Help! Neutered kitten - how much should he be eating?

[terriblyangryattimes]

I have a 6 month old boy, neutered two weeks ago who is an indoor cat - weighs 2.5kg.
We feed with a mixture of kitten wet pouches and kitten dry food, the pouches reckon he should be having 3-4 a day, which not only seems excessive but he'd never actually finish it! Obviously for us this would be reduced as he has dry food too... he's clearly not hungry as he rarely eats everything in his bowl and often wet food gets chucked as it starts to dry out before he finishes it! I'm just worried I'm starving him unintentionally...

Also, can/should we move to indoor cat food before he is 12 months?

If you give both wet and dry then you dont give the full amount of both. I left dry out and gave wet food 2 or 3 times a day at that age. I would probably only give half a pouch at a time

How many different brands of wet have you tried?.

Oh bless that face, he's gorgeous!

Kitten food is made specifically for the high energy and nutritional needs of a growing youngster, so I would keep him on it for a bit. Indoor cat food is almost the opposite - designed for the lower energy needs of indoor cats, so I wouldn't go straight from kitten to indoor.

As dementedpixie suggests, I'd try half a pouch at a time and if he clears that up, maybe a little more (or more often). My cats are very much grazers, so when I put their supper down in about half an hour they will eat maybe a quarter of it then. When the bed time routine starts, they go and have a bit more, but there's always about half of it left when I go to bed. Come the morning, the majority is gone. Oddly, however much wet food they get fed at a time, they ALWAYS leave a bit in the bowl.

I would also look at what they recommend as the required amount of dry food. It's a surprisingly small amount. Luckily my cats are "self regulating" so they only really eat what they need (bar treats) and it sounds like your kitten is too, so you can leave the dry out ad lib 24/7.

@Fluffycloudland77

How many different brands of wet have you tried?.

Lots! Didn't like pets at home or Morrisons, does seem to like Whiskas, felix and Tesco own. Tried the tins from the vet and isnt keen on that (quite relieved as is v expensive) he does eat it just not all in one morning/afternoon. I wish I had his restraint! I serve half a pack at a time, maybe I should try a 1/4 pack 4x a day plus his usual biscuits?

You can switch to adult food sooner than 12 months once they are neutered as their calorie needs reduce. Think mine were around 9 months when we switched to adult food. There is more choice of adult foods than kitten stuff

You might want to try something without fillers and grains in.

Think of Whiskas, Felix etc as McDonald’s - I know I could eat 5 burgers in a day and still not be satisfied! Because they’re full of weird ingredients my body doesn’t need.

Have a look at something like Applaws/Meowing Heads/Encore. They don’t have any weird fillers, and are mostly meat context. They do cost more, but you end up feeding significantly less because it’s all good, nutritious stuff.

He’s beautiful btw!

give less at a time more often then. Mine are grazers too and come back and forth to the bowls all day

My cat has always had a small appetite she has about one pouch a day and some dried food. I usually just put out half the pouch in the morning and the other in the evening and there's dry available all day. Sometimes the neighbours cat sneaks in and steals some! She never seems to be hungry though and she's average sized.

Thanks all - I will definitely look into the non grain/filler brands you mentioned @TeddyIsaHe

I am not so worried now I know so many seem to be grazers, my experience of cats that have owned me (haha!) in the past is that they gobble it instantly... but then they were always in pairs and this guy knows nobody is around to pinch it!

This is today's breakfast remains. I will put fresh wet food out later. I have 2 three year old cats