My kitten is 17 weeks old and seems to really be hungry quite a lot of the time. He is very active, so I suppose he's going to be burning his food off quite quickly compared to a kitten who is say left alone in one room during the day cos the owner goes out to work.

I was just wondering if it's best to give several small meals as opposed to say just breakfast and tea?

My kitten loves M&S cooked chicken and sometimes ham. Are these foods good for him?

This might sound a bit silly, but if kittens go running around the second they have finished eating, could this make them sick?

The chicken and ham isnt good and isnt bad in moderation (ie once, twice a week)

if he is always hungry you need to up his food I would say. Is he wormed? How many grams of food does he get a day?

kittens food should be unlimited. I fed up to 4 meals a day with 200g a meal, 2 meals a day isnt enough for kittens I dont think, they need pretty constant access to a food source.

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Hi there,

From what I've read, kittens should be fed as much as they like as they are growing fast. For the first 6 months they should be fed three times a day including possibly leaving a bit of dry down for them to graze on (if you are doing a mixed diet of both wet and dry).

I've always thought it might make them sick running around straight after, but ours don't have any issues.

Re the chicken and ham - processed foods have more salt in, so maybe good as a little treat but not all the time. Hobbs2004 should be able to give you a good idea as they are a foodie expert.

Hope this helps.

Hi feed the kitten, kitten food ie pouches 3x daily and leave down kitten biscutes ALLDAY so the kitten can pick at them when he's hungry, us a good quality kitten biscute ie: royal canin,Ims or science plan kittens need to be on kitten food till at least a year old as it contains all the goodness he needs for a growing kitten. Dont worry kittens will run around after meals.

Hope this helps

Thanks for the advice.

He has half a pouch of Natures Menu in the morning and chicken at other times. If he has too much of the NM it makes him loose - perhaps because it is quite rich? This is why I give him the chicken, it is supposed to be good isn't it if they r on the loose side?

Royal Canin kitten biscuits are left down 24/7. He doesn't eat many of these though, much prefers the NM and cooked chicken.

What else could I try him on?

Also, does your kitten really take notice of food when you are eating or if some strong cooking smell is coming from the oven? I have never given him anything which I have been eating for a meal - is that the correct thing to do so he is not round me at every meal time like a begging animal?

Just have to say that IF you feed a good quality cat food you don't need to feed kitten food - it's a scam and there is really no need to spend the extra. If you are feeding a lower quality food then do use the kitten food. Cats don't NEED dry food and an all wet diet is definitely preferable if possible but many do choose to use both. For me PERSONALLY iams, Royal Canin, Science Plan and Hills AREN'T good dry foods - look at Applaws or Orijgen for grain free dry which is much better. Good wet foods can be found on Zooplus etc and there is a good sticky about the best wet, dry and raw foods at the top of the section - have a peruse.

EDIT: don't give him too much of the chicken on it's own as it isn't a complete diet for him and as he only gets 1/2 a pouch of NM and only nibbles at the dry then he could end up deficient in vital minerals etc especially taurine which is essential for a good heart. My cats found NM very rich (and it's quite high in sugar content), made their poos very smelly too. Try Hi life or Purely instead.

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Yup sadly despite the high price tag and vet backing, hills and royal canin are nutritionally very poor.

I would check out Hobbs threads at the top. both the a-z of wet and dry (if you choose to feed dry, personally I do not) they give you a fab nutritional breakdown as well as an opinion in more laymans terms (which I use!)

High quality cat food is more than adequate, with a high meat content (above 70%, above 90% is better personally)

Am I right in thinking he only gets 1/2 a pouch of complete wet a day? Honestly you could give him at least 8 times that!! He needs the nutrients from the complete food and the chicken will not give him that.

if the NM is making his stools runny, I would consider switching to another food gradually, BUT its more than likely its the royal canin biscuits causing the loose stools. My suspicion would be that over the NM.

1/2 a pouch (usually 85g to 100g correct meif I am wrong) of complete food a day is nowhere near enough in my opinion

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I understand that the chicken does not contain all the nutrients which the kitten needs. However, was just hoping the chicken would stop him from being loose. Then, once his visits to the cat lit. tray were normal again, I would reduce the chicken.

Lots of people don't seem to like the Royal Canin dry. What about the RC wet pouches - has anyone used those?

Neither are very good. A-Z of wet food for cats You can see here the breakdown.
very expensive, so why feed it when you can feed foods which are much higher in meat and contain less fillers for a fraction of the price.

How long has he been loose. Chicken is a short term fix, not for very long. How can you be sure it is the NM causing the loose stool? What other foods have you attempted to introduce?

The NM breakdown: A-Z of wet food for cats I would be worried at the moment that he doesnt seem to be eating anything which is giving him everything he needs.

Personally I would be looking to get them onto a complete wet food, and cut out the chicken and non complete foods. I defer to Hobbs knowledge so if she says NM isnt correct then i would assume that to be correct, so according to her NM isnt.

If the loose stools persist, I would be contacting a vet.

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He was having the NM pouches and RC kitten dry before I got him.

Been loose for a couple of days.

Is there such a thing as 'normal' as far as doing No. 2 is concerned or is it like people, some go everyday and others once a week?

What food do you give yours?