Greedy kitten ?

[meimyself]

He's 12 weeks and when I brought him home he was so excited whenever I fed him. He's calmed down but is constantly asking for food. I have a slightly older kitten who eats half a pouch of food 3 times a day and a bowl of biscuits. Today the younger one wanted more so I ended up giving them both a pouch each and a serving of biscuits just for one meal. The older one didn't finish what I'd given and the younger cat ate that as well. I'm not sure if I should be giving him more or sticking to about the same as my other cat wants, as I don't want to encourage my older cat to overeat and they will eat out of the same bowls. He just seems to be obsessed with food

AFAIK dcats don't overeat... Not growing young ones anyway!

He's just came up wanting food again, that was only 2 hours ago he ate that.

He's growing. Feed him more and also possibly more often. Some cats like to eat often and some like to fill up and forget about food for a bit.

Don't turn food into a battleground and a stress. Just feed him enough.

I just feed mine whenever they ask, sometimes it’s loads and other days it’s not. They have little growth spurts that coincide with the ‘you are starving me’ meows.

Picture please !

I'm just wondering if he was underfed at his first home and it's psychological rather than real hunger. Just the pure excitement for food at the start it was a bit strange. I've poured him some biscuits but he's turned his nose up and went away for a nap

Our vet always reckons 'you can't overfeed a kitten'. They do grow amazingly fast, guess that takes a lot of energy.

But I'd have to see a picture to be sure...

He’s a kitten, just feed him when he asks. He’s going from a baby to an adult in 12m he needs the calories, it’s hunger.

I would but using a really old phone that won't let me share pics to computer sorry !

I fed my kittens loads, as often as they wanted. I read that you should give them as much as they want while they're growing. They are adults now and not overweight.

Exactly that.

Has the cat been wormed?
Is the food the same as his first home?
He might need more nourishment going through a growth spurt.
I would feed them in separate bowls.

He has been wormed twice since I've got him. I do feed them separately but they still eat out each others bowls for some reason. My older cat is more trainable but the younger one just keeps doing the same thing over and over so I can't really stop them sharing. I've been feeding them 50/50 Felix and a premium brand

Feed him if he’s hungry. He’s not able to manipulate or bung it on he’s clearly hungry. Feed him on demand and he’ll settle down.

I believe you're supposed to feed kittens little and often. If I remember correctly when mine was a kitten he was eating 3 pouches a day and had biscuits down.

Kittens need to be fed as much as they ask - with ours, it was about 5-6 times a day plus he had biscuits available at night.

We left the house at 10 30 today.. I passed through the utility room where dcats hang out... Howls for food from both of them. Poor things hadn't been fed since 8..
Ignored and left the house!

Kittens need to be fed whever they want, but adult cats certainly can be overfed.

I've just gave him some tuna and he's actually left some. Maybe I'll need to feed him more like this instead of pouches

We have a 9 month old cat and had been using pouches and dry food. Recently switched to tins of higher protein food after a trial pack (all over social media atm, it the raw food one) and the cat absolutely loves it - she hoovers the wet food but it seems to satiate her until dinner time. Maybe try high protein wet food for a bit and see if that makes a difference.

*it's not the raw food one

I really wouldn't get into the habit of giving a lot a week old kitten tuna - it doesn't have the nutrients they need and can be quite rich for their bellies, causing other issues.

I would be giving him kitten food every time he asks - that should be a lot at that age! Ours had 3 pouches a day split over six meals plus dry.

@meimyself are you giving kitten food? I used to leave dry food out all the time and feed wet food several times a day. (I still leave dry out and feed wet 2-3 times a day and my cats are now 7!)

@meimyself is it tuna cat food or tuna for people? Tuna for people isn't really a suitable cat food

I don't think tuna is safe to feed cats a lot, and they need cat food with taurine in it, but higher quality higher near/fish content food might help.

His growing body needs nutrients so he keeps asking for them. He needs them. He's not being greedy