How Much to Feed a Kitten: A Chart by Age and Weight

A kitten is not a small cat. Pound for pound a growing kitten needs roughly two to three times the calories of an adult cat, and getting that wrong in either direction has consequences — underfeeding stunts growth, overfeeding sets up a cat who will be overweight for the rest of their life.

The good news is the maths is simple and the schedule is predictable. Here is the whole thing.

The Short Version by Age

• 0–4 weeks — milk only, from the queen or a kitten milk replacer. Never cow's milk. Bottle-fed kittens eat every 2–4 hours around the clock.
• 4–8 weeks — weaning. Wet kitten food mashed with warm water into a gruel, four to six small meals a day, with milk tapering off.
• 8 weeks–6 months — the big growth window. Around 100 calories per kilogram of body weight per day, split across four meals, dropping to three around four months.
• 6–12 months — growth slows. Around 70–80 kcal/kg/day, two to three meals.
• 12 months+ — switch to adult food. Around 50–60 kcal/kg/day for a neutered indoor cat, two meals.

A Practical Chart

Most commercial kitten foods run 350–500 kcal per cup of dry, or 70–100 kcal per 85 g pouch of wet. Using a mid-range 400 kcal/cup dry food, that works out roughly as:

• 2 months, ~1 kg — ~100 kcal/day ≈ ¼ cup, over 4 meals
• 3 months, ~1.5 kg — ~150 kcal/day ≈ ⅜ cup, over 4 meals
• 4 months, ~2 kg — ~200 kcal/day ≈ ½ cup, over 3 meals
• 6 months, ~3 kg — ~230 kcal/day ≈ ⅝ cup, over 3 meals
• 9 months, ~3.5 kg — ~250 kcal/day ≈ ⅝ cup, over 2–3 meals
• 12 months, ~4 kg — ~220 kcal/day on adult food ≈ ½ cup, 2 meals

Treat these as a starting point, not a prescription. Breed matters — a Maine Coon is still growing at 18 months and a Siamese is done at 10. Activity matters. Whether your kitten is neutered matters, because energy needs drop by roughly a quarter afterwards.

Why Calories per Cup Beats Cups per Day

The feeding guide on the bag is calibrated to that bag. Swap to a different brand with the same cup measure and you may have changed your kitten's intake by 30 percent without noticing, because calorie density varies enormously between foods. Always find the kcal/cup or kcal/can figure — it is usually in small print near the guaranteed analysis — and work from calories.

Wet, Dry, or Both

Cats evolved as desert animals with a weak thirst drive and get most of their water from prey. Wet food is roughly 75 percent moisture and dry food around 10, which is why most vets recommend that wet food form a meaningful part of a cat's diet — particularly for males, who are prone to urinary blockages.

A practical split is wet food at two set mealtimes with a small measured portion of dry left out for grazing. Measure the dry portion rather than topping up the bowl: free-feeding dry is the single most common route to an overweight cat. There is a fuller comparison in our guide to wet versus dry pet food.

How to Tell If You Have It Right

Forget the number on the scale for a moment and use your hands. Run your fingers along your kitten's ribs. You should feel them easily under a thin layer of covering, the way you feel the back of your own hand. If you have to press to find them, the portions are too big. If they feel sharp and prominent, too small.

From above, a healthy kitten has a visible waist behind the ribs. From the side, the belly tucks up rather than hanging level. Weigh weekly on a kitchen scale until six months — steady weekly gain is the signal you want, not a particular number.

The Common Mistakes

1. Cow's milk. Most kittens are lactose intolerant after weaning. It causes diarrhoea and offers nothing.
2. Adult cat food too early. It is lower in protein, fat, calcium and taurine than a growing kitten needs. Stay on kitten food until 12 months.
3. Dog food. Cats require dietary taurine and arachidonic acid that dog food is not required to contain. Long-term feeding causes heart and retinal damage.
4. Free-feeding without measuring. A bowl that is never empty is a bowl nobody is tracking.
5. Not adjusting after neutering. Energy requirements fall sharply. Keep the portion the same and the weight will climb.

Getting the Portion Right for Your Kitten

Charts are averages, and your kitten is not an average. Peeku works out portions from your own cat's weight, age, breed and neuter status, adjusts them as they grow, and recalculates automatically when you switch foods — so the number in front of you is for the food in your cupboard, not a generic cup measure.

The Bottom Line

Feed kitten-formula food until twelve months, work in calories rather than cups, split the day into three or four meals until six months, and check the ribs every week. Adjust the portion when the body condition tells you to, not when the bag does.

This article is general information, not veterinary advice — consult your vet for your pet.