not eating dryfood?!

[leen and alice]

My 2months and three weeks (probably 3 months...I dont know)  is not eating her dry food!

I heard that its the most important thing in kittens diet but she wont eat it.. she stopped after

we started giving her chicken and mashed carrots and potatos  I try mixing the dryfood and

chicken but she avoids the dryfood!! I put her a bowl of dryfood at night ..but she WONT eat

it.. now I have two bags of unwanted dryfood.. what should I do???

 

[Kat0121]

 
My 2months and three weeks (probably 3 months...I dont know)  is not eating her dry food!

I heard that its the most important thing in kittens diet but she wont eat it.. she stopped after

we started giving her chicken and mashed carrots and potatos  I try mixing the dryfood and

chicken but she avoids the dryfood!! I put her a bowl of dryfood at night ..but she WONT eat

it.. now I have two bags of unwanted dryfood.. what should I do???

Have you been giving her any canned foods?? There are several canned kitten foods that are good and well received. My 3 cats are all grown and picky eaters yet they still really like the Fancy Feast turkey kitten food. You can also feed a canned food that has all stages listed on the label. 

Cats do not "need" dry food. Some people feed it, some do not. Cats are obligate (true) carnivores and they require a diet that is high in protein and low in carbohydrates and many dry foods do not fit this profile. Cats also require a diet that is complete and balanced and strictly giving people food doesn't cover that either. People who feed homemade raw and cooked diets must still supplement these foods to make them complete and balanced for a cat. This is why a lot of people choose to feed diets that are mostly or not all canned- which is what I do. Everything a cat needs is in one can.  I'm not a fan of dry food but the cats like it so I compromise. They get it as an occasional treat or topper to a canned food meal. 

Cats do not have any dietary need for fruits or vegetables due to them being true carnivores. You will see them in commercial cat foods but they are used more as fillers or to entice the human owner into buying because "veggies and fruits are healthy" and who buys the food? The owner. 

I would suggest that you add some canned foods to her diet. You can start out with the Fancy Feast kitten if you like as it is readily available in most grocery and big box pet stores and see if she likes it. You can also go to the big box pet store and try one of each of other kinds of kitten food or foods that are labeled as "all stages". 

Cats can be picky when it comes to food. Mine sure are. She might just be telling you that she doesn't like that particular food. Since she is a baby, she needs access to as much food as she wants while she is growing. If she really isn't eating, you might want to supplement with KMR (kitten milk replacement) formula for now as she needs to eat. PetAg makes a very good one and it can be found at Wal Mart, big box pet stores and online. 

 

[thegreystalker]

Try adding something flavorful and healthy [for cats] to her food.  My kitten loves kibble.  She also gets canned food but when I notice that she hasn't finished her kibble and the next feeding time has arrived, I add some rendered chicken fat to the kibble.  When she gets a whiff of the chicken fat she dives right back into the kibble.

 

[LTS3]

Please don't feed your cat chicken and mashed potato and carrots. None of those make up a complete balanced diet for a cat, especially not to a growing kitten. Did any of those foods contain garlic or onion or any other spices / flavorings? Garlic and onion n particular are very harmful to cats.

Human babies need the right nutrition to grow and develop normally and healthy. Kittens are the same. The most important thing to is feed your kitten a complete balanced diet. If she's not eating dry food (very smart of her, IMO), then don't feed it. Feed kitten canned food instead. Leave a little it of dry out for snacking on just in case.

You can also do a home cooked diet or a raw diet if your kitten really likes the cooked chicken you gave her. A home cooked or raw diet is not as simple as throwing some meat into a bowl. You typically need to add in supplements to provide all of the essential vitamins and minerals a cat needs. There is a raw and homed cooked forum here on TCS if you want more info on how to make a properly balanced home cooked or raw diet.

 

[leen and alice]

Thanx for the info..
No they dont contain any spices or garlic or onion.. just what I said...what is the best brand for cat food?? Alot of people say fancy feast but it come in realy smal containors and whiskas canned food comes in larger containors ...Ill try giving it to her ,what about tuna?? Is it bad for kittens?
I never gave it to her I was just wondering ...and one more quesion how many treats should a kitten eat in a day??

 

[Kat0121]

Thanx for the info..
No they dont contain any spices or garlic or onion.. just what I said...what is the best brand for cat food?? Alot of people say fancy feast but it come in realy smal containors and whiskas canned food comes in larger containors ...Ill try giving it to her ,what about tuna?? Is it bad for kittens?
I never gave it to her I was just wondering ...and one more quesion how many treats should a kitten eat in a day??

You can certainly feed the brands like Fancy Feast, Friskies, etc. If you do so, i'd recommend that you stick to the pates rather than the gravy lovers, etc as those have more fillers and carbs due to the sauces. 

As far as canned foods are concerned, the best ones are the ones that your cat will eat and you can afford. I've learned the hard way that the most expensive, high quality food is completely worthless if it's only feeding the trash can or garbage disposal. I have 3 very picky eaters. I am assuming you are in the US so I will give you a list of canned foods that my cats have given the thumbs up to and where you can find them.

For the most part, I don't feed fish often because of the mercury. My cats love turkey best but they also really like chicken, duck, lamb and rabbit. Occasionally they get beef but they run hot and cold towards it

As far as treats are concerned, if you are referring to Temptations and the like, I don't feed them often because they are pretty much the cat treat equivalent of Cheetos. Most cats really love them but they really aren't that good for them. The treats I feed most often are Pure Bites freeze dried chicken breast. That's all they are- chicken breast so they are much better for cats. These can be very pricey though if you don't know where to shop for them. Don't buy them from Petco or Petsmart. You'll find a 1.07 ounce bag for around $5. That's insane. I buy an 11 ounce bag of the same treats intended for dogs from Amazon using my subscribe and save. The price does fluctuate but I pay in the range from $16-$20. The only difference is the size of the treats but they are easily broken to use as a treat or crushed to use as a topper for canned foods if they are being picky (which is all too often). 

Plain cooked chicken and turkey breast is a good treat from time to time as well

Here is the list of canned foods that my picky eaters approve of 

Fancy Feast pates - available almost everywhere- regular kind is all life stages- they also have kitten food 

Sheba pates (all life stages)- Also available almost everywhere

Friskies pates- also available almost everywhere- these are all fine for all life stages

Merrick pates - available at Petco and online at Chewy.com and Amazon- the standard pates are all life stages but they make a kitten formula

Nature's Variety Instinct chicken and LID turkey (pates) (all life stages)- available at Petco, Petsmart and online from Chewy,com and Amazon

Nature's Recipe grain free chicken (shreds- great as a topper for a pate) (all life stages)- Available at Petco, Petsmart and Chewy.com

This is quite a few that we keep in our rotation. When I find something that they all like, I buy it in bulk either through Chewy or from Amazon using my Subscibe and Save if it is available for that. 

Good luck. I hope you find something that she likes. 

 

[leen and alice]

Thanks alot!
I hope so too!
So dryfood isnt that
important after all!
tha worker said its the
main thing in a kitten's Diet
..blah..blah..blah
but anyways Im going
to try buying canned food..
Ill keep my fingers crossded
that she would like it

 

[Kat0121]

Thanks alot!
I hope so too!
So dryfood isnt that
important after all!
tha worker said its the
main thing in a kitten's Diet
..blah..blah..blah
but anyways Im going
to try buying canned food..
Ill keep my fingers crossded
that she would like it

The shelter that I got my girls from said the same thing but they are probably sponsored by someone. The one I went to is sponsored by Science Diet and they steer people towards that brand for that reason. Kittens need access to as much food as they want so a lot of people free feed dry food like Kitten Chow (or another brand of dry kitten food) and then give canned food at scheduled mealtimes. That might be what they were referring to. If you are looking tor a good dry kitten food, this is a good option. Petco sells Merrick products as well. 

https://www.chewy.com/merrick-purrfect-bistro-grain-free/dp/115588

 

[bonepicker]

Also whole earth farms at PETCO is by Merrick and a little cheaper. Mine love the duck, beef

 

[leen and alice]

thanks so much!!

I just have one more question...

is 0.9  grams a good or bad weight for a 52 cm (from head to tail) KITTEN???

too fat or too thin??? Im worried that Alice is over or under weight

 

[Kat0121]

 
thanks so much!!

I just have one more question...

is 0.9  grams a good or bad weight for a 52 cm (from head to tail) KITTEN???

too fat or too thin??? Im worried that Alice is over or under weight

That weight can't be right. Can you post a picture of her? 

 

[Willowy]

I suppose you mean .9 kilograms? That's a little small for that age. Kittens should be 1 kg at 9 weeks. So she's about 2-3 weeks behind . But some kitties are smaller than others, so that's not very alarming as long as she's in good body condition.

 

[LTS3]

Thanx for the info..
No they dont contain any spices or garlic or onion.. just what I said...what is the best brand for cat food?? Alot of people say fancy feast but it come in realy smal containors and whiskas canned food comes in larger containors ...Ill try giving it to her ,what about tuna?? Is it bad for kittens?
I never gave it to her I was just wondering ...and one more quesion how many treats should a kitten eat in a day??

Canned tuna for people is ok but only the kind in water with no flavorings or spices. Some tuna is packed in oil which is a no-no for cats. My cats like the occasional canned salmon in water for people.

Fish and seafood in general are ok as treats. Too much can mean a cat getting addicted to it and may refuse to eat anything else. Canned seafood and fished based cat food are ok fed once or twice a week.

Most cats will happily eat nothing but treats all day long. Treats are the equivalant of cookies and candy and junk food. Yummy to eat but not good nutritionally. A few pieces of treats daily is plenty. Some people limit treats to a few times a week or just for special occasions. Many people here prefer to feed healthy treats such as freeze dried meat treats instead of the big name brands like Temptations and Pounce that are filled with horrible unhealthy ingredients. A few pieces of plain cooked chicken makse a great treat.

Fancy Feast Gourmet / Classic is fine to feed. Those little 3 oz cans aren't a lot of food, especially for a growing kitten, so you need to buy a lot of cans which means more money spent. Idaelly look for food in 5 oz and larger sizes to save money. You can portion out the food into containers and freeze them if needed. Referigerated canned food is good for about 3 days so the freezer is best for longer storage. Just remember to allow at least 12 hours for the food to defrost in the fridge before serving.

 

[leen and alice]

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• leen and alice
• Aug 17, 2016

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• leen and alice
• Aug 13, 2016

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• leen and alice
• Aug 17, 2016

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• leen and alice
• Aug 17, 2016

 

[howmany]

She looks healthy and not three months yet?[emoji]128522[/emoji]Very sweet

 

[leen and alice]

thanx!!!

what a relief!!

 

[zelskid]

Cats like a variety of food

 

[zelskid]

With food available cats can't starve

 

[bonepicker]

Beautiful[emoji]10084[/emoji]️[emoji]128062[/emoji][emoji]10084[/emoji]️

 

[leen and alice]

Aww thanks!