Will my kitten be healthy with canned food alone

Right now he eats Friskies. He also has purina kitten chow at his disposal, but since I have an older cat, I take away the purina kitten chow when both are around [no free feeding]. but keep out the pro plan urinary tract health dry. so the 13 week old eats mostly canned as it is always avaialble for both. no fish flavors, only beef or chicken. do kittens need the dry kitten kibble or can they start with wet as kittens and grow appropriately?

It's probably healthy, but no good for the teeth. I'd feed them in separate rooms, lock them up until they eat their own food. I'd also get the kitten used to eating raw chicken wings, to help prevent tooth decay.

Originally Posted by Kalikat

It's probably healthy, but no good for the teeth. I'd feed them in separate rooms, lock them up until they eat their own food. I'd also get the kitten used to eating raw chicken wings, to help prevent tooth decay.

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It would be perfectly healthy. Dry food has been proven to not be any benefit to cleaning teeth. In fact, if you yourself ate dry crackers and a bowl of beef stew - you'll find the crackers when mixed with your saliva would leave far more on your teeth to gather bacteria than the beef stew. Cats do not chew - their jaws go strictly up and down not side to side. They break the hard kibble with the tip of their tooth and swallow. That does absolutely nothing to help clean their teeth.

The only drawback with an all wet diet is that you need to be available for all meal times whereas with dry food you can leave it out for them to graze on.

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Dry food has been proven to not be any benefit to cleaning teeth. In fact, if you yourself ate dry crackers and a bowl of beef stew - you'll find the crackers when mixed with your saliva would leave far more on your teeth to gather bacteria than the beef stew.

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Wow, that is a superb example. Thanks. I just am so hooked on the media and kitten chow, kitten chow, I feel like I am doing an injustice with just wet. Another question, if dry is known as the culprit or one of them for UTI, why does purina pro plan urinary tract health dry kibble say not to feed to kittens.

I would like to feed both the 2 year old male and 13 week old male this as a free feeding and the wet in the mornings and evenings. The purina all stages left both with diarrhea and the kitten chow is a no go as that would kill all attempts at uti preventative care. thanks for reading.

Originally Posted by pearce1974

Wow, that is a superb example. Thanks. I just am so hooked on the media and kitten chow, kitten chow, I feel like I am doing an injustice with just wet. Another question, if dry is known as the culprit or one of them for UTI, why does purina pro plan urinary tract health dry kibble say not to feed to kittens.

I would like to feed both the 2 year old male and 13 week old male this as a free feeding and the wet in the mornings and evenings. The purina all stages left both with diarrhea and the kitten chow is a no go as that would kill all attempts at uti preventative care. thanks for reading.

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This is a question better answered by our resident guru on nutrition, Sharky. I do however, know that a wet food diet is much better for a neutered male to help prevent UTI as they get more of the moisture they need from the wet. Cats often don't drink enough water and the dry food diet doesn't help.

I also believe in feeding kitten food to kittens for at least 10 months to 1 year. If the kitty is getting too big at 10 months then I would switch to adult food.

To avoid diarrhea perhaps you can change their food over gradually to get their digestive system to accept the new food without problems (or did you do it that way?). Usually the change should take about a week.

Sharky will probably be along soon with answers to your Purina question.

I would defer to Sharky on that question, but my guess is two things...one, the urinary tract health diets have restricted mineral content - such as magnesium, calcium, phosphorus....etc. Kittens need plenty of those minerals for bone development and growth. Two, some acidifying diets are formulated to encourage more frequent urination, which can result in further loss of minerals in the urine.

I wouldn't feed one of those diets for prevention...just to a cat that has a need for it. Some cats are prone to the "opposite" type of crystal/stone (calcium oxalate) that those acidifying diets can actually encourage the growth of. The best overall precaution to take for all types of urinary trouble would just be a good wet diet.