Amount of food for a kitten

[Elf]

We got our new F3 girl a couple of days ago. She is an adorable little marble, who is super active (of course), and really silly. She is built like a little bruiser (as a lovely face and big ears, but definitely is a little chunker). 2.8lbs at 8 weeks. She picks at her dry food (Royal Canin kitten), but would probably eat 6 cans of her Wellness Core Kitten (3oz cans) if I let her. Right now I am feeding her a half of a can 4 times of day. She would eat more if I put it down.

She has a bit a a belly pouch and still has a layer of baby fat. I think my confusion here is that I have never had an 8 week old SV (and not an 8 week old kitten of any sort in 17 years). We have her cousin who we got at 10 weeks who was 2.3lbs and was starting to show her lanky serval genes already.

So how much SHOULD I be feeding this hyper little beast? lol

 

[DumaLove]

She’s a cutie!!

As a kitten she should be fed as much as she’ll eat. I’ve had kittens eat over a pound of canned food a day. 6oz a day is not very much food for a Savannah kitten IMO. What do the feeding recommendations on that can say? I’d pretty much expect to at least quadruple what it says for a domestic adult of the same weight.

 

[Elf]

The wet food says as much as they will eat in three to four feedings a day till they are 5 months old.

It's funny, she eats more than my F1 did (though he was 16 weeks when we got him). Siada (7 months) has always been a very light water so I think that is influencing my brainwaves here. Lol

 

[Patti]

She picks at her dry food (Royal Canin kitten), but would probably eat 6 cans of her Wellness Core Kitten (3oz cans)

Smart kitty, she know what food is healthy, and what is kitty junk food. I would let her eat as much as she wants for now, she does not look overweight at all in these pics.

 

[Elf]

Oh yeah, dry food is not our first choice here (having done the diabetes dance with our F1), but this brand was something offered by the breeder. Fortunately, the breeder used the same canned as we do, so no transition needed there. We usually only keep the dry around in case we need to be away longer than expected or something. I will let kittens it it while they are young, but they will be weaned off of it and transition to wet-only. We dont feed raw, but I do use it as treats.

We also use Dr Pierson's cat food chart when choosing the flavors of wet to feed, and opt for the lower carb ones (non-gravy varieties, etc).

 

[Elf]

Ironically, our F1's issues likely saved our big black DSH from diabetes. When his sugar first went high, our vet gave us that chart and we switched to a different flavor in the same brand of food (I believe it was ProPlan at the time), and all the cats lost weight. Isis (the DSH) went from 22lbs to 16 and is now down to 15 and can hop on the sofa again

 

[Elf]

It is also funny because she does not gulp all the food at once, but rather, every time she zooms by the plate, she stops for a second, eats a few bites and then continues her zoom. She does a lot of zooming, so its a lot of bites. lol

 

[KMcgown]

I agree with the others. With a kitten that young, i would put a fresh can out 4 times a day (i do 6, 12, 4, 8) and leave dry food out in case they are hungry in the night. If she is only 8 weeks she may go through stages as well were she won't eat as much for a few days and then back to the food again. I would continue to offer the food 3-4 times a day.