kitten food

So I am thinking of keeping my bottle baby. What is a good kitten food for an orphan? She is weeks away from that but I want to be prepared.

Morey and Mitch weren't orphans, exactly, but were taken from their mom when they were around four weeks old. Their mother, who is named Jezebel, managed to escape once after I trapped her, and proceeded to again get pregnant and have six more kittens. When those kittens were four weeks old, I finally successfully trapped her - but ended up with six 4 week old kittens - who I then took and raised.

So, when Morey & Mitch were four weeks old, they started to eat some raw food, along with grain free canned. Soon they were both switched to all raw, and their siblings left and were adopted through a no-kill shelter that I work for.

Morey & Mitch were born August 7, 2010 and have been eating a raw diet since I took them. I personally feed a prey model raw diet - also known as frankenprey - which is explained at http://rawfedcats.org/nature.htm

If I for some reason didn't feed them raw, then they would be eating the same food I feed Nightmare (my barn cat that will not eat raw - unless he catches it himself). Currently, Nightmare is getting a rotation of Before Grain, Nature's Variety Instinct, Wellness, Natural Balance, and Holistic Select. I prefer to feed a variety of brands as well as protein sources - and try to use high quality brands that are typically always grain free. I do make an exception for Holistic Select because Nightmare loves it and it is a good price here.

- http://catinfo.org/

- http://feline-nutrition.org/health

-Your Cat: Simple Secrets to a Longer Stronger Life by Elizabeth Hodgekins, DVM http://www.amazon.com/Your-Cat-Simpl...8722088&sr=1-1

-Not Fit for a Dog http://www.amazon.com/Not-Fit-Dog-Tr.../dp/1884956831

are all good things to read. The books you could probably order through a library - at least that is what I do

Have fun with your bottle baby! I wish they stayed that tiny for longer

What do you feed your current cats? What brands do you have available?

I always start bottle babies on canned food mushed with kitten formula at around 3-4 weeks (whenever they don't seem satisfied by just formula anymore) and keep out a bowl of dry food (which they won't eat much of until 7-8 weeks but I keep it around to get them acclimated).

I moved to a new small town in April. There is not a whole lot avalaible here for catfood. A lot of purina, canned whiskas or meow mix. So basically I feed them dry purina cat chow mixed with iams...and the occasional wet food every few days.

I have raised fine healthy kittens on Iams in the past, it's not the best but not the worst either. Their canned kitten food is one of my top choices for baby kittens only because it's very smooth and pasty, so it mixes well with the kitten formula to make a non-lumpy paste.

For the dry, Purina ONE and Iams kittens foods are pretty comparable, so whichever one your store has more readily available.

Only Hoot was an orphan out of my entire brood. She was about 6 weeks old when we found her drowning in a mud puddle. After her initial surgery I put her on Nutro Max kibble and wet. She did quite well on them and it's comparably priced to Purina One and IAMS.