Kitten Needs to Put on Weight

We got our kitten last Sunday from the shelter and he needs to put on quite a bit of weight.

We're feeding him a mixture of Iams Kitten (dry) and a Whiskas pouch feed. We tried leaving food out for him, but he wouldn't eat it if it was just left (he gets very distracted exploring his world, playing with my feet, learning to get along with the horses), so we have been putting fresh food for him 4-5 times a day, and gently moving him back to the food until he eats a substantial amount at each time.

Does this combination sound good nutritionally and will 4-5 times daily be sufficient for him to both grow and put on the weight he's missing? He's very ribby

Kittens are highly distractable!! I'm assuming that you've taken your little one to the vet and he's been thoroughly checked out and tested for all the major kitty diseases. One thing to be cautious of, you don't want him to gain weight too quickly. Consistent feeding and lots of TLC will get him gaining weight soon enough. Depending on his age, he might need to have a bit of water added to his wet food to make it mushy so he can eat it better.

If he is considerably underweight, you could try Nutrical. It is a high calorie dietary supplment. They don't need too much of it, and it works really fast! We have used this for skinny fosters. (And I have even used it for very underweight rats). And my chihuahua gets a bit of it everyday because she is an extremely picky eater.

I've fattened up a couple of my kittens that was hard to feed also by giving them KMR milk. Most of them like the test so when they start licking it the tongues go a mile a minute. Good luck.