New Stray Kitten, Can I Feed It Any Kitten Food?

[phillyman]

Hi All,

The choices are overwhelming and there are many strong opinions. I started her on the canine royal wet (kitten) and fromm dry. Why? Well, the vet had a lot of the royal and I got the fromm from a neighbor. 20 years ago we had science digest for our previous cats and they seemed to do well on it. I've seen the reviews for Blue and many other brands.

Is it as simple as try to get "premium" food and whatever she likes goes? It makes sense that every cat is different and has preferences so one should experiment but otherwise I'm just overwhelmed.

Last but not least; we don't want grain in their food or is it specific grain? She does not seem to have any diarrhea, the initial blood work came back "clean".

She is underweight (5lb for 8 months) but I don't want to overfeed her. At the moment it is half a can of royal canine morning and evening (I think 5.8 oz) and twice an eighth of a cup of dry food around noon and before bedtime.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I have read other posts and will consult the catfooddb

My assumption is I try different brands and see what sticks but I appreciate any brands or specific ingredients I should avoid.

Again any and all advice is appreciated, sorry if this has been addressed countless times in some form or another.

Philly

 

[phillyman]

Sorry I could not find an edit button for my previous post. The stray is now living full time indoors with us. We got her checked out last week and I'm running short on my initial buy anything to get through the first couple of days supply.

Rereading my original post it did not seem clear that she is no longer a stray.

Philly

 

[tabbytom]

At 8 months, she is very much a kitten still. She needs all the nutrients and proteins from wet food in her formative and growing up year and wet food will keep her hydrated.

Yes, you can feed her kitten food or get those labeled 'For All Life Stages'. You can also supplement her with KMR (goat's milk, cats are lactose intolerant so no cow's milk) milk replacer in between her meals.

Feed her wet food as much as she can eat at o e sitting and feed her as at least 4 times a day. Now she's on her growth spurt and she may eat more in amount and num her of feeds. Once she reaches 1 year old 9normal breed matures at 1 year old. Bigger breeds matures at 2-4 years old), her food I take will slow down and taper off and you need to monitor and adjust the amount and number of feeds accordingly.

Thank you for taking her in and for giving her a warm and fur-ever loving home

 

[mizzely]

Grains aren't exactly the issue. It's really bulking agents that are of little use to the cat that are. A lot of grain free foods simply replace the grains with other stuff that might actually be worse for some cats- potato, peas, and chickpeas, are some examples.

Essentially most cats thrive on their natural diet of high meat protein, moderate fat, and low carb, (as well as high moisture, of course) which most dry foods just can't do. There are some brands that are better at it than most. It kinda depends on your budget.

 

[phillyman]

Thank you for your considerate reply, it is much appreciated. So you would feed her more than one can a day? She certainly can eat more. I was worried that since she was a stray she would eat as much as she could as a protection mechanism in case she got abandoned again and that overeating would cause problems down the line but I certainly see the wisdom of feeding her a bit more.

Philly

 

[phillyman]

Hi Mizzely,

Thank you for that input. I'm not feeding her filet but the budget is expected to be generous. I place a high importance on organic, antibiotic free meats for myself and make the effort to go to local coops and farm stands for my vegetables and fruits. I want to treat my pet well without going overboard. Always in the eye of the beholder but I'm willing to pay Fromms/Blue/RC/Hills or Purina prices, I will probably try different varieties to get her to try to keep from becoming a picky eater. Again the brands I listed I know from 20 years ago or because I have seen ads/neighbors have recommended them

Philly

 

[LadyLondonderry]

Hi Mizzely,

Thank you for that input. I'm not feeding her filet but the budget is expected to be generous. I place a high importance on organic, antibiotic free meats for myself and make the effort to go to local coops and farm stands for my vegetables and fruits. I want to treat my pet well without going overboard. Always in the eye of the beholder but I'm willing to pay Fromms/Blue/RC/Hills or Purina prices, I will probably try different varieties to get her to try to keep from becoming a picky eater. Again the brands I listed I know from 20 years ago or because I have seen ads/neighbors have recommended them

Philly

Welcome to you and your new kitten! What's her name?

All of us here -- and, equally important, our cats -- have our favorite brands and formulas. As Tabbytom and Mizzely noted, wet food is better overall, and the best kinds are those that are mostly meat and that meet a cat's nutritional needs. There are good choices at various price points, such as Rawz (a fave in my household) at the higher end and Fancy Feast Classics at the lower end.

I don't feed my adult cat any dry food, but I recognize that it can be a helpful addition when feeding kittens and trying to satisfy their voracious appetites. Dr. Elsey's is one brand that makes a dry food (the Cleanprotein line) that is high in protein and not full of grains, starches, veggies and fillers.

 

[mizzely]

It definitely has changed a lot in the last 20 years!

Here is a list I found helpful for finding a new dry food for my kitty. She only gets a little dry a day but still wanted it to be good!

Dry Food Comparison Chart | Zero Carb and Grain Free Cat Food

Here's another list that someone put together for canned food. They have more stringent policy on ingredients and I am not sure if they are still updated with new foods that have been released.

Today’s best cat foods–reviews of canned and raw options

In my experience/opinion, wet foods are a lot more forgiving in that the macros are usually better suited for most cats vs dry. So I choose a high quality dry and then I am sort of all over the board on wet. There is a common saying "even the worst wet food is better than the best dry food." While I don't think it's completely accurate, some of the cheaper foods really are pretty good. Fancy Feast Classic Pates are one such example! So wet is more about what your cat likes and figuring out what ingredients you prefer to avoid usually.

 

[phillyman]

Thank you all for the support and information. I'll certainly keep the wet>dry in mind when purchasing. And the common saying might not be a 100% accurate but it is a good rule of thumb.

I certainly will check out those links as well as the reviews I saw on catfooddb

 

[Wile]

Hi Phillyman. Congrats on your new kitten! I'm glad to hear you have given a stray a much needed home
You have gotten a lot of good advice so far. The only thing that I will add is that kittens, just like young kids, need to be exposed to a variety of different foods - think textures (kibble, shredded meat, pate, mousse, etc.), and protein types (poultry, red meat, rodent, fish) - in order to prevent them from becoming picky eaters. Some people buy several different brands of cat food and rotate through them. There are a few threads discussing good brands to include in a rotation that you can search for if you are interested.

Also, if you decide to go this route of rotating foods I would also suggest that you hold some protein types back (i.e. don't feed duck, lamb, rabbit, or peas) in case your cat develops allergies in the future. That way you will have some affordable protein options for a novel diet.

Don't worry about searching for a "grain free" diet. As mizzely pointed out, grain free label is just a marketing ploy. If you want some good wet/dry food suggestions I'm sure lots of people on this forum will have suggestions for you.

 

[phillyman]

HI all, the kitten is doing well. I've gone with the instinct brand since that has gotten very high reviews. I might try some cheaper varieties down the road since she still seems to eat anything . I appreciate the feedback on holding back on some proteins and also changing up textures .