10 week kitten not eating his wet food

kbc2021

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Hello all. I am a new owner of a 10 week old kitten and I hope I can seek some advice here (apologies if posted in the wrong section).

I am trying to get my kitten to eat its wet food but with some difficulties. He is a BSH and weighs about 1.1kg. He seems to be quite active running about but I rarely see him drink much water or focus on eating.

I used to keep dry food out all the time for him to graze as I thought it isn't good to leave him without access to food. He has in the past eaten his wet food consisting of cooked chicken, mixed with can food. However all he does is just lick the liquid and water (I mix in) and doesn't even touch the solids. He only wants the dried food. He was not like this before, although he was never a big eater.

Should I be removing the dry food so he can regain his appetite on the wet food?
 

verna davies

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If he isn't drinking then he needs the moisture from wet food. Maybe he doesn't like that particular one, have you tried other brands or flavours? Try some of these tricks... mixing some wet food into some dry, if he eats it, slowly decrease the dry and increase the wet. Try crushing some treats or dry food on top of the wet. Mix a little tuna juice in the wet food. A kitten should want to eat a lot of food so if he isn't, maybe you need to have him checked by your vet. Has he been wormed?
 
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kbc2021

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Hi Verna. Yep he has been wormed and I see no worms in his poop.

I took your advice and crushed some of his preferred dried food with the wet food and he cleaned the bowl immediately. I tried to give him a second helping thinking it wasn't enough but he just walked away to play. I'm hoping this is a good sign that he will now eat the wet food. But his portions still are bit low. A 160g of wet food can can last for days, (2-3 heaped teaspoons only per portion) and he'd stop. I'd like to see him bulk up a bit more.
 

verna davies

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Well it's a step in the right direction. You can always change what you crush on top to give him a bit of variety. Hopefully his appetite will increase, kittens tend to eat a lot as they are growing so quickly. Keep us updated.
 
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kbc2021

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Hi Verna. Thanks for the advice. I'm just a little concerned right now since he's nowhere near eating 200g worth of food a day.
 

verna davies

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Try to tempt him with plain cooked chicken, try hand feeding him, tuna, just to get him into the habit of eating. Many members have a lot of luck with Gerber's chicken or turkey food, plain and try to get one with as little additives as possible, kittens seem to love it and it's high in calories. They will eat it as it is it mixed in with their food.
 
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kbc2021

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Hi Verna. Thanks for your reply.

When I got him home a couple of weeks ago, I was giving him cooked chicken mixed in with some wet food. He was eating it no problem. At the time dried food was always available too for grazing.

Then I changed the dried food and I think he took a liking to it and felt no temptation towards the chicken and wet food.
 

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Some cats just prefer dry. There is nothing wrong with that, though most will tell you wet is better. That is so they get plenty of water. If you set several little bowls of water around so he checks them out and hopefully drinks, that is OK. There are MANY good drys out there now, even grain-free, so check them out. a kitten should be eating a LOT, so I would get him eating and then worry about his diet. I feed my cats both wet and dry, leaving the dry out for them to graze on. they are a little overweight, but I want them like that because they have leukemia and need the extra to rely on if they get sick again.
 

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Kittens can be picky. Try offering different types of wet food. Plain cooked chicken is ok but only as up to 10% of the diet to avoid any nutritional imbalances. I'd feed the cooked chicken separately from wet and dry food and only as a treat.
 
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kbc2021

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Thanks so much for the advice here. Really appreciate the comments! :)

I used to feed him in cooked chicken as a main meal and then he lost interest so I tried to change to different brands of wet food. He is eating it but only with some topping of his favourite dried food.

I thought every kitten would like some prawn or egg (tiny bits) as treat but he showed 0 interest.

He is definitely very picky! He does these 100mph dash across the room constantly and at times seems so hyper so I'm assuming this is a good thing? But the amount of energy he burns, I feel he should make it up by eating a lot lot more.
 

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Kittens do have tons of energy and need lots of food for that and growth. Just offer the dry food and keep trying with different wet foods. You may even want to try home cooked or raw diets to see if the kitten has an interest in that. There's a forum here on TCS with more info: Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food

Not all cats like shrimp or eggs as treats. Some may not like it until they are older.
 
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kbc2021

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Ok so just an update. It seems he does eat the food when we put some dried food in it but here's the issue. When we put the bowl down he eats out of it for about 30 seconds then he just drifts away from it. Literally after a few bites.

It is only when I take the bowl to him and almost have to put it right in front of him does he start grazing from it again.
 

verna davies

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Try leaving the bowl down to see if he will wander back for more. Some cats are just grazers. At least you know he is eating it.
 
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kbc2021

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I'm wondering is there a point where a kitten drinks too much water? Ever since he's gotten used to the water fountain, I've noticed that he's going there more often and lapping up water, although not for a long time but quite frequent between sessions and I've seen him now do it with the water bowl. Any cause for concern? Is the wet food too salty?
 

verna davies

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If it's kitten food it won't be too salty, it's been designed for them. A kitten needs about 4 fluid oz of water a day, if he's on wet only, most of that amount he will get from the wet food as it's 75+% moisture,. If he eats dry food he will drink more. I presume he is peeing well. If he is active he will also get thirsty.
 

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When I got my kitten at 4 months, she was definitely a grazer. My first vet advised me to put out wet food and take it away after 15 minutes. I chucked that advice and left the bowl out for several hours and my kitty came back for more later. I feed her first thing in the morning and then play with her after I've gotten ready. She tends to want to eat again after playtime.

My kitty also seemed to drink a lot of water (which prompted me to ask about it in post here). I had her urine tested just to be sure (she also had a swollen lymph node so I was trying to exclude things). She was fine. I think she just likes to drink from my water glass, whenever I have one out. I figure it's better that she drinks more than average than less.
 
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kbc2021

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Hey Juniper. Seems very familiar actually. Seems to be drinking more after we put the water fountain out. He pees about 2-3 times a day. This should be ok?

There is something I want to ask from some of the experienced cat owners here.

Yesterday my kitten vomited up clear liquid 3 hours after food. There was no solids in it and it didn't really smell. But afterwards he was still very active and was normal. Is this something I need to urgently look into? He is behaving absolutely normal today and eating/drinking.

On another topic, when a kitten sneezes 3-4 times consecutively. And then no more after that. Is this something that should raise alarms?
 

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My little girl 4.5 mths old likes fancy feast kitten, all flavors. I’ve tried other wet food n she won’t eat most of them. I feed 1/4 can 4x a day with a small spoon of blue buffalo kibble. I also add just a little water to the canned food for extra moisture as this girl doesn’t drink much. I’m not a believer in leaving food out all day but many others think it’s fine.
as others have said try different brands of canned food. My girl didn’t like expensive brands like wellness, etc. but she loves cheap food like 9 lives. In fact that’s what she ate in the beginning as she was feral b4 I took her in. Then I got her better food.
good luck!
 
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