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My kitten a bottomless pit!

Got a new, young, furry love in your life? This is the place for you to ask all of your questions - big or small! Just remember that you are receiving advice from other cat owners and lovers... not professionals. If you have a major problem, always seek the advice of a vet or behaviorist! Most important is to remember to have fun with your new fur baby.

  
Stephano

1280516		 
 
Purred: Wed Feb 13, '13 6:41pm PST 
My kitten that I adopted on December 7th, is a bottomless pit. 5 minutes after I feed him, he is jumping on the counter, or knocking over the garbage can, looking for more food. He is a small cat, originally we thought he was about 3-4 months old, back in Dec when we took him in, but the vet said he was between 6-8 months, or as much as a year old, but his growth was likely stunted from being malnourished. He said his teeth were worn down, probably from being a stray and eating on his own whatever he could find. He is small, but 2 weeks ago, when he was neutered, he was 7.3 pounds, and has a round little belly. I feed him Wellness canned cat food three times a day, and sometimes throw a couple of extra spoonfulls of food at him when he is driving me batty. I know kittens eat more, but I had read that after 6 months that it was ok to go to 2 feedings a day, and he gets 3 and then some. I try to play more with him, bought him a huge armarkat cat tree, and he has his brother Taffy that he plays with, but it seems nothing gets his mind off of food. He has been checked twice for worms, no worms. Do you think it's just because he has been a starving little homeless kitty for so long that he it is still his survival instinct to keep hunting for food? He just never seems to get to that point where he is satisfied. He has a fat little belly, and I give him more than the other two older cats get, he probably gets 2 to 3 times more than they get. I feel like if I give him more he will explode! He has not grown much in size in the two months we have had him, so I know this is not just a growth spurt for him. He does calm down at bedtime, he sleeps in my daughter's room, and he sleeps well all night long but the nano second he hears my alarm go off in the morning, he is squaking for his food....which is really cute how he carries on. I just want to make sure I'm giving him enough?
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Righty

1283879
 
 
Purred: Wed Feb 13, '13 10:37pm PST 
A lot of times cats or kittens who have been starving, will act frantically hungry & constantly want to eat. When fed, they tend to dive into their food eating frantically as if they're afraid they won't get enough to eat. It takes awhile for a young cat or kitten starts losing that frantic hunger and the hurried frantic eating behavior that is so typical of a kitten or young cat who has been starving and desperate for food. A cat generally eats more proportionately during their first year of life than after they're a year old, because they are growing and their digestive systems aren't as efficient as the systems of adult animals.

Puppies and kittens 6 months of age to a year and a half of age, adolescence, often will just seem to burn through their food while staying lean no matter how much they are fed, just as teenage boys tend to eat alot of food and stay lean. Then when their growth slows and their systems become more efficient, they start eating less and filling out.

Elderly cats and cats whose systems are less efficient because of medical problems, may also be constantly ravenous but be unable to efficiently digest their food.

Most cats and kittens can be free choice fed dry food and most will not overeat.
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BK

Ambassador at- the Kitty U.N.		 
 
Purred: Thu Feb 14, '13 12:32pm PST 
Righty, I was thinking how perfect your reply was until the last line! Be very careful of free feeding dry food. It's full of ingredients that are not appropriate for cats' diets and can eventually cause a host of problems, including obesity, diabetes and urinary issues.

Stephano, I believe in feeding kittens as much as they'll eat, within reason. As Righty said, it may take a while until he realizes there's plenty of food to go around. But kittens burn off a LOT of calories and need extra food. Good luck with your new addition!
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Stephano

1280516		 
 
Purred: Thu Feb 14, '13 7:05pm PST 
I don't feed my cats dry food, I have had too many cats suffer problems with UTI's and crystals, and I only feed canned food. I started giving him a little extra food, it seems to be helping. Right now he does not seem to be overweight so he must really be burning up all of those calories, so I guess a little extra chow won't hurt. Except my wallet! smile
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BK

Ambassador at- the Kitty U.N.		 
 
Purred: Fri Feb 15, '13 11:03am PST 
I hear that! I've had plenty of kitten fosters who have eaten me out of house and home. My only other thought is that you might want to consider a raw diet. You can do it cheaper than premium canned and because it's what their bodies are designed to eat they often feel fuller longer. Just a thought.
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Stephano

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Purred: Sat Feb 16, '13 1:29am PST 
As much as I like the idea of a raw diet, I'm a chicken to do it. I did have my male cat, Taffy, on it for a while, after he suffered some uti's, but then he got sick, and even though I was pretty sure it was not the raw food, I freaked thinking, what if it is. So we do feed a high quality canned food diet only. I recently changed the cats from Newman's Own organic to Wellness canned, something I had fed my other cats for years, now I have my new kitten Stephano on it too. And the Wellness does seem to satisfy him more than the NO did. On the NO, he was literally knocking over the garbage can five minutes after eating and constantly looking for food. After just 4 days now, back on the Wellness, he seems more content and less starved. It's more money, but I'm having to open fewer cans to feed so hopefully it will all even out. I don't do the Wellness Core, the cats don't seem to like it as well, instead we do the regular wellness, the turkey, beef and chicken ones only, no fish. They are happy!
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BK

Ambassador at- the Kitty U.N.		 
 
Purred: Sat Feb 16, '13 3:56am PST 
Sounds like you've got it together! Wellness is a good food, especially the grain-free flavors. As a general rule the higher the protein, the fuller they feel. That's why sometimes it's worth it to buy the premium brands.
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