New Kitten Need Advise On Feeding

[okeelady]

This is probably going to be kinda long. I adopted a 4 month old kitten this past monday. I've had a lot of cats but all were adult strays. Took him to the vet Weds and she said he was healthy and to feed him twice a day. I have another cat (Emily) who is about 2-1/2 yrs and I've always fed her twice a day. I just got through the introduction process thanks to super people in my other post! My questions are:
1.) He doesn't eat the full amount in the bowl and I can't leave it out because Emily will devour it and I don't want her to. He's 3.5lbs and I'm feeding him 2/3 cup Purina One Kitten food a day. Not the best choice but all I can afford. That will change when he gets older. As of right now since I just introduced them I'm keeping them separated at night and when I won't be home. If I put him in the bathroom etc to eat he probably isn't going to eat the full amount. Any suggestions?
2.) I watched him eat last night and he gagged on a couple pieces of food. This am most of the food was gone in his bowl but I thought I would try some fancy feast. He ate half of it and then started burying it. I also noticed him smacking his lips. The vet said he was teething. Can that cause eating issues? He also cries all the time. Any advice will be appreciated for this new kitten (not cat) momma.

 

[GreyLady]

It sounds like to me he is just saving the rest for later. That's normal both of my cats do that. If you don't want Emily to eat the leftovers though, just take them away when he's done and try putting them back out a little later when he might be ready for "lunch" or just feed him smaller meals at a time, but the same amount total, if that makes sense.

someone else might have a different take but that was my initial thought

 

[She's a witch]

I personally disagree with your vet about feeding the kitten only twice a day, he's still very young and growing and should have unrestricted amount of food. I remember reading few days ago about the structure built to feed the kitten separately with no access of the older cats, you can browse through the forum to find it, maybe it was EmersonandEvie post?
SOme cats simply like to eat more often but smaller portions, half of a small can is absolute maximum my cat would eat at one sitting. It's actually better and healthier for them. I feed my cats 5 times a day (two breakfast in the morning, and two or three dinners at night, but in rather short intervals - my cat would not eat the food that has been out for too long). So You could give him half can and refrigerate the rest for later (although some cats won't eat refrigerated food, mine do when I transfer it to the glass jar and then reheat).
Feeding wet is very important especially for male cats as it can minimize the risk of urinary infection, so it's great that he's having some fancy feast as well.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

It was me! Copy and pasted from a previous post:

What we did was take a large dog cage and cover it with a sheet so the big cats couldn't stick their paws through. Then, we took a large Sterilite lid and cut an opening just big enough for our kitten to get through. We zip-tied the lid where the door to the cage is supposed to go and voila! An adult-cat proof kitten feeding area!

 

[okeelady]

I fed him the fancy feast earlier and he ate some but also had diarrhea so i figured I'd try the dry tonight but he wouldn't touch it so i gave him the fancy feast again and he ate very little. I have a sliding glass door between my kitchen and family room and i put him out there while Emily ate then fed him. He's not eating enough for sure. I'll keep him in the separate room tonight with some dry and see if he eats it then tomorrow go somewhere and get a different flavor of fancy feast. I gave him Turkey giblets. I feed Emily dry with water added in the am then taste of the wild canned at night. Wonder if the taste of the wild would work? It's the rocky mountain venison.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Somewhere on the bag, it will say "for adult cats" or "for all life stages." As long as it is for all life stages, your kitten can eat it.

 

[okeelady]

Think I have it somewhat figured out! Last night Bob stayed in the family room and he ate all the dry Purina One Kitten I left out. This morning after I fed Emily I put more dry out for Bob and he ate most then I turned him loose in the whole house. I haven't even had him for a week yet and he seems fine spending the night separated. That way too Emily gets to keep bonding with "mom" at night. I'm home mostly 24/7 and a widow so Emily and I are really close. Around lunchtime I'll offer him more food in the family room. Once I get the feeding thing down to a system later I'll start messing around with starting some canned food. Many years ago my favorite cat developed crystals, had the PU surgery so I do know how important food is for male cats.

 

[Rhall]

My vet also suggests less feeding - but I'm in the same boat, I can't leave the food down or the other two vultures swoop in. He is now 5 months and we feed canned meat 2x per day and I give him kitten kibble a few times during the day.

Might I suggest giving him some canned meat? If you watch your sales (Flipp is a good app to locate sale items) fancy feast pate or friskies pate often goes for around 50 cents per can and this is a good option too for both your kitties.

 

[okeelady]

I tried the fancy feast turkey yesterday and his poop was really loose. This morning his poop was good. Next time I go to Walmart I'll get the classic FF variety pack and start mixing a little in with the dry and see which one he eats without bowel issues. I used to feed Emily FF but a year or so ago I had to fly to Austin to see my daughter and had no one to watch her so I had no choice and had to board her which will NEVER happen again. After paying the kitty hotel a bunch of money Emily had severe diarrhea for a month from separation anxiety (one reason I decided to adopt a rescue to keep her company) per my vet (which was several hundred in vet bills) so I changed her diet and now give her Sensitive Stomach Dry and Taste of the Wild plus a probiotic and has been doing great so I won't change her diet. This is a pic of Bob. Orange cats are special but all cats are special!