Is she getting enough food??

[Madison]

I just adopted a 10 month old sphynx kitten last week and I'm worried that I'm either not feeding her enough or maybe feeding her too much! I have had cats in the past, and they always had an automatic feeder with dry food then they would be given wet food as a treat a couple times a week. I'm a first time sphynx mum though and I'll admit that I'm being a bit paranoid!! :shame:
Her previous owner just fed her dry food once a day, which I thought wasn't nearly enough because she is a bit underweight...currently I'm feeding her half of a 3 oz can of wet food every morning and night and then she free feeds on dry food throughout the day. I'm just curious if that's enough because she INHALES the wet food and goes through maybe 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of dry food a day on top of that! She even gets up a couple times a night for a snack, haha! But I also worry that maybe she's being overfed because I've read of many sphynx owners feeding their babies only a couple tablespoons or so of wet food every day..

 

[zoinks]

Welcome and congrats on the new arrival!

Just keep an eye on her weight, every sphynx is different. If you are free feeding there's no way you can be under feeding as she will eat as much as she wants.

The people who feed the tablespoons of wet is in addition to free feeding dry so again the cat eats as much as they want, just the wet amount differs.

I would stick to it at least until she gets to a healthy weight and then re evaluate then if you feel like it's too much.

 

[Hairless Blessing]

I would increase her wet to three times a day and up her dry to at least a cup.
Then, you might have to up the wet and or dry some more.
Kits need more pulse sphynx needs more.
Their metabolism is higher than a regular cat and they need more and to stay warm also.
As you adjust you'll know what works.

 

[Madison]

Thank you both! I was thinking of maybe adding another can of wet food every day, so I'll try that and see how she does. She was extremely determined to try and get some of our dinner last night so I'm thinking she'll probably be very open to the idea of more food

 

[andreanar]

Sphynx kittens eat an amazing amount of food! Lol

 

[cherp]

Thanks for asking this question. I am also a fairly new sphynx owner . . . Zoey is ten months old now. When I last took her to our vet, he thought I was feeding her too much, so we have cut back to 1/4 can of wet food in the morning and a total of 1/3 of a cup of dry food a day. He has two large cats (much larger than Zoey), and they eat that amount a day and are fine. I do not want her to be fat, but I am worried that is not enough, so if she does meow around the pantry I give her a little more. So far she seems to be okay with that. She does not appear to be losing any weight (or gaining) so I guess I am going to stick with that for now. I think she had us "trained" to feed her when she was meowing! Anyhow, I will continue to watch and see how she does.

 

[Catzzzmeow]

For our kittens we did a 1/2 can morning and night and left dry food for free feeding during the day. My vet said kittens should be allowed to eat all they want until a year old and you then can see if you need to adjust accordingly to maintain a health weight for their build.

Patti

 

[Madison]

For our kittens we did a 1/2 can morning and night and left dry food for free feeding during the day. My vet said kittens should be allowed to eat all they want until a year old and you then can see if you need to adjust accordingly to maintain a health weight for their build.

Patti

Well that's exactly what I'm doing right now so that makes me feel much better! Haha She'll be 1 at the end of May and we'll be taking her in for a check up and her yearly vaccinations, so I'll be sure to ask the vet if she thinks I should adjust her food any! Thank you!