Kitten Will Not Eat Dry Food, How Do I Get Him To Eat It?

[Azazel]

I'm not arguing with anyone anymore.

Okay... wasn’t looking to have an argument though.

I wish your kitty the best.

 

[RajaNMizu]

I'd second the suggestion for Purina One Kitten Food. Again, knowing it isn't the "best" it also is reasonable in cost and my kittens were fed it from the shelter and haven't had any difficulties on it. They both like it as well so I wasn't messing with what was working. Wet food on the other hand...I have one picky little girl (Mizu) that I'm trying new things with. Raja on the other hand will eat most anything. Best of luck with yours!

 

[cheesycats]

I would avoid anything purina. My cats love applaws, natures variety raw boost, performatrin grain free and whole earth farms (which they only get rarely). there are few quality kibbles on the market. None of purina are worth much except maybe thier beyond grain free if you’re trying to be budget friendly. But as everyone else has stated nicely if he doesn't want kibble and you can afford a canned diet I would do that. Much healthier in the long run and if you’re feeding the recommended amounts (or a bit more since he’s a little underweight) his weight shouldn’t be an issue. I’m sure everyone on this site that feeds all canned have healthy in shape cats. So there’s no real arguement in saying cats need dry so they don’t get (or stay in your case) underweight.

 

[Saf]

I can understand your don't want to feed raw food because someone made a bad batch and not everyone has the time to assure quality by making it themselves, but I don't get why you want to get him off the wet food he's currently happyily eating.

All I can do is point you towards some information I wish I'd read about dry food and cat nutrition in general:

Feeding Your Cat: Know the Basics of Feline Nutrition

And spend sometime reading a feline diabetes forum like this one - Feline Health - (The Main Forum) | Feline Diabetes Message Board - FDMB - and you'll find many people who regret feeding their cats dry food, as do many people's whose cats develop kidney disease.

 

[Gauntylgrym]

I think it could be argued that having proper hydration via wet food is more important than straight weight gain.

 

[rgwanner]

I agree -- wet kitten food is nice and caloric, perfect for putting on weight.

haleyyrenee , given that your cat seems to love wet food, maybe it's the path of least resistance to stick with that and just keep feeding? As many of us like to say, sometimes the best food is the food your cat will eat and, honestly, I think you're lucky that your cat loves wet food! I know you said your vet wanted the cat to eat dry food for calories but we put weight on our ten-month-old kittens by feeding them lots of wet food. The cats were horribly underfed and skinny when we adopted them and our vet just told us to feed them unlimited calories until they got caught up on their weight; we started weaning them off dry food shortly after we brought them home and got them acclimated. The vet really wanted them to get protein calories rather than empty carb calories. Beyond kitten foods, there are lots of "all life stages" canned foods that are pretty caloric, including Fancy Feast Classics or even Friskies. You can compare calories on this chart on a vet's site.

Anyway, just a thought! Personally, I find it a lot easier to work with what our cats will eat than to try to entice them to eat what they really don't want to eat. And feeding foods they loved was how we got them to put good weight on them when they were ultra-skinny! No matter what option you choose, good luck!

 

[rgwanner]

I will respect your choice if you don't want to engage in conversation about nutrition, but if you are open to having a conversation I always really enjoy talking about feline nutrition because I think it's one area that many vets don't have a lot of expertise in and that owners have to do a lot of educating for themselves. I always learn a lot from having conversations and even disagreements with other cat parents.

If you are open to conversation I would be really interested in knowing which brands and varieties of dry food you are feeding that are healthy. My main concerns with dry food are (1) the lack of moisture which can contribute to many feline diseases and illnesses because cats don't drink enough water on their own (kidney disease, urinary infections, etc.), (2) the low amount of meat-based protein and high amount of carbs and (3) susceptibility to bacteria.

I think what @lisahe was saying was that a lot of kitten wet foods are also very high in calories just like dry food, so an option might be to feed wet kitten food if she is still refusing dry.

Th

 

[rgwanner]

I will respect your choice if you don't want to engage in conversation about nutrition, but if you are open to having a conversation I always really enjoy talking about feline nutrition because I think it's one area that many vets don't have a lot of expertise in and that owners have to do a lot of educating for themselves. I always learn a lot from having conversations and even disagreements with other cat parents.

If you are open to conversation I would be really interested in knowing which brands and varieties of dry food you are feeding that are healthy. My main concerns with dry food are (1) the lack of moisture which can contribute to many feline diseases and illnesses because cats don't drink enough water on their own (kidney disease, urinary infections, etc.), (2) the low amount of meat-based protein and high amount of carbs and (3) susceptibility to bacteria.

I think what @lisahe was saying was that a lot of kitten wet foods are also very high in calories just like dry food, so an option might be to feed wet kitten food if she is still refusing dry.

Th

 

[rgwanner]

Thank you for your suggestions about kitten wet food I have a 6week old foslter who will only eat Royal Canin c Recovery. I put her on that on the advice of the Shelter She was not eating at all when I got her. I have tried mixing 3 to 1 the Friskies I give the others as a treat and she will not touch it. I need to get her off the Recovery because it is not intended for a long term diet. I don't know why I did not think of kitten wet food. Then hopefully on to dry food. I have to take her in to my office to feed her every 3 hours which all my co-workers love but it is a lot of trouble.