How Much Should A 10 Week Kitten Be Eating?

DeputyMP24 · **Joined:** Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:31 pm **Posts:** 212

My new Bengal Baby, Suri, is 10 weeks old. I brought her home on Monday (9-14-15). At her first vet checkup the very next day, she weighed only 1 lb 3 oz. To be fair, she is the runt of the litter. The vet wasnt super concerned, but advised she should be a bit heavier. She is fed both dry and wet high quality kitten feed. She has unlimited access to Blue Buffalo Freedom kitten chow, and is given Blue Buffalo Freedom wet feed 3x a day. I feel like she has put on a bit of weight, as she isnt as bony feeling as she was.....but I dont feel like she eats very much in general. Suri loooooves her breakfast of wet food, and eats her wet lunch and dinner well. (usually) She picks at her kitten chow, usually only eating it in the middle of the night. She has yet to eat an entire bowl of kitten chow. She also gets bites of raw tri tip as well which she loves. Ive been considering getting kitten high calorie NutriCal to up her caloric intakes in hopes of getting a bit more weight on her. Thoughts? Suggestions? Advise? Suri is my very first Bengal, and pretty much my very first house cat!!

CMYKjill · **Joined:** Tue Sep 23, 2014 6:38 pm **Posts:** 1838

I would go with the vet's advice about the amount to feed her. That is a very young kitten so of course she is tiny. Usually they leave the mother at 12 weeks. After that they grow in leaps and bounds. Don't restrict food while she is this young. I don't know about the high calorie stuff. I would be afraid it would back fire and the kitten would want to continue eating it and refuse normal kitten food when it was not given. They get big fast.

Sherry · **Joined:** Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm **Posts:** 9217

Your kitten needs to eat at least 6 times a day. A baby requires multiple feedings. Until Suri is an adult and can go with 2 to 3 meals a day. Know that you will not fatten up a kitten overnight and overheating can cause digestive and vomiting problems. Just encourage her to eat more food and the weight will come on, unless she has a parasite or something that could be interfering. Someone on here posted what a kitten should add as weight per week -- wish I could remember what it was. Have patience and just make sure she's eating multiple times during the day. You've got to feed her the food that she will eat.

Kyenta1 · **Posted:** Sat Sep 19, 2015 5:12 pm

Just let her eat as much as she wants. We got Quasar at 13 weeks and he weighed less than 2 lbs. He had already been neutered, however, and the breeder's vet was not concerned about his size. He grew rapidly and now is a comfortable 12 lbs of lean.

As long as your beebs is vigorous and eating I would not be overly concerned about her size. Also, the sleeping - kittens sleep a LOT. This, too, will change. :razz:

DeputyMP24 · **Joined:** Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:31 pm **Posts:** 212

Thanks for the advice, everyone! I appreciate it!

She really likes her wet foods. She had 100% ground rabbit wet kitten food this morning and devoured it. She gets that 3x a day, with unlimited access to dry kitten food. Her dry food bowl was close to empty this morning, so I guess she had a meal sometime in the middle of the night. The dry food is a grain free, high protein indoor kitten formula.

She already does feel like she has put a little weight on. Her hip bones and backbone arent as obvious when petting her. So thats good!

She definitely sleeps ALOT. Shes asleep right this second, snuggling with my hubby. :) When shes awake shes very active and playful. She so funny to watch as she faces around the house!

brianj12 · **Posted:** Sat Sep 19, 2015 5:30 pm

I would say that if she is eating enthusiastically 3 meals a day of wet food, and picking at dry food in between, that is pretty darn good. I definitely would not go with the high calorie stuff unless the vet tells you that is appropriate. That is usually reserved for pretty sick kitties!

It sounds to me like in general she has a wet food that she really likes, and a dry food that she isn't crazy about. Long-term, you definitely would like to find a dry food that she likes better. But don't make the change right now. Let her get her feet under her, and in a month or so you can think about starting to experiment with other dry foods. Picking at the dry food and gobbling up the wet food is actually kind of what you want.

DeputyMP24 · **Joined:** Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:31 pm **Posts:** 212

Thanks for the input, Brian!

She definitely loves her wet foods. She eats a goodly amount at each feeding. One thing that is interesting, is when shes done, she tries to "bury" whatever is left. She eats in the kitchen, so really she cant bury it, but its a behavior Ive never seen before. I was very happy to see she had eaten most of the dry food last night. Thats the most dry food shes eaten so far.

***off topic...I see youre from Portland, Brian. My family just moved from Hillsboro to NY! :)

Kyenta1 · **Posted:** Sat Sep 19, 2015 6:59 pm

Quasar tries to cover his food dish as well. I had never seen this behaviour with any of my past cats.

He also tries to cover certain spots on the floor if they have an odour he feels needs covering. e.g. place where dog has been lying when she smells bad.

socalprincess · **Joined:** Tue Aug 11, 2015 9:17 pm **Posts:** 89

I have had 3 cats now that tried to bury leftover food after they were done eating it (or sometimes even before)... I always thought they were turning their noses up at it, because the only other thing I ever saw them attempt to bury was in the litter box haha... :lol:

I found out recently that they do this because they are trying to bury and conceal their food from other predators and scavengers. Actually makes more sense! I mean how adorable is that?

DeputyMP24 · **Joined:** Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:31 pm **Posts:** 212

That does make sense. I think its hilarious when she does it. She looks all grumpy when she just cant get it buried. Lol...Ive grown up with more cats than I could ever remember (I grew up on a large horse ranch...we had looooots of barn/outdoor kitties) and never once saw them bury food. Is it predominantly a bengal trait, or do most cats do this?

Side note...Suri eats like a champ now!! She definitely loves her wet food, and begs whenever Im in the kitchen. Shes also eating the dry food really well in between feedings. Shes putting weight on really fast. Her coat is now REALLY silky soft and shiny under her fuzz!

Sherry · **Joined:** Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm **Posts:** 9217

Raiden only covers up the cat food that he doesn't particularly like! It's like, "get that crap away from me." He tries to cover it up with water from his water bowl. It's crazy!

Glad to hear Suri is eating like a queen!

How Much Should A 10 Week Kitten Be Eating?

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