Kitten food, and where to buy it. .

Why is it that at every grocery store I go to, the choices for kitten food are so limited?!? Its very frustrating when I know I have to feed them kitten food for another 7 months still!! I do not have a pet store as close to me as I do a grocery store, so this is very inconvenient for me. Yesterday evening, I completely ran out of kitten food. When I went to The Super Stop & Shop right down the street to get an "emergency" bag of food, the ONE brand they carry kitten food of was ALL OUT. There was no sale or anything, so :censor::censor::censor:?

I do have a bag of cat food left over from a previous cat, so I fed them that to tide them over. . They ate it, I just hope it wasn't a bad thing.

Does anyone possibly know of a good online store (I'm obsessed with shopping online hehe) or some place I can buy kitten food in bulk? Do any kitten owners go through the same thing?

I hate when stores do that. There is just as many kittens as there are cats in the world. It seems that all people think of is cats and dogs, no one thinks about kittens and puppies. I'm not good at shopping on-line but maybe you can check out Petsmart.com and Petco.com. Thoes stores are where i get my kittens their food. Good hunting.

Some of our members buy online from this place:

http://www.petfooddirect.com/store/b...parent_id=420&

Do you have a Shaws near you? I find their pet section to be larger than Stop&Shop's.

Hi,

I know you don't have a pet store as near as a supermarket, but since you are feeding them for another 7 months, you might want to go get a huge bag of kitten food in a specialized place. Some places deliver your order for free (wich is great if you don't have a car). This way, you won't have to bother buying them food every week or two and it is always less expensive in bigger size.


Marilou

Be careful about switching dry foods all the time, it can lead to diarreah. Anytime a switch from one dry food is made to another, it should be done very gradual over at least a week by mixing more of the new and less of the old as the week progresses.

Most pet foods at grocery stores are pretty junky anyway, I don't feed anything that is sold at a grocery store. If I were you, I would order a better quality kitten food online and store it in a plastic container so it stays fresh.

I recommend Royal Canin for kitten food - and I'm sure you can order from their website and have it shipped.

IMO you don't need to keep kittens on kitten food past 5-6 months old - they can start eating adult foods then. Only exceptions would be for larger breed cats (maine coon, ragdoll, etc.) or if the kitten has been sick or doing poorly. Normal kittens are fine on adult foods after 5-6 months old.

Do you have a feed store near you? Tractor supply store?

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

IMO you don't need to keep kittens on kitten food past 5-6 months old - they can start eating adult foods then.

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Really?!? I would love to switch them to adult food, they are very healthy kitties!!

Well I've seen far too many kitties that were kept on kitten food for a year cause the vet or bag of food said so - become very overweight in a short time. Once that weight is on the cat, its darn hard to get it back off.

I've owned cats from 5-6 lbs when grown to 14-15 lbs when grown and all of them were at the proper weight. I've raised many kittens and cats and have never had a problem with health/growth in switching them over about 5 months old.

The only time I'd say keep them on longer is if they are maine coon types or other larger breeds that need the extra calories or they have been sick kittens and need the extra food. Otherwise a healthy kitten can be switched to adult food around 5 months old. With early spaying/neutering now, its important to really monitor you cat's eating.

While spaying/neutering doesn't make a cat fat, they don't burn off the calories like a breeding cat would.

I would recommend looking for a pet or feed store and then buy a large bag of food. You can keep it in a storage container so it will stay fresh longer. My brother bought a 16 lb. bag of Innova for his cat and keeps it in smaller airtight containers so it stays good.
If you want to buy online, I have bought food from Pet Food Direct a number of times and it is a good website! I recommend getting on their mailing list because they often have 15%-20% off coupons they send by email.

If you have a pet valu or Ryans near you there is lots of variety there.

Also, if you know what brand you want to feed, often on their website they'll have a "locate a store near you" feature, that has worked well for me a few times.

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Well I've seen far too many kitties that were kept on kitten food for a year cause the vet or bag of food said so - become very overweight in a short time. Once that weight is on the cat, its darn hard to get it back off.

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Well, My kitties are a very healthy weight, and it just so happens, I brought them to the vet. today to get them their shots, and the vet said it was OK to start feeding them adult food!! ) SO, I started to feed them adult food today. I have started by mixing 1/2 kitten food, and 1/2 adult food. And I got them the indoor formula, since they are getting neutered in two weeks! We'll see how it goes. Thanks for the advice everyone!!

Oh yeah, and I found a pet supply store right down the street, where I got a 25 lb. bag of Purina One cat food for 16 bucks!! Not bad at all, huh?

Originally Posted by Sparkleamato

Well, My kitties are a very healthy weight, and it just so happens, I brought them to the vet. today to get them their shots, and the vet said it was OK to start feeding them adult food!! ) SO, I started to feed them adult food today. I have started by mixing 1/2 kitten food, and 1/2 adult food. And I got them the indoor formula, since they are getting neutered in two weeks! We'll see how it goes. Thanks for the advice everyone!!

Oh yeah, and I found a pet supply store right down the street, where I got a 25 lb. bag of Purina One cat food for 16 bucks!! Not bad at all, huh?

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Not a bad price, but there are much better quality foods out there (even for that price). If I remember correctly, that particular food has a lot of grain fillers (not 100% sure on that though, I'd have to look it up). Cats need lots of meat/protein. Do you live by a Costco? I think the Kirkland Signature Brand is supposed to be good for an inexpensive dry food (I forget what it's identical to though, can anyone remember??)

Kirkland is made by Diamond, I believe. And yes, they are heads and tails above purina, IMO.

Originally Posted by Sakura

Not a bad price, but there are much better quality foods out there (even for that price). If I remember correctly, that particular food has a lot of grain fillers (not 100% sure on that though, I'd have to look it up). Cats need lots of meat/protein. Do you live by a Costco? I think the Kirkland Signature Brand is supposed to be good for an inexpensive dry food (I forget what it's identical to though, can anyone remember??)

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Hmmm. . Now that I've bought this huge bag. Well, I will do my research while I use up this bag, I guess!!

Originally Posted by Sparkleamato

Hmmm. . Now that I've bought this huge bag.

Well, I will do my research while I use up this bag, I guess!!

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You did the best at the time... do you know how to do a search on here??

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

Well I've seen far too many kitties that were kept on kitten food for a year cause the vet or bag of food said so - become very overweight in a short time. Once that weight is on the cat, its darn hard to get it back off.

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While this is certainly a concern, most adult foods these days contain urine acidifiers that can throw off the calcium metabolism of growing kittens. I would not switch cats to adult food until they are completely done growing.

Its much better to keep kitties on the high calorie kitten food and encourage them to exercise and measure their portions properly than to switch them early... at least in my opinion. I have a fat cat that LOVES my kittens food, but I just don't dare switch yet, so I just have to be extra diligent.