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Weaning--how to convince them to eat dry?

post #1 of 12
5/22/09 at 6:49pm
Thread Starter 
So the babie will be 5 weeks on Monday--holy crap! Any who, they started eating wet on day 25-26 and have 2-3 times a day since then. In the last two days I have tried crushing up some dry and soaking it in warm water to get them interested (feeding kitten wet to 5 kittens is getting pricey--authority is the cheapest at .68 a 6 oz can) but only one wants anything to do with it. How do I convince them to start chewing?

Leslie
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post #2 of 12
5/22/09 at 9:19pm
Just a suggestion, but maybe try some Science Diet kitten with KMR mixed in. I know the Science Diet kitten has little kibbles and it's much easier to smaller ones to eat. I fed my kittens soft and dry, and let them just eat it when they were interested in it. I have one kitten I kept from our last litter of Devons and she will NOT eat any hard food, don't know why!! But, she's still eating lots of wet, so I'm not concerned just yet. She is only 5 months old, so there's lots of time yet to convert her over.
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post #3 of 12
5/22/09 at 9:26pm
I mash the kibble into the wet food....slowly they start to get the idea. Or else sprinkle the kibble on top of the wet.
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post #4 of 12
5/23/09 at 5:37am
Not Science Diet - that's not quality food. I would get some of the Royal Canin BABY cat dry food - its nice small pieces for them to nibble on.
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post #5 of 12
5/23/09 at 7:15am
Oh right, GK is right...Royal canin is better quality for the babies. I haven't had little guys around for a while and I knew that I was going to change the food once I had babies around again. My bad.
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post #6 of 12
5/23/09 at 8:06am
I've had the best luck with weaning by using Purina One kitten, then gradually switching them off to something better.
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post #7 of 12
5/23/09 at 9:02am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the hints. The food Ginger is on is small like 1/4". I went ahead and crushed some up and Im going to mix it with the wet today.

Leslie
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post #8 of 12
5/23/09 at 3:08pm
GK is right - when Eden's babies refused dry, I spent a fortune on one bag of Royal Canin baby cat - little brats llooovvveeedddd it.
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post #9 of 12
5/23/09 at 3:45pm
I always mix the hard a little at a time to the wet and at the same time slowly reducing the amount of wet, until eventually it is all dry....Good luck and I know what you mean about how hard it is too feed that many wet! I have 10 rescue kittens and 2 Mama cats we feed wet to 2 times a day each! I am also in the process of weaning them to more dry and less wet

I also wanted to add that Royal Canin baby cat is a great food to start them off on, I start with that and then wean to California Natural.
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post #10 of 12
5/23/09 at 4:33pm
I've just bought the babycat food too, and they're not eating it yet, but the kibble is tiny and much easier for them to chew.

Last time I had kittens, I mixed the Babycat food into the wet, then kept increasing the dry to wet ratio at certain feedings to get them used to the dry and it seemed to work.
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post #11 of 12
5/24/09 at 6:41pm
I'm no expert obviously...

but the kittens I got, just shy of 6wks old.... would have NOTHING to do with dry food that was wet.... I tried moistening many different brands (picked up a bunch of samples, as well as what I have Kizzy on). So I just left a bowl of dry in with them, and they love it.... as long as its not wet.

Right now in their bowl is Wellness Core (stinky food, but these guys pick it out and eat it first), Chicken soup for kittens, Wellness kitten (again, they love it, and I had a coupon for $3 off) and Taste of the Wild.

It's basically a bag of Wellness kitten, with a bit of Core, a couple sample packs of CS, and a 1/4 TOTW. ( Once they are older, I will be feeding TOTW mixed with something else... that's what Kizzy eats, and does wonderful on it).

All my cats, well the 3.... LOVE Wellness Core. It stinks, it makes their poo stink, and if fed alone it will give Kizzy the runs.... but I will throw some in Kizzy's bowl (we're talking bout 20-25 kibbles) to go with the rest of the food. Same with the kittens, only less pieces.

If you can get sample packs, I would grab a few different ones. They seem to go for the stinky one, or Wellness kitten.
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post #12 of 12
5/26/09 at 2:05pm
so I didnt even think of offering Savannahs kittens soft fod they started stealing her kibble at about 4 weeks so I just fed them dry stuff, with the exception of Lilo she has no interest in wet OR dry food. The little brats will be 7 weeks on thurs and lilo is still exclusivley nursing while the others nurse now and then ... she isnt as big as her sisters but still has alot of energy. (just so you know mom and kittens are all on NoW which is the best food possible here in Western Canada) when should i worry about lilo should i stop her from nursing???
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