Feeding Schedule Recommendations

[Sourek]

So I think the time has FINALLY come and I will be getting my two kittens tomorrow evening. Picking them up from Newark Airport around 7pm. I was hoping someone could tell me how much I could feed either one. The thing is one is almost 5 months old and the other is 12 weeks old, so it seems pretty obvious that the amount and frequency of food is going to be different. I'm going to keep them on the Breeder's diet for a bit which is Zupreme/9Lives mixed together and dry food out all day. Any recommendations on how I should split up feedings?

 

[John Popp]

We do 3 feedings a day, before work, after work and before we retire. Been that way for as long as I can remember. The full belly before we go to bed helps keep the activity level a little lower so we don't have them all wound up.

 

[Sunny]

My advice would be to immediately adjust them to a cadance of Zupreme/9Lives once they are both adjusted enough to eat solid food according to your schedule. No dry food left out at all. The 5mo old is going to be dominant and you need to gauge who's eating and who's not.

I immediately put out food after arrival and I would say that after having lunch with the breeder, it only took my girl 20-30min to attack her wet food and eventually used her box that night.

This is also your golden opportunity to get them on your routine without getting a headbutt, nibble, or otherwise woken up at night for food because they will be stressed out and exhausted, in a new place, and likely to sleep for many hours that first day/night. Their bodies are already knocked out of rhythm and you want to control feedings tightly and start them off immediately on a regular cadence.

The schedule I'm using with my two adults and 6mo old kitten:

7-8am - Breakfast, 2.5oz adult, 3oz kitten
11:30am-12:30pm - Lunch, 1oz adult, 3.5oz kitten
5-6pm - Dinner, 1.25oz adult, 3oz kitten
8-9pm - Nightcap, 1oz adult, 3.5oz kitten

It took only 2 days before my kitten realized that when I get home from work and hear the garage there is a reason why my boys are waiting for me to the point I can hardly get the door open. It's for Meal #3 and for loving.

In order to keep all happy, added the 4th meal and reduced the portions so they are not being cheated, not starving the moment I get home from work for their dinner, and most importantly, not checking out and trying to push the kitten out from her bowl. She is teething and eating such a quantity of food for her little jaws, it takes her time and supervision is absolutely required.

 

[Sourek]

I would love to have them eating at the same time. They've already been introduced to each other, and have spent some time together. The older one is the F4 and the younger one is the F2. I'm expecting the F2 to outgrow the F4, if so will that play a role in who is the dominant cat down the road? They are both males.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

I've never found that size equalled dominance...unless it is the reverse, often it is the smallest in the household that is the most dominant

 

[John Popp]

Oddly I haven't seen the Alpha cat be determined by size. Just so much of their personality that goes into establishing dominance, that size ends up being pretty far down the list. If I were to pin the dominance thing on one physical factor, I would probably say quickness but that certainly doesn't always ring true either.

 

[Sourek]

I've never found that size equalled dominance...unless it is the reverse, often it is the smallest in the household that is the most dominant

From what I've read on this forum, and from what the breeder has told me about their personalities, I wouldn't be surprised if the F4 is and remains dominant.

 

[Brigitte Cowell]

You will see it in many animals, at the dog park it's not the great dane that's trying to dominate, it's the little chihuahua! In horses, the lil Shetland pony can often be much feistier than the big Draught horse types too...

 

[Sunny]

It defaulted in my household to the bigger, more playful cat that likes the company of other cats. Ra enjoys the company of people, will hiss and seek solitude when another cat wants to play, rarely engaging in wrestling. My kitten was pretty much picked out for Anubis rather than for me.

 

[Sourek]

It defaulted in my household to the bigger, more playful cat that likes the company of other cats. Ra enjoys the company of people, will hiss and seek solitude when another cat wants to play, rarely engaging in wrestling. My kitten was pretty much picked out for Anubis rather than for me.

Is there a chance that it will be more difficult for the cats to get used to me because they are more comfortable with each other? Will they be more likely to stay away from me for longer?