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Fussy kitten

post #1 of 10
7/5/11 at 1:40pm
Thread Starter 
I live in Morocco and there are feral cats everywhere here, there are about twenty to thirty on my block alone. For the most part they are viewed like raccoons in the US or foxes in the UK. As you can imagine none of these cats or kittens are social. So I was very surprised when this little kitten kept waddling out to my feet (on to the busy road) every time I walked to and from work. At the end of the week I decided to take her a can of tuna but when I got there I found her hunched over, she been bitten in the face and her leg was torn open and swollen. I had pity on her and took her to the vet. Although she she was too young to be taken from her mom I ended up bringing her home because her leg required a lot of daily care. Anyways, this was back on May 19th things are going well now but I have a problem with food and I'm not sure if its because of her feral cat roots/days living in the dumpster. When I first got her she was so little I had to feed her wet food but now she refuses to eat dry food no matter how I serve it. I've tried 3 different brands, mixing it water, mixing it with cat milk, dry, mixing it with wet food (she will actually somehow manage to eat all the wet food bits leaving just the soggy dry bits behind!) Two of the brands she ate once then refused to touch it again even when hungry... Not sure what to do. I'd really like her to eat dry food, at least partly because its difficult to get good quality wet food here and costs about 4 times what it does in the US. Strangely she will eat just about anything else she can get her paws on. All food must be kept somewhere can't jump to as I have found her eating bread and couscous left on the table and even once had to take a brownie bit someone had dropped away from her... Any thoughts on why she rejects the dry food or advice? I have a couple other questions too but I thought I'd start with this one! Thanks
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post #2 of 10
7/5/11 at 2:06pm
Hi and welcome to the Forums!


Are you thinking about perhaps adopting this kitten?

Cats are individual. So some adult feralt cats are almost impossible to foster, others are fairly easy.
And some, like this kitten, practically do come themselves and wants to be adopted.

So was surely the case with the ancestor of our cats, the first tame cat, Felix Lybica.

Cats do have a knack for pleasing themselves in, if they want to. And some do it.

IF you do adopt a cat, say a little kitten, or an hurt, tired adult cat - a tip: goat milk is very good for cats, much better than cow milk which isnt good for many cats. Goat milk is perhaps even better then cat substitute milks, the so called kmr.

In USA or Sweden it is often difficult to get goat milk, even if you want and need.
I presume you in Morocco dont have any difficilties with this.


Good luck!
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post #3 of 10
7/5/11 at 2:18pm
Thread Starter 
Hi StefanZ,
Thank you for the reply! For some reason the whole thing didn't post the first time so I had to resubmit it. Great info about the goats milk, it very easy to get here. I wish I had known this back in May, I actually ended up having cat milk shipped in. It would still be ok to give it to her now right? She seems to be on an endless quest for milk...
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post #4 of 10
7/5/11 at 3:37pm
Thread Starter 
Her sad first photo



Today



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post #5 of 10
7/5/11 at 4:27pm
Dry food is convenient to use, but many says wet food is better. And it is easier to make decent wet food than a decent dry food.
And many cheap dry foods are not good, to say it very kindly.
So, I dont know which brands do you have access to. But as a rule, you can manage quite well also with the cheap wet foods. They are not perfect, but they are better than cheap dry food.
If she likes wet food, and you find a reasonably good, and not so costly brand - keep with it if you can.
She is fond in eating other foods, people food? They are not poisonous*. so so long you dont overdo it, or have it as main diet, it is ok. Not so few cats do live on human food.
And as said, you can always fill it up with goat milk. Good nourishment, much animal proteins and fats of animal origin. Just what they need as the main course.

I presume cat substitute milk, fresh in may, is still fresh. You see the datum on the package. too. Is it ready to use, or it is in "dust" to make ready with added water?

*some people food is not healthy,or even poisonous:
Chocolad is not good. In larger doses - poisonous, both for cats and dogs.
garlic not so good. A little doesnt harm - but garlic as such, and its relatives is poisonous for cats.
Sugar is not good.
Lots of carbyhydrates is not good. Not poisonous at once, but in the long run they can develop sickedness.

etc...
I suppose I can write more if need be. Ask, so either me or someone else will answer. There is also our forum where they discuss food and diets.

Tx for helping this little brother of ours!

Good luck!
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post #6 of 10
7/5/11 at 7:58pm
Hi and welcome to TCS. You are a wonderful and caring person to have saved this beautiful little angel. She is beautiful. Actually, canned food is much better for her to eat than dry. Can you just find a cheap brand of canned? Even cheap wet food is better than any dry cat food brand. In the long run, the wet food will help maintain urinary tract health. Thanks so much for sharing her pictures. Does she have a name?
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post #7 of 10
7/5/11 at 9:43pm
I'm glad I clicked on this thread. I'm a new kitten owner, and I had no idea that dry food isn't as good for cats as the dry food. We were just fixing to start switching our kitten, Coal, to dry food. I guess I will have to let the boyfriend know that we need to reconsider this transition. Thanks for sharing, and good luck on your journey with your new kitty. She is very precious!!!
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post #8 of 10
7/6/11 at 11:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by CoalsMommy View Post
I'm glad I clicked on this thread. I'm a new kitten owner,

Welcome to ours Friendly forums!


Good luck!
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post #9 of 10
7/6/11 at 1:21pm
Well, you must be doing something right because she looks great!

If canned cat food is too expensive, can you make her meals from people food? I imagine there are cuts of meat you can get inexpensively and use to make her her own "brand."

Wet is way better than dry. They need moisture and too many cats don't drink enough water.

Keep up the good work!
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post #10 of 10
7/6/11 at 1:23pm
Having said that, though, I know cats need taurine and other elements that might not be in people food. A little research on the Internet might help you figure out how to make sure she gets all the nutrients she needs. There are lots of people who only feed raw food to their cats and they know how to do this.
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