Quantity of raw food

[Ollie]

Hi! I know I asked a similar question before but how much raw food should an almost 6 month old kitten be eating? While I love the fact this raw diet has completely solved any of Oliver's digestive issues, I find him frequently hungry ( or at least he is pretending to be!). I am feeding primal right now and have tried a few different meats (pheasant, turkey, rabbit) and I have done the websites food calculation and even added a tiny bit more for being a sphynx. This calculator said from 6-7 ounces should do it for his age, depending on meat ( some like rabbit are lower in calories). So that being said he wakes us up at 6 am, gets fed at 6:30 am(used to be 4 am but I was not going for THAT!) then he is fed at around 3-4 pm and again at 8-9 pm. He is now eating 3 ounces each time, consuming the entire thing. He is not chubby. Tiny little roll on his belly lower belly when he sits, but looks lean. Recently, because we are home and there have been lots of people around for the holidays we have slipped him a few raw freeze dried treats, which he goes cRaZy for! But post holiday they will be for baths, ear cleaning, and well just good behaviour . But he gets maybe 4 little freezes dried bits if at all maybe once a day. Shouldn't he be full??? I thought he would not miss his kibble as much as he seems to, but that was what was causing the tummy issues I'm convinced. Should I not worry yet because he is a kitten and not getting chubby? The amount seems like almost double what I read most feed their cats....
This morning I fed him 2 ounces and 10 minutes later my hubby came back from taking one of our boys to the airport and fed him another 2 ounces because Oliver was meowing and he didn't know I was already up and fed him! What a piggy scammer. Maybe when all our schedules go back to normal he won't be looking for food ALL he time but if anyone has any input as to how much raw food in ounces they feed their cats it would give me a general idea. I can't ask my vet as she is not a raw food fan. I kinda wish he could eat kibble because then I could go back to sleeping in on a weekend :-(. Thanks for reading my now long winded post.

 

[nfaerie]

Hi! I know I asked a similar question before but how much raw food should an almost 6 month old kitten be eating? While I love the fact this raw diet has completely solved any of Oliver's digestive issues, I find him frequently hungry ( or at least he is pretending to be!). I am feeding primal right now and have tried a few different meats (pheasant, turkey, rabbit) and I have done the websites food calculation and even added a tiny bit more for being a sphynx. This calculator said from 6-7 ounces should do it for his age, depending on meat ( some like rabbit are lower in calories). So that being said he wakes us up at 6 am, gets fed at 6:30 am(used to be 4 am but I was not going for THAT!) then he is fed at around 3-4 pm and again at 8-9 pm. He is now eating 3 ounces each time, consuming the entire thing. He is not chubby. Tiny little roll on his belly lower belly when he sits, but looks lean. Recently, because we are home and there have been lots of people around for the holidays we have slipped him a few raw freeze dried treats, which he goes cRaZy for! But post holiday they will be for baths, ear cleaning, and well just good behaviour . But he gets maybe 4 little freezes dried bits if at all maybe once a day. Shouldn't he be full??? I thought he would not miss his kibble as much as he seems to, but that was what was causing the tummy issues I'm convinced. Should I not worry yet because he is a kitten and not getting chubby? The amount seems like almost double what I read most feed their cats....
This morning I fed him 2 ounces and 10 minutes later my hubby came back from taking one of our boys to the airport and fed him another 2 ounces because Oliver was meowing and he didn't know I was already up and fed him! What a piggy scammer. Maybe when all our schedules go back to normal he won't be looking for food ALL he time but if anyone has any input as to how much raw food in ounces they feed their cats it would give me a general idea. I can't ask my vet as she is not a raw food fan. I kinda wish he could eat kibble because then I could go back to sleeping in on a weekend :-(. Thanks for reading my now long winded post.

Well I don't know how much he 'should' be eating. I know that raw digests a lot quicker compared to kibble etc. so maybe he really is hungry. Have you tried giving him as much as he wants until he stops eating? I would do this for a few days to see if he really does need it or if he vomits from over eating. It is possible that his body is craving the extra nutrition, because it couldn't digest kibble properly earlier on.

 

[andreanar]

When I fed RAW and my cats were under 1 yr old, I let them eat as much as they wanted 3 times a day.

 

[momdeeze]

My 9 pound boy can only eat raw due to digestive problems (bad diarrhea) with anything but raw. He eats 4 ounces of raw twice a day and always acts like he's starving! I swear he would eat until he pops if I let him. (My nursing mom - tiny 6 pound little girl - eats, I kid you not, eats one pound of raw a day! But she has 6 babies she's feeding as well.)

 

[momdeeze]

My 9 pound boy can only eat raw due to digestive problems (bad diarrhea) with anything but raw. He eats 4 ounces of raw twice a day and always acts like he's starving! I swear he would eat until he pops if I let him. (My nursing mom - tiny 6 pound little girl - I kid you not, eats one pound of raw a day! But she has 6 babies she's feeding as well.)

 

[assibassi]

WOW yep they do seem always hungry . Ours are 2 big ones are about 9 lbs and rooka is about 5 to 6 lbs and they get about 6 to 8 oz a day each........ the bigger boys a bit more . Plus treats.
The food that I am feeding they say, 1/2 cup a day or a bit more and they get more then that each.

 

[Ollie]

When I fed RAW and my cats were under 1 yr old, I let them eat as much as they wanted 3 times a day.

Thanks! Appreciate the info. I will try more to see if he stops on his own. Just trying to figure out where his limit is LOL ... 9 oz over the day 3x just seemed like it was a lot for such a small creature ( last I checked he was 7 lbs. I should check again).

 

[zoinks]

They just love the raw, they will beg for more even when you are feeding them a reasonable amount. Ours are the same.

Sounds like you are feeding the right amount. I like to feed a little more than 1 oz per pound of their weight, eg. Dips is 9 months, 8lbs and I feed him 8-10 oz a day, and both my cats are a perfect weight.

Until 1 year I wouldn't be too strict as they are still growing, but still keep track of the amount and don't go TOO overboard.

As for waking you up, maybe have a schedule and try to stick to it if possible? eg. 6am, 3pm, 9pm. Then after some time they will know when to expect it... my cats will start trying to get my attention 15 minutes before feeding time.