New Question about my new kitty. I've had her a little over two

[yy4me]

weeks now and you have all been kind with my questions. Here's another.

She was a shelter kitty and seems most comfortable here. She is doing a lot less of the biting and other than that the only thing am concerned about is her feeding demands.

She was very thin when I got her and seems to have grown a lot. Longer, not chubbier. She is still very thin.

I don't want a fat cat down the road so I need to establish good feeding habits. She seems starved. Eats a full 5.5 oz can of food each AM and PM and after each meal, she sits at her plate crying, demanding more. I have given her another half can and she wipes that out immediately.

Should I continue doing this? She may need the extra food because she is growing but this seems a lot. This is in addition to the small portion of dry food I leave out all the time. She nibbles on that now and them.

Do you suppose this will taper off once she finished this growth spurt?

[Kookaburra]

1. It will taper off

My shelter kitty did the same thing for about a month after I brought her home -- after a while she calmed down. She now eats regular amounts of food. I think the fact that she wasn't getting enough food at the shelter, coupled with her being so young and still growing had a lot to do with her chow-hound personality.

Good luck, and congratulations on your new addition.

[CountAllVotes]

2. have you had her tested for worms

it is an inexpensive - like about $10.00 if you have a vet that won't be demanding a full appointment to go with it.

If she has worms she'd be real thin and hungry all of the time.

However, she could just be a growing girl! :)

:dem:

[badgerpup]

7. Indeed...

Check for both tapeworm AND roundworm...the medicine for one will not treat the other.
Baby Kitty Finnegan had roundworms from his mom (according to my vet, kittens can get them via their mother's milk)...
and I found evidence of tapeworm on his furry little black butt a couple weeks later...
looked like little white bits of 'rice' clinging to the fur.
EEEEWWWWW....:puke:

I hadn't thought anything was weird about his appetite; his predecessor MacFeegle never met a snack he didn't like, :9 and Finnegan was a growing, energetic 10-week old kitten. :bounce:
After the Cestex (tapeworm medicine), he'd still try to eat anything that didn't try to eat him first...
just not quite as much of it.

Wimsey too...he was about 8 months when he came to live with us...skinny and HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY...
even though he supposedly had a home down the street.

I remember the first time I gave him something to eat...a dish of the kibble my guys get.
He closed his eyes, took a deeeeep sniff...his paws did a little flexy happy dance...
and if a cat could burst into tears from gratitude, I think he would have.
Then he fell face-first into the dish and snarfed it down...and was back for "More?" in about two hours.

Needless to say, he is no longer skinny or hungry (heavy, but dense and solid...very muscular kitty)...
and at 2+ years, he is hopefully done growing...:hide:

[ginnyinWI]

3. I agree--this is temporary

She's growing and catching up. You can tell after a few days of overfeeding: just run your hands down her sides and see if you can feel ribs. If you can, all is well--she's not getting fat. Every little while one of mine will start looking slightly chunky; cutting back for a few days gets them back to "trim".

As I've said it other posts, for us it was getting rid of the dry food that caused my obese kitty to lose her excess weight. Before she lost it, she was tired and walked with a limp and couldn't jump up. Now she can jump and play and the limp is gone. :)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Young cats can eat an astonishing amount of food.

There might also be some psychological issues -- sometimes shelter cats will stuff themselves because they think they have to compete with other cats for food. I think she will probably get over it.

[meow2u3]

6. Young cats are the equivalent of teenagers

You know how big an appetite teens have. Teens will be teens, on two legs or four.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

5. try giving her the entire can in morning, and dried at night

my cats are hogs, but they are content with this schedule.

Don't give just half of the can at a time, give her the entire can all in one sitting.

Maybe your kittie is really hungry in the morning. (Or maybe at night).

They sleep better if their tummy is full, and most cats sleep during the day.

[spooky3]

8. I agree you should have her checked for worms, and if there are none,

I'd give her all she wanted until I saw her starting to appear normal to slightly heavy. THEN I would taper back a bit.

She has probably gone for extended times without enough food and has learned to eat everything the moment it's placed in front of her because she doesn't know when she'll next get fed. When she realizes you will feed her regularly, she'll learn she doesn't need to do this any more, and if she doesn't (I have one very overweight kitty who is now "dieting" but another who regulates his own intake and is slim) then you can control the input.

[Warpy]

9. Buy a bag of kibble

and set out a bowl of that for snacking. At this point, she's a teenager and won't overeat.

Scoop a stool sample out of her litter box and stick it in a plastic baggie and take it to the vet for an ova and parasite examination to make sure she doesn't have internal parasites.

Don't limit her food until and unless she gets overweight. Some cats do and some cats don't.

I have a 16 year old who is only slightly matronly and I keep kibble out for her 24/7. The kibble has the added advantage of scraping the tartar off kitty teeth.