Nutrition advice

Hi everyone,

I am new here - a first time pet owner and a little confused as to what I should feed little Calvin. We adopted him 10 days ago and he is now 18 weeks old. I am continuing with the same brand of food that his foster mom was feeding him and the vet said that they were fine. He is eating Hill's Science Diet Healthy Development for Kitten (dry food) and Fancy Feast (I choose the ones with the "better ingredients"). His foster mom mentioned that he was eating 1 3-oz can in the morning and 1 in the evening and had free access to dry food. Initially I could not get him to eat any moist food and he just ate dry when he came to my place and then he slowly has taken to eating the wet food and enjoys it now and is eating about 1.5 cans a day. I am not sure why Calvin was only eating dry at my place when he first came here - I do not doubt the foster mom: we think that it may be that since there were 4 kittens she was fostering, maybe someone else was eating Calvin's share of fancy Feast. We suspect this even more because we see that Calvin does not eat if we are not in the room during his mealtime. Along with the canned food, I give him a little less than 1/2 cup of the dry food and there's leftover everyday. Am I over-feeding/ underfeeding him?


The other issue is Calvin's had diarrhea since the 3 rd day he's been with me. The vet and pathology results found nothing and the vet gave me fortiflora (probiotics) and Calvin's been taking it but there's not a whole lot of change. If it persists, I will call the vet next week when it will be 10 days of him taking the probiotics. I would eventually want to shift to Wellness, or something as healthy, but I have been reading that changing food can result in tummy upset and I do not want to add to the already persisting diarrhea. Again, any advice regarding this, too, will be greatly appreciated.

welcome to tcs... IMHO I would hold off on changing food s at the moment..has a test for giardia , coccidia and Tritrichomonas Foetus -TF been done?

Thanks, sharky. He had the fecal intestinal parasite exam done and the result came back negative. The vet gave him a deworming medicine while we were there. We do not see any outward manifestation of him being ill: the only issue is the very smelly, lighter colored and softer poop (sorry for TMI) along with blood a couple of times. I understand that some of the parasites are not easily caught in the exam and so I guess I should call back the vet's clinic after the 7-10 days of recovery time that they had expected, elapses.
I am open to suggestions/ advices.

make sure to ask for the specific tests... most fecals are only checking for two worms...not giardia or coccidia ...the Tf is a VERY specialized test that is 99% ofthe time sent out.. not to mention typical worming of a kitten is a 2 or 3 time series

What is Calvins wt ? according to the bag are you feeding within the general guidelines?

I will find out more about the specific tests - thanks for the advice. My Vet clinic sends out all tests and the cost of the test was around 40$ - so my guess is they are not the specialized ones??

Calvin at 16 weeks (approx) was 4.1 lbs but that was 1 week ago - he has definitely grown since and it is very evident. He is eating way more than what he did the 1st 3-4 days he was with us. The issue that I find with the recommendations on the side of the bag/ can of food is specifically for either a dry food diet or wet food diet. For eg, the bag of Hills says that I should reduce the amount of dry food if I am supplementing with wet food but does not say by how much. Fancy Feast says I should give him 2 cans but then he's having dry food, too. Also I think a calorie calculation may not be accurate since protein calories (mostly in the canned food) and carb calories (from dry) may be different. I may be overanalyzing this but for a little kitten who was left in a box in the metroparks to die, I want to do my best for him.

My 2 cents. I would try and get away from the Fancy Feast. See if you can find something like Wellness Kitten Formula canned food. I would also not pay too much attention to the feeding guidelines on the package. If he has all day access to kitten dry food, give him as much wet food as he wants at 2-3 feedings. Getting him settled on a same food/same time diet for a week or two may help quiet his intestines.

Thanks KyleW. I want to move away from Fancy Feast, too but I was hoping to do that once Calvin's tummy settled down some since I hear that changing food also gives one upset tummy. Or is that just in case of dry food?

He has a routine - in fact, it's exactly as you suggested. But he really does not seek out the dry food that is left out for him. If he asks for food, I have to take him to the kibbles for him to eat or he just wont eat. Plus, he does not eat when we are not in the room - he may be hungry and go crazy when he sees food and will start eating when I put down his bowl. But will turn around to see if we are there - if not he'll just seek us out. If we shut the door behind - he will call out a couple of times and then sit on a chair and stare at the door. The moment we enter the room, he walks to his food and starts eating. There will be days when no one will be home during the day and I am concerned he will not eat then. His routine is set so that he gets canned food in the morning and evening and then before we head to bed. It's the hours in between when I would have liked him to eat some dry food and I just hope he starts eating

can you try the FF flavors he was on? prehaps he has an issue with the ones you are feeding

at 4 lbs he would be recommended to eat 4-8 oz of wet ... I am thinking he is right on the "general and average guidelines"... that is just a guide

normally wet food can be changed at will( ie not a slow process).... but since he is having trouble IMHO no do not change ..

Did the vet check the teeth development?

some cats do not really like dry food ... wet food is IMHO better overall ( even fancy feast )

So he's having about 4.5-5oz of wet food everyday and I would say between 1/4 and 2/5 cup of dry. His dry bowl and wet sit side by side when I serve him the wet and he alternates between the 2 - so cannot say that he dislikes the dry food. Just that he does not eat any food when he is alone and as dry is left out all day, I can see that he does not seek it out. Funny guy

I will check with his foster to see what flavors she gave him - when I had asked earlier while picking up Calvin, she had said that he's eat everything. So I do not know if she remembers.

The vet did check his teeth. I had asked him if Calvin's age was what the shelter vet had though it was, and the vet checked his teeth and said it seemed about right.

The diarrhea is just worrying me now.

If he has been getting the same food consistently, and still has diarrhea, it could be something in the food that is causing the problem. On this Sharky and I agree. Where we disagree is on changing the food He seems to be more of a wet food eater. As Sharky pointed out, switching wet food is no a big deal. I would start by eliminating everything that has fish ingredients. You have to start somewhere. If there is a food allergy causing the problem probiotics won't help. They will at best mask the condition. 7+ days of diarrhea is something that needs to be actively addressed.

Thanks for the advice. Calvin's vet called this morning (I really like the clinic and the vet) and he wants to send another stool sample to the lab and prescribing him Flagyl. I thought that this was a reasonable move.
I think I will slowly start by changing the flavors of food to non-fish ones and then the brand and see. Needless to say, Calvin loves the fishy ones one more. Will hold off changing the dry till we know a little bit more about the diarrhea issues.

Thanks for all the advice. So I went to the store yesterday and got some different varieties of canned food - a couple of wellness and a couple of natural balance, along with a couple of fancy feasts(the better ones, I think). I also picked up a can from trader joe's. I understand that these are not totally grain free but I don't want to make that big a change just yet. Calvin had the natural balance yesterday and LOVED it. I am not sure I will be able to afford Wellness everyday with Calvin eating 2 cans atleast everyday now. Any other canned foods recommended?

Also how important is it to feed him grain free? If cats are having what is considered "good" grains for humans, is it that bad? There seems to be some controversy regarding going completely grain free. I understand that Cats are carnivores in the wild/on their own but they do not survive as long as they do at home and, though that may be due to various factors, could nutrition impact this outcome at all? Please bear with me and help me figure out this kitten/ cat nutrition thing while I try to make the best decisions I can for Calvin.

Bagged and canned cat food is little over 100 years old... You are right cats actually have a lifespan in the wild( ie small true wild cats) of roughly 3-5 yrs ( true ferals from my understanding usually less than 3 )... Yes cat Need meat and have No biological need for grain( put it in human terms , humans have no need for processed food but in moderation it is fine )

Grains I prefer to feed a cat over what is commonly found in grain frees ( peas and potatoes ) are white rice and oats ... Whole grains are great for fiber but alas most cats only need 3-5 % fiber ... Whole grains do not digest as well in kitty thus the white rice which is roughly 1-20% less digestible than the most common meats( 75-90% depending on the source ... By contrast corn whole is Only 30-50% digestible which is why most shy away from corn ....

Trader Joes is Great for the $$$... the others are good sources... with canned food MANY are either grain free or nearly grain free and in all price points .... I say read the label and try a can or two of many kind s to see what Calvin likes ...

Look into the Big cans of wellness 12-13

Thanks Sharky for explaining cat nutrition to me. I am keeping a note of the flavors and brands that Calvin likes. He has not tried Wellness yet and in case he likes it, will look for it. Also Wellness has 1 flavor for kitten and the vet suggested I change flavors since kittens tend to get bored after a while, and I can see that happening with Calvin. So I think I will get a few Wellness Kitten and rotate with other brands till he's 1 yr old and then I can buy the larger cans for adults.
Trader Joe's was nicely priced and the ingredients looked pretty good - so will have him try it.

The diet of your cat is key to its happiness and well being. The food you feed your cat can make a massive difference to their life affecting their weight, skin, quality of coat, lifespan and even the amount of hairballs produced.
You try just try coccidia and Tritrichomonas Foetus.

Thanks Caleb for the advice.
Calvin's fecal exam did not show anything. He's had 3 days of Flagyl now and his frequency of bowel movement has gone down from 3-4 a day to 1-2. The color still varies from more browish to yellowish. It's been an experience trying to give him his med but I'm learning.
As far as his food goes, he seems to be eating more and more each day. I think he's having 2-2.5 cans of wet food a day now and about 1/4 of dry. Is that ok? I am overweight myself and suffer due to that. I dont want Calvin to be overweight but at the same time I do not want him to remain hungry.