# Please Help...My 2 Kittens are driving me insane!!!!



## Craigh1983 (Sep 9, 2014)

Hey guys,

This has probably been discussed many times but I thought i'd post to see if I can get any advice.

Basically I have 2 6 month old kittens and I used to feed them a bowl of dry applaws kitten food each morning about 35 grams each. and then when I came home from work I fed them half a pouch of Hi life kitten food at about 4.30pm and then another half pouch each at around 7pm.

However now they have reached 6 months I have got rid of dry food as I heard it's bad for cats and I give them one full pouch of wet food in the morning each and then one each at around 7pm. The problem comes when I go into the kitchen and get the food out they start going absolutely crazy!!!! They are jumping around on the floor... they are jumping up onto the work surface and crying so loud as if they had never been fed before!

I try to let them keep doing this until they calm down, however they don't calm down and it's making me wonder if I am under feeding them??

So i did a little experiment last night... I gave them the full pouch each in morning... half pouch each at 4.30pm... a full pouch each at 7pm thinking this would be enough... 45 minutes later I tried them with another half pouch and even after the their full pouch they were up at the counter screaming for food so I gave them another half pouch just to see if this would shut them up. 10 minutes later I pretended to get their food out again thinking surely they won't scream now and sure enough... screaming again!! And when I say screaming I mean as if I had starved them for a week!

I really don't know what i'm doing wrong. The food I give them has over 50% real meat so its not the cheap whiskas i'm giving them. And after they have been fed, if I do go out of the kitchen into the living room they don't ever bother me for food so this makes me wonder if they are actually hungry. The problem only starts when I get up to go to the kitchen and then they are around my feet. They have even started pulling the bin over and getting into the bin like feral cats!!! They have been wormed twice too so I can't see this being a problem. They are a healthy looking size and weight too.

Sorry for long post but any help would be appreciated as its driving me nuts. Am I feeding my cats enough on 2 pouches a day?

Thanks
Craigh


----------



## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

TBH your last sentence sums it up - the poor things are hungry!

Kittens should be allowed to eat as much food as they like as they need an awful lot of energy to grow / play etc 

They need way more than 2 pouches a day! 


You may find some days they'll eat 4 pouches, other days 3 pouches - it varies but it should not be restricted


----------



## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

You will find it cheaper to feed good quality tinned than pouches

Have a look on these sites for ideas http://www.zooplus.co.uk/ and http://www.happykittycompany.co.uk/

If youre after suggestions pop a list on the Health & Nutrition board

Mia loves all the HKC ones apart from Macs (but many feed that without issue) and will eat Animonda Carny and Schmausy from Zoo plus. A lot of people feed several foods in rotation - helps with costs as well as stopping them getting too fussy

Butchers classic is a decent food from the supermarket to incl in that rotation


----------



## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

Is that 2 pouches each or between them? If it is between them you are lucky they are not chewing your arms off in your sleep! I agree just feed them more, and keep feeding them as much as they want. Cats will regulate themselves and so long as it is a low carb diet most of them will not get fat. (Carbs and non-meat food may cause them to put on weight)


----------



## Mum to Missy (Aug 13, 2013)

I agree with what the others have said, they sound hungry, you can't over feed a kitten, they will eat what they need.

At that age Willowbee was eating a 200gm tin and about 4 pouches a day, she also had access to dry at night.


----------



## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

I agree with the other replies that they need more food but just to pick up on one of your comments 
*I try to let them keep doing this until they calm down, however they don't calm down* 
They aren't dogs which can be trained to sit calmly and wait to be fed :frown2:


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi Craigh, your kitties are so used to being hungry and this is the reason they go mad when you feed them. When as an experiment you fed them more than usual they still went mad because they were so excited. The continuing fuss even after a couple of pouches each was due to them being worried they won't get enough to eat next time. 

As has been said by the others ^^ kittens of that age need to eat large amounts of food because they are growing and playing a lot. I remember my boys each eating 400 grams of good quality food a day when they were a similar age to your two. As I recall the Hilife Natures Essentials pouches weigh 85 gms, so that would mean about 9 pouches a day between your 2 kittens, way more than you have been feeding them. 

This is why Lilylass has recommended you look at some of the good quality canned foods from The Happy Kitty Co and Zooplus, as the food will be better value than the pouches you're buying. Pouches are the most expensive way of feeding cats. Pouches are marketed purely for the convenience of humans, not for the benefit of cats, and the cost reflects that.

Let your kittens eat as much as they want, and they will learn to self-regulate. I have never seen an overweight kitten. Once they learn to trust that you will always give them enough to eat they will stop crying for food all the time and stop trying to scavenge from the kitchen bin.


----------



## Craigh1983 (Sep 9, 2014)

Jonescat said:


> Is that 2 pouches each or between them? If it is between them you are lucky they are not chewing your arms off in your sleep! I agree just feed them more, and keep feeding them as much as they want. Cats will regulate themselves and so long as it is a low carb diet most of them will not get fat. (Carbs and non-meat food may cause them to put on weight)


It's 2 pouches each per day


----------



## OrientalSlave (Jan 26, 2012)

Craigh1983 said:


> It's 2 pouches each per day


That is nothing like enough. I'd expect 6-month old kittens to be eating 4 or more per day. Once they realise enough food is going to keep coming they will calm down. Feed enough that you have a small amount left over and you will know they are getting enough.


----------



## Craigh1983 (Sep 9, 2014)

Thanks for your replies everyone. I realise I am not feeding them enough so I have looked on zooplus and settled on Animonda Carny kitten food and I will give them this as well as the pouches until
The pouches run out and then I will switch to the animonda carny completely. I actually can't believe how much better value for money it is compared to pouches!

Thanks again guys


----------



## Craigh1983 (Sep 9, 2014)

It says on the Animonda Carny website that for my kittens age they should be fed around 260 ish grams of their food per day. Should I stick to this or should I just as you said feed them as much as try want of that food?


----------



## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

I'd feed them as much as they want of the Animonda Carny. Guidelines are just that, not hard and fast rules. Some kitties may be satisfied with only that amount. But your kitties will tell you how much they need, so I'd be guided by them.


----------



## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

Great news  

Let us know how it goes 

Once they've settled down on their new food, I would introduce a couple of different brands - invariably manufactures change recipes and if your cats are used to just that one brand it can be a bit of a nightmare finding something else they wil eat

Much easier to stop them becoming fussy by feeding a variety


----------



## julesradford (May 4, 2014)

I have two 14 week kittens and am feeding them Animonda carny with Royal Canin Maine Coon kitten kibble for dry stuff, and I put down half a tin in the morning and half in the afternoon with free access to as much dry as they like. They are only small at the mo and it's enough (as there is some left) but as they grow I just put more down. 

It's rare for a cat to overeat at their age. Mine go thro a fair amount of kibble but too much Aminonda gives them the squits . That and dreamies.. being used to placate our older cat. The kittens ate a few yesterday and the results were... smelly...


----------



## Jonescat (Feb 5, 2012)

That would probably probably be the offal in the AC and the grain in the Dreamies. Quite a lot of cats have that sort of reaction. I found it was trial and error to get the combination of food that the human is happy with and the cats will eat. I use the dried chicken treats (like Thrive) rather than kibble now, but we are ok with Carny.


----------



## Craigh1983 (Sep 9, 2014)

Lilylass said:


> Great news
> 
> Let us know how it goes
> 
> ...


Yea I think I will defo buy a couple of different brands to see which they prefer.

I have to say though i'm slightly dissapointed with Zooplus customer service. I went on their website and saw that I could purchase 4 packs of 6 Animonda Carny tins (24 tins in total) which would come to £17.16 but on looking further and it wasn't very clear... I could actually buy 2 packs of 12 cans from their website which is still 24 tins for £14.98. It's not a huge difference but I called them just asking if I could change the order or refund me the difference and its the exact same product i'm ordering and they didn't want to help in the slightest!

She said there is nothing I can do you will just have to order the 2 lots of 12 next time. Not a good start really but will just make sure I look around on their website in depth first before ordering. I just assumed they would clearly show me on their website if they had a better deal on the food I was ordering.


----------



## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

Craigh1983 said:


> I just assumed they would clearly show me on their website if they had a better deal on the food I was ordering.


You do have to be a bit careful with Zoo+ offers as they're not always that great!

eg look at the page of Golden Grey cat litters Golden Grey Cat Litter: on Sale now at zooplus

Right at the top, there is a special offer of 1 bag with 10% off and it's 'only' £10.79 (instead of RRP £11.99)

BUT they have a standard deal on a bulk purchase of 2 bags at £19.99 (runs all the time)

(you will also see that they sell the 1 bag for £11.49 anyway to start with so the saving is even less)

So .... the offer isn't that great really!

Generally, they will show any products on offer at the top of a page - so they may have 10 + 2 cans free BUT further down the page, the standard 12 pack will still show - and show at full price ......

Some offers are good (eg the 2 cans free) - others not (eg the cat litter) so you do have to thoroughly check them


----------



## BandB (Apr 4, 2014)

I had the same issue with mine. I asked the same question on here. I upped their food and now I have two calm cats every mealtime. I feed them wet food, twice a day. They often leave half then go back half and hour later to finish. Kittens need a fair bit of good food. Definitely up their quantity.


----------

