About feeding a kitten

Hi,

I am the owner of 2 lovely Siberian Kittens. One is 5 months old, the other is 3,5 months old. My breeder told me to just leave them a bowl of food (so they can eat constantly, and not have x meals a day, like people have) as long as they are kitten. She said you can't overfeed a kitten, and I trust that. My cats both eat when they are hungry, and don't seem to eat until they drop or puke it all out.

My question is, when do I start giving them food on certain times and no longer constant food? I don't want my cats to ge obese, of course, but as they are Siberians (one of the larger breeds) I do want them to have enough food to grow well.

Another question, as it seems that this forum is giving complete different information than my friends, family, breeder and 3 different vets that I have been to.

I have been told that you should feed my cats dry food, and give them wet food only as a special food or as extra. Dry food should be their basic food what they eat all day (may it be constant of in portions) 

However, this forum says I should feed wet food and not dry food. I am confused on what to do. I have low grain dry food (I used royal canin, but as my oldest kitten seems to have a problem with it, I shifted to another brand, still high quality) with a lot of proteins. How should I feed them, what is best to do? If it's really best to feed wet food, instead of dry food, then why do all these people, including old vets who had a long education, tell me I should give dry food?

I hope to get many answers so I can know what is best for my babies ^^ Thanks

Conventional vets don't get a lot of nutrition classes and they are also being trained for a lot of different animals not just cats.  It hasn't really been that long ago that the conventional wisdom was that dry food was best especially for their teeth.  One of the problems with dry food is that cats don't have a high thirst drive.  They are descended from a small desert carnivore so their bodies are designed to also get water from their prey.

I understand leaving some kibble out for kittens at all times because it is true that you can't overfeed kittens.  I would cut the kibble down to a small snack amount and start feeding meals of wet food.  The wet food comes much closer to their natural prey because it contains meat, organ meat, calcium and water.  You want the food to be mostly meat because a cats natural food source is not plants.  

Biancavd said:

 
How should I feed them, what is best to do? If it's really best to feed wet food, instead of dry food, then why do all these people, including old vets who had a long education, tell me I should give dry food?

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The truth is that most vets do not get much education on nutrition (usually a semester at school which covers all animals). Here are some articles written by vets on nutrition.

http://www.catinfo.org/

http://www.littlebigcat.com/nutrition/why-dry-food-is-bad-for-cats-and-dogs/

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/does-dry-food-clean-the-teeth/

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2012/02/17/dry-food-wrong-for-cats.aspx

No one can tell you what to feed your kittens, but cats are obligate carnivores who NEED their nutrition from animal based sources. Ask yourself what is closer to a cat's natural diet (say a mouse): wet food that is canned, raw or cooked which is mostly or all meat OR dry food which must have grains or starchy vegetables to bind it together? Cats are also geared toward getting their moisture from their food and as a consequence have a low thirst drive. Therefore dry food at about 10% moisture (vs. 80% of canned) does not provide the moisture necessary to keep their systems healthy and flushed out unless they drink enough water to compensate (which most cats do not). This leads to issues like kidney disease and urinary tract disorders in the long run. Feeding a high carb diet can also lead to obesity and diabetes.

I am glad you are researching what a species-appropriate diet for your kitties really means. We all want our cats to lead long healthy and happy lives, and good nutrition is such a big part of that.

Thanks for the answers

I have to say that my cats drink a lot more than I thought they would. In combination with the dry food and once a day wet food, I would say they get enough water. They pee a lot xP

The wet food being better for the cats as new information is something I just learned a few days ago. Maybe that's why many catowners I know, who had cats for more than 30 years, told me kibbles was all the cats needed and just sometimes some wet food as special. As my cats both had giardia, and had some trouble eating when they were younger, I decided to give them 1 wetfood a day (both get around 40gr wet food, and kibbles however much they want). 

If I were to give them wet food as their basic food, how much should I give them? I can't leave wet food out like how I can leave kibbles out, and on the little cans it doesn't say how much I should give per cat. Specially as I feed them different brands as my little kitten is very picky, and my older one is used to a specific brand that she absolutely loves.

Another question, You have food with gravy (wet food) but also cans with pate or food in jelly. Is this all considered wet food?

Thanks again! I really do want what is best for my 2 sweet little babies =^^=

Hi, it's wonderful that you are concerned about the foods your cats should eat! No one is saying that a cat can't live a long life on dry food, and no one would recommend you go against the advise of your vet. You need to come to this decision on your own, with the blessing of your vet. I can't imagine he would say no to wet food.

Dry food meets AAFCO standards, but the question is how speices appropriate it is for a cat. As mentioned above, dry food is a high carb food. Cats don't have the enzymes to derive nutrtional benefit from those carbs, so the food is not as bioavailable to the cat as a high meat food would be. I'm sure someone will come along and explain this far better than me.

As to choosing the best food for your cats, I would suggest reading the catinfo.org site mentioned above. She discusses the recommended ratios of meat, fat, and carbs, and provides an extensive canned food summary detailing those ratios for most foods available. For a detailed guide to nutrition for your cats, you could also look at http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.htm.

I used to feed my older cats dry until one developed cystitis. We switched to wet, but it still included a higher carb count and lots of fish. Finding that that still presented problems for him, I've now gone to homemade raw, home cooked, and a little canned. Basically no carbs and a quality meat and fat. My youngest cat, now 15 months has been eating this food her whole life. She has always been on set meal times, going from 5-6 times a day to now 3 times a day. When she was very young, if I were away from home for more than a few hours, I would keep her separate from the other cats and leave a little canned food out for her. It won't spoil that quickly. Otherwise it was a few ounces each meal.

As to the pate vs jelly type foods, you have to look at the carb content of the food. Once I got serious about looking at the actual content of the cans I fed, I was amazed how high the carb content was in that delicious gravy. There are good foods out there. This forum also has a food review section and if you search for different food recommendations, there's been lots of threads that discuss various canned foods. Obviously your cat needs to like the food, but patients usually prevails to direct your kitty to good food (without all the tasty fat digest to trap them) if you perservere.

Good luck in your search. Enjoy your kitties!