Ragdoll Cat Forums

So everyone basically agrees that kittens should be allowed to eat as much as they want, right? Does this apply to young kittens and old? Up to a year?

Atrus has access to as much food as he wants. I do measure out his dry food to keep track of how much he eats, but I refill it before it gets empty (he eats more than 1/2 cup per day but it varies) and it's high-protein grain-free so it has a lot more calories than most dry foods. He also gets 2 meals of canned food a day, 2-4oz probably.

Now he's developing a nice fat pad under his tummy (breed standard, right?) and is growing nicely, if slowly (<9lbs ), so he's in no way fat.

But when do I stop feeding him quite so much? I'm assuming, at some point, eating this much a way would make him quite fat. How much more do kittens really eat than adults? Should I continue to give him as much food as he wants or will he get fat? I know some cat people are really adamant about how many calories to feed, but most animals (not humans apparently) will just stop eating when they're full, right?

In general, cats do well at eating the appropriate amount. Only if he becomes too fat or too thin do you think about what, if anything, to do about it.

Does it really take up to 4 years to reach their adult size? That seems like an awfully long time

Chrysee Wrote:Does it really take up to 4 years to reach their adult size? That seems like an awfully long time

yeah..I am curious to know that too. George has gotten so big. I wonder at about what age they at least slow down..

Growth slows as they get older, but can continue that long. Most of the growth is in the first year or so.