Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Flip

Original poster

Underfed or just greedy?

20 replies

noarguments · 30/09/2020 15:46

Marv and Lotta (in mirror pose earlier) ... Kittens 4 months old, mixture of wet food (1.5 sachets a day) and dry royal canin (as suggested on bag). They scream for food at food time (3 times a day) and are constantly up on surfaces to lick plates / food etc. They have tons of energy and seem well, wormed and flea’d etc. They do seem slim but are obvs fit and well. What do you think? TIA X

OP posts:

MellowMelly · 30/09/2020 15:58

Love the picture.
I found my young cats were like that. I actually used to give them a little more than the recommended daily amount because I figured they were growing and energetic so wanted more. They never got fat as they were burning it off running around climbing my curtains and play fighting. They got older and lazier so naturally ended up wanting less.

dementedpixie · 30/09/2020 16:00

I would tend to leave dry food out and then give wet food a few times a day. I still do that and my 2 are nearly 4 years old

khofitabal · 30/09/2020 16:01

1.5 sachets a day each or between them?

BabyMoonPie · 30/09/2020 16:02

That pose is adorable and they are beautiful 😍

Original poster

noarguments · 30/09/2020 16:05

1.5 sachets each... so a sachet between them three times a day.
I think I’ll try giving some more dry food, see if that makes a difference.

OP posts:

GetRid · 30/09/2020 16:18

I think kittens can self regulate, so if they're saying they're hungry then they probably need more.

If they start getting fat after they're fully grown then you can reduce amount.

Toddlerteaplease · 30/09/2020 17:32

All cats tell you that they are starving.

Fluffycloudland77 · 30/09/2020 18:11

Mine was on 400g wet food a day at that age. As an adult he had 450g a day, 500g if he conned dh.

Bargebill19 · 30/09/2020 21:57

Lol!! I get through 12 sachets between 5 cats plus at least one huge bowl of dried food a day. Plus countless treats such as webbox and semi dried duck/chicken and anything else they can swipe!

chocolatespiders · 30/09/2020 22:00

My one year old boy has approx three pouches a day.
Purizon dry to graze on.

TheHighestSardine · 30/09/2020 22:13

At four months old ours were getting through three sachets a day each and filling up on crunchies. That did tail off after six months when they hit full length, they're on one and a third sachets a day plus recommended topup of Science Plan now. They've grown up to be lovely 3.8kg girls, a sensible weight.

khofitabal · 30/09/2020 22:57

If they are that hungry, switch to cans of cat food, it is a darn sight cheaper than the dreaded pouches, and you can recycle the cans as well.

chocolatespiders · 30/09/2020 23:17

You could try butchers cans between them. My cat likes them.
Easier to recycle than pouches which I have to rinse and deliver to a charity recycling place.

violetbunny · 01/10/2020 07:23

I found that my cats had growth spurts at that age, there was a period of a month or so where BoyCat was screaming for food all the time, then he suddenly got a lot bigger (not fatter, just bigger!). Spas they're still growing, I would let them have a bit more food but if they start looking a little tubby then rein it back a bit.

Itwasaquarterpast11 · 01/10/2020 07:29

My 6m old kittens are exactly the same. They share 4 pouches a day plus dry food is always down. One or other of them is constantly trying to get on the sides looking for food or licking anything in the sink. If I open the fridge, they are climbing me. If I prepare food, they climb me and jump on the sides to investigate. I feel like I'm hostage to 2 unreasonable toddler terrorists. After my last cat, this has been a bit of a shock to the system, hoping I get used to it, or they calm down a bit.

Mumdiva99 · 01/10/2020 09:45

My kittens are the same. Sometimes they have 3 sachets between them and one dry meal. Sometimes 4.

They don't cry for food but do go for all plates on the side or table, or the plug hole!! Yuk.

Sometimes I feed them and they don't eat.much. The last few days we cut down as the frequency and size of poos was a bit alarming. Then yesterday they ate everything really quickly - so this morning I gave them 2 pouches between them at 6:45 which they have finished already. (They always seem to graze but I assumed that's because they have little tummies)

Original poster

noarguments · 01/10/2020 16:59

Thanks for all the tips. I like the cans-not-pouches idea, much easier to recycle. I think I’m underfeeding them but I dread to think what hurricane will happen if they get even more energy!!

OP posts:

cosmo30 · 01/10/2020 17:04

My one year old has four pouches a day and is still scrounging all day!

Thisismynewname123 · 02/10/2020 12:45

This is interesting to read how much wet food people are giving their kittens. We were feeding our 3 month old kitten maybe 1 1/2 tins over course of the day (but they're small - either 75g or 85g each, depending on brand) plus dry food is always available to her. Then when I asked the vet yesterday, she told me that she shouldn't have more than 1 small can over the course of the day, because all of the nutritional value is in the dry food. So we're trying cut down from today, but she's always hungry and climbs my legs whenever I open the fridge, and runs to her bowl if she hears the word FOOD!

bluebluezoo · 02/10/2020 12:53

All cats tell you that they are starving

Makes me laugh when people post on facebook about “stray” cats “clearly starving” with it’s face in about 4 full dishes of food.

The cat keeps coming back every day for some reason 🤔.

I always want to point out if they stopped feeding the cheeky fucker it would stop visiting.

Flip