Need help from dry food to wet for a kitten? Throwing up?

Hello everyone.

I'm a brand new cat owner. I just adopted a 3 month old kitten on the 25th. (Although, he may be close to 4 months now). I've never had a cat in my life, so I've been reading up online and trying to do the best I can. However, I really need help on this. A few days ago, when I was looking up good kitten food, I noticed that everything was saying canned or raw. I looked into it, and after being reasonably upset, I decided to switch. My budget can't afford raw(and I'm terrified I'll make it wrong and hurt my kitten) so I have to do canned.

The shelter gave me a bag of Science Diet's Healthy Development. After going through the store, I picked up Taste of the Wild- Rocky Mountain. When I looked up how to change it, I kept finding all these controversial sites and nothing about actually switching. So, I did it myself, and honestly I think I did it wrong. I feed Archie twice a day. Once in the morning and once at night. He already had the dry that morning, so out of the 5.5 oz can I bought I gave him about 1/3 of it, along with about 1/4 of the dry. I mixed them together, thinking that would help his stomach adjust better. He was confused at first and ate it tentatively, maybe about 1/3 of it. I heard from one site that canned food spoils quickly when it's left out so I put the bowl and what was left in the can into the fridge.(Tinfoiled). He started chirping at me again so I gave him his bowl again later on(an hour or two). He gulped it down and seemed to really enjoy it. I'd say all this happened from 5:30-7:30 pm on Saturday.

The next morning I didn't want to overwhelm him so I gave him just dry food. (About 1/2 a cup. maybe a little less than that). Later that night at 5:30 I did what I did the day before with the mix of dry and wet. I used the same can from the night before I left in the fridge. A few hours later, he threw it up. Large quantity of it too, looked a lot more than I gave him. The problem was last night I was feverish and could barely get off the couch without collapsing. So, I called him over, checked him out what I could, and I planned to rest a moment or two to get the strength to get up, but I must of fallen asleep. Woke up about an hour later, went to get it up quick, and most of it was gone. He ate it up again. That made me really worried. I cleaned up the rest of it and checked Archie, but he seems fine.

From what happened last night I was really scared that the wet food was reacting badly so I gave him just the dry again. He won't even eat it. He keeps going to where the canned food is. But I really don't want to give it to him since he threw it up last night. He is still fine right now, by the way.

So, heres a few questions. Please, say anything else you see that I missed that could help me. Any websites you could link would be beneficial as well. First of all, him throwing up...was I giving him too much? Was it the mixing? Or was it me keeping the canned food in the fridge for a day? Can you not do that?

Is it safe to give him more of the canned? What can I do about him not wanting the dry? I don't want to give him all canned yet. Its only been two days. I don't want to make him sick. Is it maybe Taste of the Wild? Should I have gone for a different brand? When he ate what he threw up, will that hurt him in any way? I haven't seen him do anything out of the ordinary. He hasn't thrown up again either.

Also, I have to take him to the vet in a day or two by my contract when I adopted him. Should I say any of this to the vet? Is there anything specific I should ask them?

It's OK to go to all canned if he doesn't want the dry food anymore. I would recommend getting more flavors/brands---I believe it's best to rotate among at least 5 different options for optimal nutrition. And it's best not to mix canned and dry--if you're going to feed both, feed them separately.

He would probbably do better with being fed at least 3 times a day. And that would help him so he wouldn't eat too much at once.

He probably threw up because he ate too fast. Also because dry food swells in the stomach. . .I don't think there's any proof, but mixing dry and canned has always made my cats throw up. I think because the canned food taste makes them eat too much and then the dry food swells up, and out it comes. It shouldn't hurt him to have eaten the vomit (ick!); dogs do it all the time but sometimes cats will too. I guess if it was just regurgitated they figure it's still good (eww!). The barfing could also have been from all the changes going on in the last few days. He's had a busy week! You can menttion it to the vet but I don't think it's anything to worry about.

Thank you for the info!

Does canned food not work the same way as dry food? I thought you had to slowly go into another brand.

3 times? Okay. How much food is okay per serving? I heard they're supposed to eat a lot, but Archie doesn't really eat too much. He nitpicks. I had no idea that dry food did that. I'll separate them for his afternoon meal and see which one he goes to. That might help a bit.
 

l'm far from an expert, l'm still trying to learn as much as l can here too. But l can empathize. l just got my 11 week old kitten 4 days ago, and like Willowy said, l thought it would be best to rotate as many kitten foods (canned) as l could find, so that l don't leave any gaps in his nutrition by my choices. l've had no hurls yet, and turds are good so far         l also started adding a teaspoon of commercial raw to his daily intake. So he has his Royal Canin canned inherited from the breeder, plus a teaspoon of raw for one meal, then plus a teaspoon of different cans for the rest of his daily meals till l can gradually get rid of the Royal Canin.

The one thing l did notice about Taste of the Wild is that it's relatively low in protein and fat. l tried to buy kitten foods with high protein and fat, grain free. Today he had Evo cat&kitten which has 
but on the downside it also contains Carrageenan. My older cats won't eat it so l'm glad the kitten enjoys it, lol.

Welcome to the forum, btw Be sure to post us some pix of your kitty.

My kitty started doing the same thing. Here is hat I have done and o far, o throwing up after eating.

1. Got Rid of dry food all together.
2. Fed her 1/3 of a can 3 times a day....sometimes more depending on the day and if she is hungry.
3. Elevated her dish so she is hunched over. Imagine eating your dinner leaning forward.
4. Don't pile her food....mush it all over the bottom of the bowl.
5. Was using purina one wet food. Switched to fancy feast classic. I alternate from seafood and other meat to give her variety.
6. Don't play before or after she eats.

I hope this helps.

Andrya, what are the other canned foods you feed your kitty, if you don't mind me asking? Is it just Royal Caiin and Evo or do you feed more? I picked up Taste of the Wild thinking of the ingredients, but I didn't look at the protein/fat amounts. What's the minimum a kitten should have, if you know?

For an update, Archie has stopped throwing up. I put out the dry and wet in different bowls and let him choose. He didn't even glance at the dry, so that's now out of his diet completely. I'm starting him on 3 times a day feedings. I can tell he likes it a lot better. The one thing I was worried about most with him is that I heard kittens should eat a lot...yet he isn't a heavy eater. He usually only picks at his food. However, once I started the 3 times a day feedings he has eaten everything. So that's good.

For putting in other cans/brands does anybody have any recommendations? I know he doesn't like Chicken. I got him My Little Lion Chicken treats, and he snubs them. =/ So I'm assuming giving him chicken canned won't go well.

Babykitties said:

Andrya, what are the other canned foods you feed your kitty, if you don't mind me asking? Is it just Royal Caiin and Evo or do you feed more? I picked up Taste of the Wild thinking of the ingredients, but I didn't look at the protein/fat amounts. What's the minimum a kitten should have, if you know?

For an update, Archie has stopped throwing up. I put out the dry and wet in different bowls and let him choose. He didn't even glance at the dry, so that's now out of his diet completely. I'm starting him on 3 times a day feedings. I can tell he likes it a lot better. The one thing I was worried about most with him is that I heard kittens should eat a lot...yet he isn't a heavy eater. He usually only picks at his food. However, once I started the 3 times a day feedings he has eaten everything. So that's good.

For putting in other cans/brands does anybody have any recommendations? I know he doesn't like Chicken. I got him My Little Lion Chicken treats, and he snubs them. =/ So I'm assuming giving him chicken canned won't go well.

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Good advice from everyone so far!  Congratulations on your new household member Bet you are real excited   Feeding an all wet diet is good for your kitty if that is the route you opt to take.  At least 3 feedings a day is probably where you want to be at.  As far as the vomiting...  What kinds of food are you feeding him?  Does he vomit right after eating?  Some cats will eat really fast and then vomit.  How often does he vomit?  Daily?  A couple of times a week?  You might want to try different tastes and textures in his wet diet. 

My cats eat Nutro products.  They are on about 80-90% wet to about 10-20% dry in their daily diet.  They are all adults and are fed their wet food 2x daily.  Their kibble is measured and put into timed feeders and the feeders are set to dispense at opposite times of the wet meals. 

For kibble they will ONLY eat Nutro Max Cat Indoor Roasted Chicken.  I've tried different kibble and they won't touch it.  For wet, they mainly get the Max Cat and Nutro Natural Choice wet foods but I will buy other premium brands to give them a different flavor and texture sometimes.  You can find more on this brand at http://www.nutro.com/natual-cat-food.aspx   Good luck and have fun with your new furbaby

Thank you. ^ ^ I really am. He's a real trip. Sleeps with me and everything now. xD I just got him a cute light blue collar with a bow tie and bell on it. He looks adorable, but I think the bell is too loud for him. Hurts my ears sometimes. =/ I just can't get it off. -sigh-

I still want to put a picture up, but my computer fights me. =/

I was feeding him Taste of the Wild Rocky Mountain. However, a few days ago I was thrown 2 kittens who are much younger.(full story is on the Behavior forum) They caught me on a bad week, so I had to get 9 Lives for them. As soon as I did Archie refuses to eat TotW. So, now everybody is on 9 Lives and has diarrhea...ah, the times. Since they like the flavors so much I'm thinking I may just up them to Friskies and see how that works for them. Oh, and when you switch wet brands, you can do it immediently, right?

Vomiting is completely done with since he got on 9 Lives. So, I suppose it was TotW.

Hi there Babykitties! Welcome to TCS!

As the above posters have already mentioned, the reason he got sick was probably from the fact that dry food swells in the stomach and wet food does not, the two different kinds of food have different digestive properties. For that reason I would not mix them together, but also because if the dry food became soggy from the wet food Archie might turn his nose up at it. As for what to feed your feline friend, it's really great that you've done the research and want to find the best food you can get for him. I agree that an all canned diet is best, but you really have to know how to read labels for the "best results".

The "red flag ingredients", as I call them, on a wet food are carrageenan (possibly carcinogenic, want to avoid this), meat byproducts (notice they don't specify what kind of meat they are using), wheat gluten (linked to a big pet food recall back in 07), byproducts (these are defined as meat parts not fit for human consumption, and can include many gross things), and grains. I think the best food you could feed little Archie would be a grain-free, carrageenan-free canned food made with real meat. For this kind of kitty food you can try the Cats in the Kitchen pouches by Weruva, Nature's Variety Instinct, and By Nature 95%. These are all great foods.

To transition your little kibble addict over to canned food, these websites will help you out: http://www.catinfo.org/docs/Tips for Transitioning PDF 1-14-11.pdf, http://voices.yahoo.com/how-switch-dry-cat-food-addict-over-canned-6123894.html?cat=53 http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...nsition-your-cat-to-raw-food-diet-part-1.aspx, and http://fnae.org/switch.html.

Hope I helped and best of luck feeding your feline friend,
Jen.