Kitten Formula Question

Sammy just turned 1 year old. However she seems to have a lot of Maine Coon
in her ancestry. I've heard that Maine Coons keep growing until they are 3
years old. So my question is, should I continue to give her kitten formula,
even though she is getting a little pudgy, so she'll continue to get the
nutrients for growing bones and muscles? Or should I switch her to adult
formula, and if so, should I go with the "lite" formula?

--
Hugs,

CatNipped
http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

CatNipped wrote:
Sammy just turned 1 year old. However she seems to have a lot of
Maine Coon in her ancestry. I've heard that Maine Coons keep growing
until they are 3 years old. So my question is, should I continue to
give her kitten formula, even though she is getting a little pudgy,
so she'll continue to get the nutrients for growing bones and
muscles? Or should I switch her to adult formula, and if so, should
I go with the "lite" formula?

Happy Purr Day Sammy! I'm not sure "lite" will help her - she's a big
kitty! I'd ask the vet.

I do plan to have the vet weigh Persia. We were snoozing last night and -
remember that old 'Special K' commercial: "Can you pinch more than an inch?"
Oh yeah, with Persia I can! I've tried scaling back her Rx crunchies to 1
cup a day and am trying to get her to exercise/play more. She's an
extremely "fluffy" girl.

Jill

"jmcquown" wrote in message
. ..
CatNipped wrote:
Sammy just turned 1 year old. However she seems to have a lot of
Maine Coon in her ancestry. I've heard that Maine Coons keep growing
until they are 3 years old. So my question is, should I continue to
give her kitten formula, even though she is getting a little pudgy,
so she'll continue to get the nutrients for growing bones and
muscles? Or should I switch her to adult formula, and if so, should
I go with the "lite" formula?

Happy Purr Day Sammy! I'm not sure "lite" will help her - she's a big
kitty! I'd ask the vet.

I do plan to have the vet weigh Persia. We were snoozing last night and -
remember that old 'Special K' commercial: "Can you pinch more than an
inch?"
Oh yeah, with Persia I can! I've tried scaling back her Rx crunchies to 1
cup a day and am trying to get her to exercise/play more. She's an
extremely "fluffy" girl.

Jill

Wow, from her pictures, she doesn't look all that fluffy. I'll be
interested in what the vet has to say.

Sammy's yearly check-up will be next month so I too plan on talking to the
vet about it.

Hugs,

CatNipped

On Fri 15 Apr 2005 11:29:44p, jmcquown wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
):

I've tried scaling back her Rx crunchies to 1
cup a day and am trying to get her to exercise/play more. She's
an extremely "fluffy" girl.


Does she actually eat the whole cup? If I were you, I'd find out
how many calories are in that one cup. Bonnie (another fluffy
girl) eats about 1/2 cup of dry a day (with some canned tonight,
finally!) and even that is too much. 1 cup of most dry foods is
about 400-600 calories. Based on Bonnie's weight and activity
level, she needs less than 250 calories (or kcals) per day.

When I first started measuring out 1/4 cup 2x per day I thought
I'd starve her. But she sometimes doesn't eat it all. Plus, when
you wet it with water, you see just how big that bit swells up.

--
Cheryl

"The clever cat eats cheese and breathes down rat holes with
baited breath." - W.C. Fields

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
Sammy just turned 1 year old. However she seems to have a lot of Maine
Coon
in her ancestry. I've heard that Maine Coons keep growing until they are
3
years old. So my question is, should I continue to give her kitten
formula,
even though she is getting a little pudgy, so she'll continue to get the
nutrients for growing bones and muscles? Or should I switch her to adult
formula, and if so, should I go with the "lite" formula?

--
Hugs,

CatNipped
http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/



If she is still growing, the little pudgy is likely just "baby fat". You
know how human kids will pudge up a little just before a growth spurt.

I've never fed kitten food for even the full first year. There has always
been another adult cat with access that didn't need the extra calories. I
do feed the best food I can. Right now we mix food just to keep everyone
happy. 2/3 Nutro and 1/3 Delicat is the current ratio.

Jo

Cheryl wrote:
On Fri 15 Apr 2005 11:29:44p, jmcquown wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
):

I've tried scaling back her Rx crunchies to 1
cup a day and am trying to get her to exercise/play more. She's
an extremely "fluffy" girl.


Does she actually eat the whole cup? If I were you, I'd find out
how many calories are in that one cup. Bonnie (another fluffy
girl) eats about 1/2 cup of dry a day (with some canned tonight,
finally!) and even that is too much. 1 cup of most dry foods is
about 400-600 calories. Based on Bonnie's weight and activity
level, she needs less than 250 calories (or kcals) per day.

When I first started measuring out 1/4 cup 2x per day I thought
I'd starve her. But she sometimes doesn't eat it all. Plus, when
you wet it with water, you see just how big that bit swells up.

She does eat it. I scoop 1/2 cup in the morning and again in the late
afternoon. When I first started cutting it back she'd whine and cry. Now
she's okay with it but she still sometimes fusses. Luckily she understands
"It's not time yet." I'll talk to the vet about her weight. Since she has
to eat the Hills x/d formula I'm not sure what I can do about it.

Jill

CatNipped wrote:

Sammy just turned 1 year old. However she seems to have a lot of Maine Coon
in her ancestry. I've heard that Maine Coons keep growing until they are 3
years old. So my question is, should I continue to give her kitten formula,
even though she is getting a little pudgy, so she'll continue to get the
nutrients for growing bones and muscles? Or should I switch her to adult
formula, and if so, should I go with the "lite" formula?

Hoppy Purrday, Sammy! Don't know about the food, but Frank and Nikki
wanted to send you some shrimpies to celebrate:

:== :== :== :== :== :==
:== :== :== :== :== :==

--
Marina, Frank, Nikki, and introducing: Mere!
marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

"jmcquown" wrote in message
. ..
Cheryl wrote:
On Fri 15 Apr 2005 11:29:44p, jmcquown wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
):

I've tried scaling back her Rx crunchies to 1
cup a day and am trying to get her to exercise/play more. She's
an extremely "fluffy" girl.


Does she actually eat the whole cup? If I were you, I'd find out
how many calories are in that one cup. Bonnie (another fluffy
girl) eats about 1/2 cup of dry a day (with some canned tonight,
finally!) and even that is too much. 1 cup of most dry foods is
about 400-600 calories. Based on Bonnie's weight and activity
level, she needs less than 250 calories (or kcals) per day.

When I first started measuring out 1/4 cup 2x per day I thought
I'd starve her. But she sometimes doesn't eat it all. Plus, when
you wet it with water, you see just how big that bit swells up.

She does eat it. I scoop 1/2 cup in the morning and again in the late
afternoon. When I first started cutting it back she'd whine and cry. Now
she's okay with it but she still sometimes fusses. Luckily she
understands
"It's not time yet." I'll talk to the vet about her weight. Since she
has
to eat the Hills x/d formula I'm not sure what I can do about it.

Jill


One thing I remember about the years we had our first dog on Hills KD. She
was always hungry. Always. It was like she couldn't eat enough of it to
satisfy her. She spent every spare minute vacuuming the carpet for crumbs.
Ask the vet if there is anything you can give her as an occasional treat.

Another dog of mine had CHF and I cooked for her for several years rather
than buy the special heart food. I cooked for her every ten days and froze
daily portions.

Jo

Happy purr-day, Sammy!
Lots of best wishes,
--
Polonca & Soncek

"CatNipped" wrote in message
...
Sammy just turned 1 year old. However she seems to have a lot of Maine
Coon
in her ancestry. I've heard that Maine Coons keep growing until they are
3
years old. So my question is, should I continue to give her kitten
formula,
even though she is getting a little pudgy, so she'll continue to get the
nutrients for growing bones and muscles? Or should I switch her to adult
formula, and if so, should I go with the "lite" formula?

--
Hugs,

CatNipped
http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped/

CatNipped wrote:
nutrients for growing bones and muscles? Or should I switch her to adult
formula, and if so, should I go with the "lite" formula?

Fez and Rufous never ate kitten food, they hated it. They are also our
biggest cats.

--
Victor M. Martinez
Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)
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