Kitten Feeding Chart: How Much to Feed a Kitten

At about 12 months. Kitten food carries more calories, protein and key nutrients per mouthful, and growing cats need all of it. Make the switch gradually over 7 to 10 days. Large breeds such as the Maine Coon benefit from kitten food a few months longer, up to 18 months.

Under 3 months: four meals a day. From 3 to 6 months: three meals. From 6 months: two meals, which most cats then stay on for life. Young kittens have tiny stomachs and fast metabolisms, so frequent small meals suit them far better than one or two large ones.

Work from calories. A kitten needs its resting energy requirement, which is 70 times its weight in kilograms raised to the power 0.75, multiplied by a growth factor of roughly 2.5 before four months and 1.6 to 2 after. An 8 week old kitten of 900 grams needs around 160 calories a day, which is about two 3 ounce cans of kitten wet food, split into four meals. A 6 month old of 3 kilograms needs around 290 calories.

Around 150 to 170 calories a day at a typical 0.8 to 1 kg body weight. That is about two 3 ounce cans of kitten wet food, or a third of a cup of kitten kibble, split into four small meals.

Around 220 to 230 calories at a typical 1.4 kg. Practically: two and a half to three cans of wet food, or half a cup of dry, over three meals.

Around 290 calories at a typical 3 kg. That is roughly three and a half cans of wet food or two thirds of a cup of dry, in two or three meals. This is also the age to stop free feeding if you have been.

Before four months it is usually fine, kittens self regulate well while growth is at full speed. From five to six months switch to measured meals. Cats that free feed into adulthood are heavily represented in the overweight statistics.

Usually yes. Growing kittens are eating machines, and begging is also just learned theatre. Trust the weekly weigh in: steady gains along the growth chart mean the amount is right. A kitten that is ravenous and failing to gain needs a vet visit and a worm check.

Skip it. Most kittens lose the ability to digest lactose around weaning, and cow's milk causes diarrhea. Water alongside every meal is all the drink a weaned kitten needs. Unweaned kittens under about 4 weeks need proper kitten milk replacer.

A typical 12-week kitten (1.2 to 1.5 kg) needs about 200 to 230 kcal a day: two and a half to three 3 oz cans of wet food, or a little under half a cup of dry, split into four meals. Weigh weekly; steady gains of about 100 g a week say the amount is right.

At 4 months (about 1.8 to 2.2 kg) most kittens need 250 to 300 kcal a day, around three 3 oz cans of wet or half to two-thirds of a cup of dry, over three meals. The per-kilo need starts falling from here, so do not keep scaling up by weight alone.