My kittens eat so much! Is it normal?

[nillvurt]

Hi!

I am feeding my kittens a diet of raw chicken and turkey (ground bones and meat with added supplements). They love it! The switch was easy, they have no interest in dry food, and they have been eating raw for about two weeks. I was under the impression that I could just give them as much as they wanted. But at the moment they are eating about 10-12% of their weight a day, and would gladly eat more if I gave it to them. They also want food many times a day. And they seem like they are getting fatter. But maybe that is normal kitten pudge.

I don't think they are constipated. They are pooping less and peeing more, which seems like it would make sense.

Any recommendations would help!

Should I cut back? Or should I just feed two or three times a day, but more each time? At this point I give them about 2 ounces each, every time I feed them. Or am I just being a worried kitten daddy, and I should just wait until they grow into themselves?

Thanks a lot!

Daniel

[speltrong]

this is a raw vegan board, so you may not get much in the way of responses to this.

[RawLibrarian]

this is a raw vegan board, so you may not get much in the way of responses to this.

Cats aren't vegan! They are naturally designed to be carnivores. There are lots of posts in the raw pets section here about raw food for cats, and for cats, that means raw meat + supplements. There is a lot of excellent info on feline nutrition on the Cat Info (http://www.catinfo.org/) site; the site owner also includes a recipe for raw cat food. (http://www.catinfo.org/?link=makingcatfood)

Daniel--It's great that your kittens are loving the raw food you give them. Since kittens are babies, they are growing like crazy. They need to get enough to eat to support their development. However, you could try feeding them a set number of times a day rather than free-feeding. I feed my cats (who are not kittens) twice a day. There might be info about this on the Cat Info site.

[speltrong]

Did I at any point say that cats WERE vegan? No.

[rawgirl00]

Hi Daniel, Yes this is normal. Here's more info from animal nutritionist Pat Mckay

"After they are completely weaned, kittens will let you know how many times a day they want to eat. Healthy kittens are usually very vocal when they are hungry. Kittens should be fed on demand. They get to eat all they want and to eat as often as they want from two to six times a day. Remember, in the six month’s of a kitten’s life, s/he grows to full maturity and is able to have kittens of her own…and males father kittens at that young age as well. Do not hold back on the amount of food or supplements during the first six to nine months. Unless you have an exceptionally large cat or a cat who matures very slowly, s/he will have reached full growth by eight or nine months and should be eating just once a day.


The general rule for feeding healthy kittens the raw food program is:

5 weeks to 8 weeks, 6 times a day
8 weeks to 12 weeks, 4 times a day
12 weeks to 20 weeks, 3 times a day
5 months to 8 months, 2 times a day



Sometime during that 5 to 8 month period, on his/her own, the kitten will begin to lose interest in the second meal, and eat just one meal a day. "

Link to the above info http://animalhomeopathy.org.tripod.com/www.animalhomeopathy.org/id18.html

I also suggest checking out the link in my signature for the best raw food recipe for your kitties