Best but affordable wet food for kittens?

bantamchick

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Hello,

I have a 2 month old kitten. I free-feed her Science Diet dry food for kittens. My vet recommended Purina, Science Diet, and Royal Canin for wet food. I have her currently on Purina Pro Plan Classic for kittens. I give her the chicken and liver flavor, one 3oz can a day, divided into 3-4 meals. I feel like I'm not giving her the most nutritious food, especially for how much I pay for it: $36 for 24 3oz cans.

I was thinking of switching to Purina One: chicken and salmon, but I'm wary of feeding her salmon every day, but it looks better nutritionally and ranked higher on CatFoodDB. It's cheaper too. I want to go by my vet's suggestions, but I would like something that doesn't break the bank either.

Is it worth it to switch (my kitten loves the stuff)? What do you feed your kittens? If I were to switch, do I slowly transition her wet food, like you would with dry?
 

maggie101

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My cat can only eat small portions. She has been able to keep down fancy feast classics and nutro perfect portions, costs more and smaller portions. Perfect amount for her in the morning then ff last 2 meals. So far,in 4 weeks, that is the only food she has been able to keep down. Fingers crossed!
 

Robyn5678

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I think? I'm scared that it would upset her stomach. Maybe I could ask my vet the next time I see her.
I mix different brand together. Mine eat fancy feast classic pate, tiki cat and Koha. Sometimes in one meal they get 2 different brands, same protein
 

maggie101

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Hello,

I have a 2 month old kitten. I free-feed her Science Diet dry food for kittens. My vet recommended Purina, Science Diet, and Royal Canin for wet food. I have her currently on Purina Pro Plan Classic for kittens. I give her the chicken and liver flavor, one 3oz can a day, divided into 3-4 meals. I feel like I'm not giving her the most nutritious food, especially for how much I pay for it: $36 for 24 3oz cans.

I was thinking of switching to Purina One: chicken and salmon, but I'm wary of feeding her salmon every day, but it looks better nutritionally and ranked higher on CatFoodDB. It's cheaper too. I want to go by my vet's suggestions, but I would like something that doesn't break the bank either.

Is it worth it to switch (my kitten loves the stuff)? What do you feed your kittens? If I were to switch, do I slowly transition her wet food, like you would with dry?
One 3 oz can a day for a kitten isn't much . If her weight is fine and still active, then you are feeding her good! My cat is 9 now and eats less than she did as a kitten. She is small so as a kitten she would eat only 3/4 of 5.5 oz can
 
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bantamchick

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One 3 oz can a day for a kitten isn't much . If her weight is fine and still active, then you are feeding her good! My cat is 9 now and eats less than she did as a kitten. She is small so as a kitten she would eat only 3/4 of 5.5 oz can
I actually wanted to bring up another thing, thanks for saying this! My kitten barely eats 1/3 of the can every meal, so I've had to divide it into more smaller meals. I don't know if it's the actual food, because she gets excited and runs when I bring out the can. Maybe it's the dry food I've kept out that fills her up? I've gotten a raised bowl for her comfort and I'll have to see if that'll be better, otherwise I don't know 😭
 

maggie101

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FF classics is $21.36 for 24 3 oz cans which would $42 24 6 oz cans. Food can be expensive. Science diet dry try to avoid royal canin is more expensive than ff
 
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bantamchick

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FF classics is $21.36 for 24 3 oz cans which would $42 24 6 oz cans. Food can be expensive. Science diet dry try to avoid royal canin is more expensive than ff
Thanks. I'll see if I can put her on FF as well. Did you slowly introduce your cat into the different brand or did you just give it to her? I know for dry food, you have to slowly mix it in with their old food, but I'm not sure about wet food.
 

Furballsmom

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Hi it's (wet food) typically the same slow process of transitioning to the new, or adding on a new food :)
 

maggie101

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Thanks. I'll see if I can put her on FF as well. Did you slowly introduce your cat into the different brand or did you just give it to her? I know for dry food, you have to slowly mix it in with their old food, but I'm not sure about wet food.
I do not slowly switch. It could be because I finally found a food she can eat. Other cats need a slow switch so it depends. For some reason, probably coincidence, whenever I slowly switch she throws up. Weird. My other cat is allergic to chicken
 
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bantamchick

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I do not slowly switch. It could be because I finally found a food she can eat. Other cats need a slow switch so it depends. For some reason, probably coincidence, whenever I slowly switch she throws up. Weird. My other cat is allergic to chicken
I'll try to slowly switch just in case, she is very young so I don't want to upset her stomach or anything like that. I'll see what happens!
 

LTS3

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Hello,

I have a 2 month old kitten. I free-feed her Science Diet dry food for kittens. My vet recommended Purina, Science Diet, and Royal Canin for wet food.

You can ignore the vet's recommendations and it's perfectly fine to do so :). Oftentimes the brands a vet recommends / suggests are not very good brands at all. Many vets know very little about pet nutrition, some get commission for selling certain brands in their office, big name pet food companies sponsor veterinary conferences, etc and give away freebies. Remember, it's YOUR cat and YOU make the decisions. The vet can offer suggestions but ultimately it's your decision on what brand to feed. The vet may disagree with your choice but can't do anything about it. If a vet gets downright rude and nasty about your choice, find a new vet.

There was a recent thread discussing why vets suggest certain brands or types of food: Dry Food - if so terrible, why do vets suggest it?

A general rule of thumb is to feed the best quality food that your cat will eat and you can afford and can find in the local stores and online.

TCS has articles on how to choose food:


Kittens are eating machines and eat a ton of food so food costs will be high now. It's best to feed growing hungry kittens both dry and canned food. Most people feed mainly canned food with a bowl of dry left out for snacking on in between canned food meals. It's fine to feed store generic canned kitten food if brand name is too costly. Many stores have their own generic brand: Wal Mart's Special Kitty, Target's Kindful, Chewy.com has the Tiny Tiger brand, etc.


 
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bantamchick

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You can ignore the vet's recommendations and it's perfectly fine to do so :). Oftentimes the brands a vet recommends / suggests are not very good brands at all. Many vets know very little about pet nutrition, some get commission for selling certain brands in their office, big name pet food companies sponsor veterinary conferences, etc and give away freebies. Remember, it's YOUR cat and YOU make the decisions. The vet can offer suggestions but ultimately it's your decision on what brand to feed. The vet may disagree with your choice but can't do anything about it. If a vet gets downright rude and nasty about your choice, find a new vet.

There was a recent thread discussing why vets suggest certain brands or types of food: Dry Food - if so terrible, why do vets suggest it?

A general rule of thumb is to feed the best quality food that your cat will eat and you can afford and can find in the local stores and online.

TCS has articles on how to choose food:

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Kittens are eating machines and eat a ton of food so food costs will be high now. It's best to feed growing hungry kittens both dry and canned food. Most people feed mainly canned food with a bowl of dry left out for snacking on in between canned food meals. It's fine to feed store generic canned kitten food if brand name is too costly. Many stores have their own generic brand: Wal Mart's Special Kitty, Target's Kindful, Chewy.com has the Tiny Tiger brand, etc.


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Wow!!! These are all great articles and suggestions. I'm definitely switching her over to a better nutritious but affordable food. I was a little overwhelmed with the amount of factors that go into a cat's diet, but now I feel more prepared. Thank you!!! What do you think about her barely eating 1/3 of the can every meal? I have to divide the can into even smaller meals so she finishes the whole can in one day. I bought her a raised bowl today and that seems to help, but she still doesn't eat too much. Is it the dry food that I leave out freely?
 

LTS3

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Yes, you can leave a bowl of dry food out all day for snacking on. To avoid waste, only fill the bowl with enough dry food the kitten will eat in a day. Leftovers should be discarded at the end of the day. Saliva coated dry food is a breeding ground for bacteria, especially now that summer weather is here. Canned food can actually be left out all day, too, but since your kitten doesn't eat much of it anyways there's no point to. Just feed however much the kitten will eat for a meal.

Kittens can be picky about food. Offer a variety of different brands of canned food and textures. There might be a food that your kitten goes nuts for. You can feed food that is labeled as "for all life stages" to a kitten. There's a teeny tiny AAFCO statement on the label that indicates which life stage the food is for.
 
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bantamchick

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Yes, you can leave a bowl of dry food out all day for snacking on. To avoid waste, only fill the bowl with enough dry food the kitten will eat in a day. Leftovers should be discarded at the end of the day. Saliva coated dry food is a breeding ground for bacteria, especially now that summer weather is here. Canned food can actually be left out all day, too, but since your kitten doesn't eat much of it anyways there's no point to. Just feed however much the kitten will eat for a meal.

Kittens can be picky about food. Offer a variety of different brands of canned food and textures. There might be a food that your kitten goes nuts for. You can feed food that is labeled as "for all life stages" to a kitten. There's a teeny tiny AAFCO statement on the label that indicates which life stage the food is for.
Yes, I'll definitely do that for her dry food. I've actually heard the opposite regarding wet food though? I thought it spoils in 3-4 hours. I've been refrigerating the rest of her uneaten wet food. She doesn't seem to mind it cold, but I thought about warming it up a bit to encourage her eating. I'll definitely give her a variety too--I'm just trying to figure out what's the best nutritiously but also what she likes too. Lots and lots of trial and error lol. Thanks for all your help!
 

LTS3

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Canned food is cooked right in the can so it's fine to leave out all day. It might get dry but most cats are ok with that. Just leave out enough canned food that your kitten will eat within a few hours since your kitten is picky.
 
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