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Post by gale w on Aug 27, 2017 20:08:36 GMT
The kitten we found is about 9-10 weeks old now. We've been feeding her about 1/3 of a can of wet kitten food 4 times a day, plus dry food is out all the time. Starting yesterday she isn't as interested in the wet food. Should we be feeding less often per day at this age? She's still acting normally otherwise, and is very playful. She seems to be eating about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of dry food a day.
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Post by Skellinton on Aug 27, 2017 20:34:08 GMT
We feed wet food once a day and have since the cats were kittens. If she is eating dry food nad seems a healthy weight maybe just try once a day. Our cats are grazers most of the time, they eat a few bites at a time very often, but when they get wet food after people dinner they are very enthusiastic about it. They share one big can between the 5 and only about half the time do they lick the bowls clean.
As your kitten is growing up she just may not eat as often or as much,
How much wet food are you giving at a time?
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Post by gale w on Aug 27, 2017 20:52:28 GMT
She gets about 1/3 of a can each time so that works out to about 1-1/3 cans per day. The can says 2 cans per 3-3.5 lbs of body weight. When she was at the vet a week ago, she was 2 lbs.
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QueenoftheSloths
Drama Llama
Member Since January 2004, 2,698 forum posts PeaNut Number: 122614 PeaBoard Title: StuckOnPeas
Posts: 5,955 
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Post by QueenoftheSloths on Aug 27, 2017 21:10:59 GMT
She may not be as hungry as she was until her next growth spurt hits. If she isn't finishing, you could cut back frequency or portion size. Very generally speaking, wet food is healthier than dry, so you might cut back on the kibble instead of the canned.
How are you doing with her socialization? Is she still sequestered?
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Post by gale w on Aug 27, 2017 21:58:35 GMT
She is locked up still but we play with her several times a day for an hour or so each time and have introduced her a little to a couple of the other cats. One cat is terrified of her and one just sniffs her and walks away. The old cat hasn't seen her since the first day but he's gotten pretty mellow in his old age. We're holding out on the dog for now. She's just too big and clumsy.
The vet okayed free choice dry food but then every cat is different. The canned is fancy feast kitten and the dry is earthborn holistic primitive feline. I'll try limiting the dry to maybe 1/3 or 1/4 cup a day and see how that goes.
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Post by Skellinton on Aug 27, 2017 21:59:21 GMT
She gets about 1/3 of a can each time so that works out to about 1-1/3 cans per day. The can says 2 cans per 3-3.5 lbs of body weight. When she was at the vet a week ago, she was 2 lbs. Good lord, if my cats ate that much they would be fatty mcfattersons and I would be doing nothing but feeding them all day long! One of my cats is 24 pounds (we think his father might have been Maine Coone based on his brother and one sister)- that would be 8 cans a day, right? I don't think he could eat all that. i know some people think wet food is best, but I have been told by my vets that a combo of good quality dry food and wet food is best. It covers all the bases for their health and teeth needs. We only feed grain free/limited ingredient food without potato filler and our cats (knock on wood) have been extremely healthy. I agree that maybe cutting down her portions at one time might help, I don't think cats are like dogs where they eat a whole bunch at once- at least mine and the other cats I know well aren't like that. Does she get it at a set time? |
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Post by gale w on Aug 27, 2017 22:02:25 GMT
Yes, she eats at 3 pm and am, and at 9 pm and am. Between all of our sleep schedules there's always someone up to feed her.
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Post by Skellinton on Aug 27, 2017 22:03:02 GMT
She is locked up still but we play with her several times a day for an hour or so each time and have introduced her a little to a couple of the other cats. One cat is terrified of her and one just sniffs her and walks away. The old cat hasn't seen her since the first day but he's gotten pretty mellow in his old age. We're holding out on the dog for now. She's just too big and clumsy. The vet okayed free choice dry food but then every cat is different. The canned is fancy feast kitten and the dry is earthborn holistic primitive feline. I'll try limiting the dry to maybe 1/3 or 1/4 cup a day and see how that goes. I don't want to be sanctimonious, but you might try a higher quality wet food. It might taste better to her and would also fill her up. Our cats love Sousltic in the gravy (not the pate) it is literally just meat with gravy and actually looks relatively edible to people. They really like the salmon one, the tuna one and one that is chicken, tuna and pumpkin. Not to be crass, but how is her bathroomness? Does her potty look normal? |
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Post by Lexica on Aug 27, 2017 22:15:08 GMT
I would say if the kitty finishes eating all of the canned food each time and is only 2 pounds, keep doing what you are doing because she is doing well on it, right? If anything, back off on the dry food. I give my cats canned in the morning and they have dry out all the time to eat when they want. The canned food I give them is the small cans, and I split 2 small cans between the 4 cats, and they still don't end up finishing it all. I either collect what is left after they walk away and put it in the refrigerator for later in the day, or sometimes if there isn't much, the dog will happily finish it off. There is no way they could eat more than that. I could probably give them one small can for the 4 of them and they would be happy with it.
My one special kitty does get dehydrated raw food twice a day because she doesn't eat the dry food very well. I wish they would all eat it because it is so much better for them, but the other three walk away from it when I offer it. I had to have two of my black kitty's teeth removed for "kitty cavity" issues. There was a small red dot on two of her teeth, and the vet had a proper name for it, reabsorption something or other, but then we called it kitty cavity after that. Apparently it totally eats the tooth and can be very painful for the cat. Since she can't eat the dry food as well due to the missing teeth, and she is happy with the rehydrated raw, she gets that in addition to a bit of the wet canned food. And if she doesn't get the canned at the same time as the other cats, she will go push the other cats out and take theirs. She is a small female, but a bossy force to be reckoned with.
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Post by gale w on Aug 27, 2017 23:09:51 GMT
She is locked up still but we play with her several times a day for an hour or so each time and have introduced her a little to a couple of the other cats. One cat is terrified of her and one just sniffs her and walks away. The old cat hasn't seen her since the first day but he's gotten pretty mellow in his old age. We're holding out on the dog for now. She's just too big and clumsy. The vet okayed free choice dry food but then every cat is different. The canned is fancy feast kitten and the dry is earthborn holistic primitive feline. I'll try limiting the dry to maybe 1/3 or 1/4 cup a day and see how that goes. I don't want to be sanctimonious, but you might try a higher quality wet food. It might taste better to her and would also fill her up. Our cats love Sousltic in the gravy (not the pate) it is literally just meat with gravy and actually looks relatively edible to people. They really like the salmon one, the tuna one and one that is chicken, tuna and pumpkin. Not to be crass, but how is her bathroomness? Does her potty look normal? I'll look for some better food when our current supply is gone. I know grocery store brands are not great but some varieties of fancy feast canned are actually not too bad. Money is somewhat of an issue. The only way we could convince dh to agree to yet another cat was for ds to offer to pay for the food. I used some Amazon gift certificates for some for now. Her poops seem nice and solid and there are plenty of pee clumps in the litter box. No weird smells or anything. I've been keeping an eye on that from the start. |
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Post by Zee on Aug 28, 2017 0:06:33 GMT
I don't want to be sanctimonious, but you might try a higher quality wet food. It might taste better to her and would also fill her up. Our cats love Sousltic in the gravy (not the pate) it is literally just meat with gravy and actually looks relatively edible to people. They really like the salmon one, the tuna one and one that is chicken, tuna and pumpkin. Not to be crass, but how is her bathroomness? Does her potty look normal? I'll look for some better food when our current supply is gone. I know grocery store brands are not great but some varieties of fancy feast canned are actually not too bad. Money is somewhat of an issue. The only way we could convince dh to agree to yet another cat was for ds to offer to pay for the food. I used some Amazon gift certificates for some for now. Her poops seem nice and solid and there are plenty of pee clumps in the litter box. No weird smells or anything. I've been keeping an eye on that from the start. Fancy Feast isn't a bad food. Wet food is best. Fancy Feast usually seems to be tolerated well by sick and picky cats especially (purely anecdotal, but I was on a board for special needs cats and everyone agreed on this, a rare thing to find everyone agree on a food!). I'd switch to half a can of FF three times a day, adding a tiny bit of dry food to just one feeding. That's what I did for my kitten when he was that age. As your kitten gets older you can adjust to one can twice a day with a small bit of dry food. Let her weight (too much or too little gain) and appetite help guide you. |
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Post by Skellinton on Aug 28, 2017 1:23:10 GMT
I don't know how much Fancy Feast is, we pay 1.69 for a large can of wet food, but they often have a discount if you 12 or more cans at a large cans are 5.5 ounces.
If her pottiness seems healthy and she is a healthy size then I think you are just fine doing what you are doing!
I am glad she is able to interact with the other cats and that she is being taken care of!,
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QueenoftheSloths
Drama Llama
Member Since January 2004, 2,698 forum posts PeaNut Number: 122614 PeaBoard Title: StuckOnPeas
Posts: 5,955
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Post by QueenoftheSloths on Aug 28, 2017 2:37:43 GMT
The pate style Fancy Feasts used to be grain free, not sure if they still are. That is what we fed our diabetic cat, and the grain free diet cured her diabetes. You will never hear me knock Fancy Feast. We have 5 cats, and while I opt for a more high quality kibble, the vast majority of the wet food is Fancy Feast. They actually don't like the more expensive brands. I have heard it said that the cheapest wet food is healthier than the most expensive kibble, just due to the water content. I don't know that I would take it to that extreme, but it does annoy me when people criticize my choices (talking about family here, not peas). Do what works for you, if she is happy and healthy you are doing it right, and the main thing is that she has a loving home.
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