New Kitten! Feeding Questions?

We just picked up our new kitten from the Humane Society on Saturday. We are SO in love, her name is Broccoli (They named her and now my daughter won't let me change it. It does fit her though!) and she is an 11 week old DSH Torti. She is so sweet and is already completely bonded, although I hate to say that she likes my husband more right now.

Now I am finding myself stumped about the feeding. Right now we are free feeding dry food (Maxximum Nutrition Kitten Formula) and giving 1/2 can of wet food in the morning and 1/2 can in the evening (right now Iams but I want to change that). Am I doing this right? Should I be free feeding the dry? She is liking the wet better now but she still won't finish it the whole 1/2 can and prefers the dry. Is the adult canned okay for her? Do they even make canned kitten food? We also aren't offering any food through the night (we have a mouse problem) is this okay? I just need some suggestions on feeding my kitten a good - but not too expensive - diet.

Thanks!
Jenny

Welcome to TCS Jenny and Broccoli (love the name )!!!!

You're doing just fine! If she prefers the dry over wet, then reduce the wet. Just make sure she has enough water to get her though the day.

As for food recommendations, there's lots of threads here on that but in the end it's up to you and Broccoli to decide on what's best for you!!

Enjoy the forums!

The Maxximum kitten is ok. As for using adult wet if you can't find kitten wet food, you can mix a little bit of kitten formula with it. Though at that age she won't be as interested in it as younger kittens might.

Is that half a 5.5oz can or half a 3oz? She may have problems finishing half a 5.5oz in one sitting, even my big kitty Sho can't do that. Reduce the portion to 1/4 of a 5.5oz can or 1/3 of a 3oz and see if that helps her finish it off easier. Just offer an extra meal or two of wet since she's little.

Thanks everyone for the responses. I have read some of the other kitten feeding posts and I think we are going to stick with the Maxximum Nutrition for the dry but I am going to check around to see if I can find some kitten wet food. I really can't spend too much on her but I also know that good nutrition will help her stay healthy (and shed or throw up less). Oh, it was 1/2 of a 3 oz. can too BTW, but I am going to cut it down a bit more to maybe two spoonfulls. Now let me get my daughter to leave her alone long enough to come out of hiding to eat! Getting the 3 yo. acclimated to the kitten is kinda difficult!

Try finding food for kittens/cats here at www.Naturapet.com. I feed BIndi my nine month old male a mix of Innova evo dry/wet/and natures varity raw chicken and turkey

An 11 week old kitten will NOT eat an entire can of food - not even a 1/2 can. Charlie is 6 months old and gets about a 1/3 of a can for evening meal. The morning meal is a set amount of dry.

I don't like free feeding cats/kittens after 3 months old cause they wind up fat. Although they say to feed kitten food till a year, mine are eating totally adult food by 6 months (sometimes 5 months).

They do make canned kitten food - I know Iams has canned kitten. But the normal adult canned food is fine for her. Stop free feeding the dry - give her only about a 1/3 - 1/2 cup. And only feed 1/3 canned for ONE meal.

What does she weigh now at 3 months?

I have no idea what she weighs. I called the vet and they don't want to see her until her next shots are due and I haven't gotten around to putting her on the good scale yet. She was really thin (even the Humane Society said so and she was tiny compared to her brother) when we got her but she is putting on weight nicely now - still not where I would like to see her though but she will be there soon. I really do need to weigh her though so I can monitor her progress. So, maybe I should just give her 1/2 C. of dry in the morning and 1/3 can of wet in the evening? That would make it a lot easier to feed a higher quality food as she probably wouldn't gorge. I just realized there is a new feed store right down the road so I think I am going to stop in there today sometime to check out the foods and hopefully get her something better.

She is doing fine with no food at night - really hungry and ready to eat first thing in the morning though - so I think only feeding her set amounts would probably be fine with her.

Thanks for all of the suggestions!