When to stop feeding kitten food? (kittens, eating, weight, feline)

[lovemaine]

I have 3 cats: 2 kittens who are 10 months old, and 1 adult who is 11 years old. Since all the cats eat on demand, our older cat eats kitten food. He's gaining too much weight, so I was hoping to switch back to regular food. Is 10 months too young for the kittens to eat adult food? On the kitten food package, it says to feed it to kittens for the first year. Both kittens are good size though, so I'm hoping to get them all on the same food now. Any advice? Thanks!

[beachmouse]

As long as it's a high quality-high protein adult food they're moving to, it's fine for the 10 month old kittens to eat it. Kitten food is kind of a holdover from the days when adult cat food was a much lower quality and a kitten or nursing female genuinely needed the extra calories and protein from a special formula.

[=^..^=]

Originally Posted by lovemaine

I have 3 cats: 2 kittens who are 10 months old, and 1 adult who is 11 years old. Since all the cats eat on demand, our older cat eats kitten food. He's gaining too much weight, so I was hoping to switch back to regular food. Is 10 months too young for the kittens to eat adult food? On the kitten food package, it says to feed it to kittens for the first year. Both kittens are good size though, so I'm hoping to get them all on the same food now. Any advice? Thanks!

Eating-on-demand or free-feeding dry kibble isn't the best way to feed cats. It's causing, along with grain filled kibble, a lot of obesity and other serious health issues in cats. Switch them to a good quality grain free canned food. There are also better kibbles out there that are expensive but better than the usual supermarket fare. Free-feeding is still a problem with all too many cats.

Here's some good links to start you off:
Feline nutrition information:
Feeding Your Cat** Know the Basi
History of dry food (a must-read article):
Cat Nutrition.Org (http://www.catnutrition.org/diabetes.php - broken link)
Incestuous Pet Food Regulation Allows Consumers to Feed their Pets Ring Dings and Krispy Kremes
YourDiabeticCat.com - Helping and Preventing Feline Diabetes
Diabetes and Obesity: Preventable Epidemics (Elizabeth Hodgkins, DVM)
Canned Cat Food - THE Staple for a Nutritious Diet for Cats

[lovemaine]

Thanks to you both! I've always free-fed my cats, but I may try controlled feeding if my older cat doesn't lose weight once I switch to the adult food.