Dry food for a picky kitten

Does anyone know of a dry kitten food that will entice a picky kitten? I have had him for a week and a half and he won't touch the dry foods I have tried (about 4 now) and turns his nose up at about 5 different wet foods I have tried. I have gotten him to eat cooked chicken and beef but he needs a kitten food ..lol had a vet check and he is healthy and of course vet gave me a sample of science diet and he wouldn't touch that either!

I have also tried leaving the one dry food out for a whole day and night and I figured he would eat it if hungry, but nope not all all.

Anyone have any suggestions?

edited to add: should I look into a home made/raw diet since he is SO picky?

Hello and welcome

How old is your kitten?

Do you know what he was eating before he was with you?

He is 11 weeks old. They said he was eating kitten chow, which I tried but he won't eat it.

Originally Posted by deb2696

He is 11 weeks old. They said he was eating kitten chow, which I tried but he won't eat it.

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Well that is really odd. Do you think they were doctoring it up, i.e. moistening it or something?

At 11 weeks, he should be more than ready and eager to chomp on dry food...I do like wet better, but all that matters now is what does HE like?

Homemade cooked or raw can be great under the right circumstances..but at his age a balanced/complete diet is key...so I would go w/commercially prepared food at this point, unless you have a good vet to help you with the diet...and you mentioned what happened there already...so nevermind.

How's he acting? Has he settled in nicely? Pottying and drinking OK? Playful, active, sociable, etc?

What if you mix the chicken or beef with a little wet food...just to get him to try it?

Or have you offered the wet food(s) on your finger? Sometimes all they need to do is taste it. They just think they don't like it!

Hopefully more ideas will roll in.

My last foster kitten loved Maxximum kitten formula (from Walmart) and I have seen several people here who also like the food, and the ingredients are better than kitten chow . The grown cats liked it too... They (the adults) are currently eating the Maxximum Adult formula mixed with Felidae Chicken and Rice.

Go to a local pet store(or two or three) & see if they have any food samples. I know in one petstore sorta near me, you get 3 free samples per family. I've picked up 8 or more & simply paid for the extra samples!

What brands have you tried already? Have you tried heating the wet food in the microwave for 15 seconds so it smells stronger?

TRY canned food ....

I think she said that she tried 5 wet foods...I assume this means either canned or pouch?

Have you tried a canned/wet with fish? With cheese? Hmm...Is he sneaking people food?

Originally Posted by catsallover

I think she said that she tried 5 wet foods...I assume this means either canned or pouch?

Have you tried a canned/wet with fish? With cheese? Hmm...Is he sneaking people food?

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opps me must have missed that... ...

Is he eating???

four in a week and a half IS ALOT ... as you should just be transitioning one to another in that time frame... Have you tried "moistening" it ???

Originally Posted by sharky

opps me must have missed that...

...

Is he eating???

four in a week and a half IS ALOT ... as you should just be transitioning one to another in that time frame... Have you tried "moistening" it ???

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He's willing to eat cooked chicken or beef...not touching anything else.

He didn't eat any of the 4 foods. I think deb2696 was just trying one after another to see if he would even try any of them.

cooked chn and beef ... have you tried rice or sweet potatos???

Homemade may be an option...

Well I got a bag of Nature's Variety Raw medallions in Chicken & Turkey Flavor. He scarfed it down. Guess he wants real food LOL Would this food be totally complete for him? I don't mind feeding him it.

Originally Posted by deb2696

Well I got a bag of Nature's Variety Raw medallions in Chicken & Turkey Flavor. He scarfed it down. Guess he wants real food LOL Would this food be totally complete for him? I don't mind feeding him it.

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I never would have guessed that he would accept that so readily.

It is "complete"...my grown cats eat those. I'll let Sharky comment further.

Do you know how much heartache and misery some people on this board have gone through to get their cats to eat the NV, or other raw? You just put it down and he ate it? He's as crazy as my Beandip. That's a compliment BTW.

actually he pretty much attacked it and ate LOL It was pretty funny. I guess he knows what is good for him! LOL And he polished off the whole medallion in about 30 second's

How many do you think he should have a day of the medallions?

oh and here is a pic of my crazy boy he doesn't have a name yet, for now I'm have been calling him King kitty LOL

He's adorable. He has a little mustache doesn't he?

There's a "calculator" at the nv site

http://www.naturesvariety.com/ifc.la...5B32jrtr5071E2

Feeding calculators aren't perfect but that one seems pretty good.

I have read 2%-3% of body weight, per day...for raw. For a growing kitten, I think you would double the amount.

The calculator at NV says 3 medallions/day for a 3lb growing kitten. Not sure how much he weighs, I just guessed. But that's 6%...so it makes sense to me.

Way to go little guy

You finally got Mommy to understand your a raw kitty....

PM me if you need help.... NV is complete, meaning no supplements are needed

Originally Posted by sharky

Way to go little guy

You finally got Mommy to understand your a raw kitty....

PM me if you need help.... NV is complete, meaning no supplements are needed

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Should I rotate flavors like every bag, or just stick with the one?

try just one ... many like two or three rotated but some will just do one

I've been working with months to get my kitty to eat the NV medallions! Consider yourself lucky, I guess! The lamb medallions are bloodier, the beef very dry, & those are the textures of the two flavors I am familiar with!

I'm glad you found something he eats! Care to come convince my kitties to eat raw now?

Originally Posted by sharky

try just one ... many like two or three rotated but some will just do one

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I'll second that. FWIW, if you decide to try other flavors...the favorite here was chicken/turkey in the beginning, but now it's beef. One of my cats loves the lamb, but the others are iffy on it. One might decide she likes rabbit, but it took 2 months to get them to try it. Venison bombed.