New kitten & 2 older cats - need some advice

Hi everyone,

I'm a newbie here and I've seen what great advice you all give so I thought I'd take advantage.

I have two older cats around 14 yrs old. I got Temper and Polkie about 10 years ago from a shelter. About 4 weeks ago, I found a tabby kitten roaming around crying in the little park beside my house and of course I took her in.
The vet told me that she is between 5 1/2 and 61/2 months old (makes me think she is a now unwanted Xmas present..).

I got her spayed last week and apart from a little drama (she managed to take her collar off and pull all the stitches a day after I brought her home), she is now doing fine and has no problems interacting with my two older cats...she loves them, and although Temper and Polkie are more reserved, they seem to be taking it in stride.

I do have an issue when it comes to feeding them. I don't want to segregate the kitten when I'm at work or at feeding times and my cats are used to nibbling their dry food during the day, so I can't leave kitten food out for Dusky because the other two are on it like a flash and they're already overweight enough.

So basically, I am now feeding her what they are eating but I'm not sure if its enough nutrition for her. I have them on Wellness (dry -weight mgmt) and Wellness (wet - normal adult), so she gets a good portion of the wet and niblles on the dry Weight Mgmt. Is she too young to be on that diet?

Also, my other two cats are declawed (they came that way when I took them from the shelter) and I don't really want to declaw her, as I don't advocate it. There is no issue of fighting between them that I've seen, so I think that I'll forego the declawing. What is your opinion on this?

Thanks!

SHe should HAVE Wellness kitten or other quality kitten in wet and dry... WT control is A NO NO under 1 yr.....

Thanks Sharky. I'll put her back on kitten food immediately. And I will stop free feeding. The two older ones will just have to get used to it and on the bridght side, it may force them to lose a little weight.

Free feeding isn't good for heavy cats, nor is "diet" food which is mostly grain that cats do not need to eat. Cats do much better on canned food fed at meal times. The kitten should have kitten food until about a year old or until she just refuses to eat it. The kitten should have as much as she wants; the adults should have half a can per meal.

Loads of luck with them. I'm glad they all get along.

of any kind it seems but they like Dusky's Wellness Kitten dry. So now I've got Dusky back on kitten food but I allow Polkie and Temper a couple of grains of Dusky's dry food as a treat. Is that bad? I'm a little worried because now that all of them are on Wellness and the two older ones are on WM on the dry stuff and they hate it. They like the wet stuff fine though. I'm just trying to get the 3 of them the best nutrition possible but it's hard to coordinate it.

the kitten may help the older ones shed wt ...more protein and fat

I have sorta the same situation as you do. Only i have 1 overweight adult cat and a new kitten. Luna my cat is kinda wierd in the sense that she PREFERS dry food over wet. I got her off dry when I started her on a diet and she would still eat up all her wet food. But now that I have a kitten, I want him to eat as much as possible (plus the shelter included a bag of food w/ adoption) since he's a skinny guy. I can even feel his microchip at times.

But now that Luna snuck some of his dry food, she's hooked again and it's been hard getting her to eat the wet food I have her on. And she'll do anything for the dry food. She's broken into about all the closets I have LOL! Also, Shermie (my kitten) likes Luna's wet food also... I still don't exactly know what I'm gonna do either. The only resolution i've come to is to feed them when i'm around only or if i confine them to different rooms. (then hide the remainder of the food when they're together!)

Oh and about the declawing thing, I think it's good that you are not getting your kitten declawed. The majority of people here are against declawing anyway and if there are no fights, it shouldn't be a problem. Just watch your couches now HAHA

except for Dusky. She loves dry or wet. But I've noticed that the two old boys like her dry brand as a treat. They hate their own dry food. Polkie, my alpha, will wake me up every morning and I know what he wants. WET! and then Temper is right beside him, and Dusky the new kitten is rubbing against them most probably just wanting ANY food.
I just want to know if I can forego the dry. They are not eating it anyway and it's damn expensive

YES ... IF they like all wet and you can afford it ... WET IMHO is far better than all dry

thanks Sharky! You are the guru! I will nt spend another dime on dry. But I still have one bag of Wellness Kitten and one bag of Wellness Healthy Weight. Is it ok to maybe mix some of the dry with the wet at mealtimes until it's all gone?

Yeah ... or I usually donate or take it back if unopened

Got it!! Donate it will be. I even have the place. Thanks!