Why is my cat slowing down on food?

My kitten is 7 months old, and last month he was squawking for food and scarfing it down...I realized I was not feeding him enough.

So I increased his food, and he was pleased with this. I noticed he was no longer scarfing down food.

The past week and a half, more and more food is left in the bowl. He is now walking away but still coming back to it.

Today I came home from work and there was still quite a large amount of food. After a few minutes, I saw him nibble at his food.

Is he content with his food? Am I feeding him too much? Is he growing in the right way as he should?

I'm nervous to change the amount of his food because I don't want him to get desperate for food or have food anxiety as an adult, but I also don't want him to get obese.

Thank you!

I don't know about your cat, but mine was obsessed with food. His old owners let him free feed and he was obese. I now only feed him twice a day. And I had to get a no gulp plate so that he didn't eat too fast and make himself throw up.

But it sounds like your cat knows to stop eating when he's full while mine doesn't. I think yours sounds healthy.

Okay, now I re-read this and I'm not sure if my concern is clear...what IS normal when it comes to feeding a growing kitten? How do I know when to give more or less without upsetting him?

I’d ask your vet. How often and how much to feed? There’s info online but I am not sure how accurate is it.

My daughters cat needs to have food in the bowl or he’s getting anxious. He might not eat if he’s not hungry but he wants it there for comfort

Please take your cat to the vets. Once cats stop eating, it’s a nad sign that something is wrong. If your car is still eating, then maybe it’s the food.

Cats are finicky. My cat refuses to eat anything other than Fancy feast dry foos & a special friskies seafood gravy. lol

Try feeding your cat canned food or gravy too. Buy only one can of a brand until you find one your cat likes.

Lark, I want to be sure I understand. A month ago Elwood was eating everything you gave him and yelling for more. You increased how much you give him and he is not finishing it, but will come back later and eat some more. Is that right?

Some questions in order to hopefully give you an intelligent answer.

Have you changed what you are giving him? Different brand? Same brand, different flavor. Wet vs dry?

How much more are you giving him? Most bags of dry food have guidelines how much to give them printed on the bag.

Does he look or feel like he is losing weight?

It is not unusual for cats to leave food and come back to it. Before two of mine developed health problems that require prescription food I used to just leave dry food down they could eat as they wanted.

Is he acting unwell? Using litter box normally? Activity level change?

Came back to add this... are you feeding him kitten food? Kittens should get food formulated for their needs until they are a year old.

Lark, PetMD has a good article about feeding kittens.

Complete Guide to Feeding Kittens | PetMD

Sometimes adult cats (I am not sure about kittens) will eat a bit, then go off to do something else, then come back to the food dish later, if they feel they have enough food available to them and no competition for the food

Its best to double check with the vet though, just in case something is hurting

I was overreacting. He is slowing down on food because he is content with what I am giving him and not so desperately hungry. He still demands food at certain times of the day and will wake me up to feed him. He's not losing or gaining weight, and I've given him the same kitten food he's always had, and I plan on giving him kitten food until he is at least a year old.