Am I feeding my 16-17 week kittens enough?

As your kittens are around 4 months old, one pouch of food and a few biscuits doesn't seem to be enough, especially if they gobble of their food fast and search for any crumbs left. Growing kittens need a lot more food than an adult cat. Kittens usually will eat as much as they need to get enough nutrients through the Protein and Fats in the food; very rarely do they overeat. The 4 sittings a day is most definitely ideal, though!

My kitten, a standard "moggy", started pestering us for food all the time around 4 months of age. It wasn't just begging, it was constant pawing at his food bowl, where we kept his food, whenever we opened the fridge or had food ourselves, if was definitely a "guys, I NEED more food!" He was on 2 pouches of Kitten HiLife before, so we started feeding 3 pouches a day and the desperation stopped. He's now 6 months and is lean, active, with bright eyes and a shiny coat.

Experiment to see how much wet food they will eat per day/in a sitting :) Try giving them an extra pouch or half pouch of food and see if they're happier with the extra food. They will let you know if they need more as they get bigger and older.

If your mum had a cat when she was younger she will know what to do. Before you get the kitten make sure you've got a feeding bowl and water dish (cats drink water not milk as most are lactose intolerant) and make sure you've also got cat food, a dirt tray and cat litter. As far as a bed goes a cardboard box with some sort of blanket will do nicely. My cat has a box with an old pillow covered with a blanket because he likes his comfort. When you get it, make sure you handle your new kitten gently, play with it and talk to it. The more a kitten is handled the better because they soon get used to their owners and become affectionate. Show it around it's new home and especially where it will sleep, eat and go to the toilet. When I am out my cat stays in the kitchen which is also his bedroom at night. I have a cat flap in my back door and he goes into the garden which is a safe enviroment for him because he cannot easily get to the front of my house and can't get into the road so he is well away from traffic. If you let your kitten roam when you are out, it may hide or get stuck somewhere and you will have trouble finding it. I hope you have a lot of fun with your new kitten.

It's kind of hard to say but it doesn't sound like a lot of food. It really depends on how much weight they are gaining and what their body condition is. I wouldn't restrict these guys' diets too much at this age, though. Check the calories in a pouch (I couldn't find that info), and let's say they are 1.5 kg each right now (just a guess) - they will need something like 140 kcal each daily for growth. I would recommend starting with checking how that stacks up to what they're currently eating, first. (And I really don't know how much the kittens weigh, maybe you know). Remember too, that their nutrition and calorie needs aren't going to stay the same all the way through.

You can also try splitting two pouches between them four times a day and see how that works.

It would be worth having them checked at a vet, if you haven't already, and having them weighed and assessed for body condition and internal parasites, which might be affecting their appetites. It's not really normal for a little bit of dry food to upset the stomach like that so it might be that they have roundworm or another parasite, too.

Kitties about this age should be fed about 4 times a day. Their stomachs are still pretty small, so avoid over loading them on food. If they act hungry still, give them a little bit more, but not right away. Like humans, they can gorge themselves quickly on food, and then feel bloated like whales. Try feeding them once when you get up, or soon after, again about 4 hours later, again at 8 hours, and then once before bed. Teach them, just like little children, how much they should eat at a meal.

Also, set the same location for food. this will help when they are older to know where the dry food is always kept. Most cats are neat eaters, they don't like to waste food... it attracts nasty pests to their nest, which they don't like.

Keep a watchful eye on how much each kitten eats. some kitties just have bigger appetites then others. I have a ten week tabby who can eat almost a whole can of wet food by himself. Piggy. Yet, his sister, who is a bit smaller, will eat only 1/3 or so.

At that age they are growing rapidly. I would not feed dry food as it is not good for cats. Instead, I would increase the wet food servings to as much as they want each time.

200 g is just a bit over 7 ounces and that is not enough food for kittens that age. They have very high calorie and other nutrient needs because of their rapid growth and development. I would guess that they weigh a little over 4 pounds each and need as much as 100 calories per pound of body weight daily.

Most cat foods have about 200 calories per 6 ounces (170 g ) so that cannot be enough food.

Do not worry about over-feeding kittens that age. Give them as much as they want.

I have three kittens and three adult cats...the kittens get one pouch a day and have constant access to good quality dry food and water. Cats, unlike dogs, tend to only eat when hungry and usually don't overeat (odd exception to the rule). So I would up their allowance of dry food, as I said...mine have access to dry food 24 hours a day and they are all happy healthy cats who are not overweight or underweight!

My mother bred Siamese cats. She always used Purina Kitten and Cat Chows.

The one thing I make sure my kitten has for the first year is Purina Kitten Chow. Cats usually know how much to eat unlike dogs.

However, never feed kitten chow after one year... they get huge.

Why not free feed them.. obviously with the wet food you cant just free feed them.. but the dry food if there hungry there going to eat.. and they wont get sick animals are very smart just like us they know when to stop eatting when there body is full

Are you looking after them for her or are they yours? If they have no medical or breed reasons why they have to eat by that schedule, you can change it. My cats usually get a small can of wet food a day and there is a bowl of dried biscuits left out for them to eat and some water. They also occasionally get treats, and they are healthy.

i have 2 kittens. i feed them pouches and have gave them 1 each in the morning and one each at night. in the afternoon ill give them some biscuits. u gotta realise that kittens are really greedy! they arent hungry they just always want food!