him, but I have no faith that he actually knows the size of his stomach!

Has he been neutered yet?
Growing kittens can generally eat a lot although their metabolism slows down a bit after neutering.

Could you change him onto a better quality food perhaps, something with a higher protein content? They are generally more filling than Whiskas and the like and you can feed less. ZooPlus is probably the best source for these at a good price, have a look at Animonda Carny or Bozita cans on there.

An obvious question but, has he been wormed regularly?

Wow. That's a lot of food! My kittens probably eat a pouch a day - but they are only 3 months old. They always have access to dry food though and will munch on that many times a day.

Agree with the PP about better quality food maybe. And speak to the vet when you neuter him (if you haven't already) about how much he eats. There may be an issue with his digestion?

My Bengal was fed whenever he asked as a kitten. He had a special miaow we called “bowl empty”. They are so active and grow so fast you need to keep feeding them.

Are you giving kitten food?

Which dry food have you tried? Was it high meat and grain free?

Thank you to everyone - it's reassuring to know that we aren't starving him, at least! He was neutered when we got him, and the breeder says he was wormed in September. Could he have got worms since then?

I think changing to a better food is a good idea. We alternate the Whiskas with Royal Canin Digest Sensitive, as he kept periodically getting diarrhoea. The breeder had him on Whiskas and said he was absolutely fine on it, so we thought we'd go back to it (but not if it's not filling him up!). I'll give the higher meat-content / grain-free foods a try.

It's all adult cat food, not kitten, and the dry food we've tried was Harringtons Chicken & Rice, as well as Hills Science. He seems to tolerate a few Lily's Kitchen pretty well, though.

Do you think it's ok to cut down to 3-4 pouches? I've never had a cat that wouldn't self-regulate before, so I always assumed you just fed them as much as they'd deign to eat!

Your 8 month old is heavier than my adult 2 year old! I leave dry down and give half a pouch each 3 times a day. Mine eat Encore dry which is grain free with 80% meat. I get it from asda. They've also had thrive dry which is 90% meat but had to order it from Amazon. Purizon was ok as well and is from zooplus

Harringtons has a lot of rice that cats don't need and I don't think Hills Science is grain free either

I know - he's huge! It's why I'm keeping an eye on what he eats, just in case he starts to lose / gain a bit too much.

I think I'm going to try the Animonda Carny. A little bit worried as some of the reviews say it gave their cats diarrhoea, though. He does tend to get an upset stomach, but maybe if I introduce it little and often it should be ok.

I think Maine Coons are generally very big and also take longer to reach their adult size than most breeds/moggies, don't they?

I would not cut down at this age, I’d free feed till a year. When they stop growing the appetite tails off dramatically.