New Kitten Owner - General Nutrition Inquiries

dylo

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I'll start by giving a little background. I am a 20 year old college student living off campus with 4 other guys in a house. Recently we took in a feral cat which the vet had told us was about 4, maybe 5 weeks of age at the time. None of us have ever raised a kitten before, though several of us have had a cat when we were younger. It is exactly one month later and while the kitten is doing great. If I had to guess she is just under two pounds, though I have no sure way of measuring. She is playful and full of energy, though I had some inquiries about her eating habits and the types of food we are feeding her.

We have switched wet food a couple times, but currently we have her on a diet of Newman's Own Organics for Cats. We feed her two different types, Chicken and Salmon Formula and Turkey Formula. Every night around 4:00 to 5:00 PM we will put out a full, 3oz, can of the food for her, which she will eat over the corse of an hour or two.

In addition to the wet food, we also leave out dry food 24/7 for her. Currently we are feeding her Simply Nourish Kitten Food, Chicken and Rice Recipe, which she nipples on throughout the corse of the day.

Like I mentioned, we are in college and cannot afford to have a raw diet, or purchase too expensive of foods. Currently what we have is pushing the budget as is, though is manageable. I was wondering if these were considered 'good' for our baby, or if they weren't the healthiest of options. Also I was wondering how we are doing on her current meal plan, or if we should be feeding her in different time settings or different amounts.

Lastly how long do I keep her on this meal plan, and when would I switch her to a set amount of food per day?

Thanks in advanced for all your help and taking the time to answer my questions.
 

denice

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I don't know how much the Newman's Own food  costs but I know their human foods are a little pricey.  I know the organic sounds good but I think there are other foods that are probably cheaper that are just as good or better.  For cheaper foods the Friskies Pates aren't bad and the Petsmart and Petco brands aren't bad either.  I think the Petsmart brand is called Authority and Petco is called Soulistic.  You can often find Friskies 6 ounce cans for 45 to 50 cents a can, the Authority and Soulistic is more but still reasonably priced.  It would be good to give her 3 ounces at 3 meals a day along with leaving a little kibble out for her to nibble on.   Of course grain free is the best but it is also the most expensive.  A lot of the cheaper foods that are grain free have a lot of other fillers in them so for them it's just an advertising gimmick.  

You could probably continue to feed her this way until she is about 8 or 9 months old.  Cats grow at different rates so that isn't a hard and fast rule. 
 

pinkman

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Newman's is kinda expensive for what it is. Organic or not, if I remember correctly there's a bunch of grains for some of their foods. They do offer some grain-free foods but they probably cost a bit more.

She's a growing kitten so she's going to be eating a lot.. There are some Friskies pate cans that come in the 13 ounce cans. Supplementing dry is alright, but I wouldn't leave it out 24/7 once she hits around 8 months or so. Overall the cheapest wet food is better than dry, IMO. 

Personally what I would do is look into online retailers - a lot of wet foods are cheaper online, even the more expensive stuff. Do know that the more "expensive" brands tend to be more calorie dense - use this to your advantage. Evo is a brand that comes to mind - it comes in larger cans, pretty calorie dense, and is grain-free. It's also all-life stages - perfect for a growing kitten.

Then again, it's always good to give some variety. A trick I have used for my kitten is to give a raw egg yolk every week split into a few meals. Egg yolks help with hairballs/shedding, they are very nutritious with healthy fats. Complete raw may be more expensive than say, the cheapest canned food out there but supplementing a tiny bit with raw using a egg yolk or snacks of raw chicken can be pretty cheap - especially if you are cooking already. This way you can add a little variety, and also get some benefits from feeding raw. 

I used to be a full-time college student - in the beginning I was feeding Trader Joe's canned cat food which was 69? cents per 5.5 ounce cans, and was feeding Wellness Turkey wet food (13 ounce cans, 12 pack, 37.99), with cat litter (40 pounds, 14.99) I qualified for free shipping for most online retail stores. Now I feed 90% raw, but still occasionally feed canned. 
 
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dylo

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I don't know how much the Newman's Own food  costs but I know their human foods are a little pricey.  I know the organic sounds good but I think there are other foods that are probably cheaper that are just as good or better.  For cheaper foods the Friskies Pates aren't bad and the Petsmart and Petco brands aren't bad either.  I think the Petsmart brand is called Authority and Petco is called Soulistic.  You can often find Friskies 6 ounce cans for 45 to 50 cents a can, the Authority and Soulistic is more but still reasonably priced.  It would be good to give her 3 ounces at 3 meals a day along with leaving a little kibble out for her to nibble on.   Of course grain free is the best but it is also the most expensive.  A lot of the cheaper foods that are grain free have a lot of other fillers in them so for them it's just an advertising gimmick.  

You could probably continue to feed her this way until she is about 8 or 9 months old.  Cats grow at different rates so that isn't a hard and fast rule. 
Denice, you are saying I should be feeding my kitten a total of 9 oz a day, or just 3 oz spread across 3 meals (for a total of one ounce each meal?).
 
Newman's is kinda expensive for what it is. Organic or not, if I remember correctly there's a bunch of grains for some of their foods. They do offer some grain-free foods but they probably cost a bit more.

She's a growing kitten so she's going to be eating a lot.. There are some Friskies pate cans that come in the 13 ounce cans. Supplementing dry is alright, but I wouldn't leave it out 24/7 once she hits around 8 months or so. Overall the cheapest wet food is better than dry, IMO. 

Personally what I would do is look into online retailers - a lot of wet foods are cheaper online, even the more expensive stuff. Do know that the more "expensive" brands tend to be more calorie dense - use this to your advantage. Evo is a brand that comes to mind - it comes in larger cans, pretty calorie dense, and is grain-free. It's also all-life stages - perfect for a growing kitten.

Then again, it's always good to give some variety. A trick I have used for my kitten is to give a raw egg yolk every week split into a few meals. Egg yolks help with hairballs/shedding, they are very nutritious with healthy fats. Complete raw may be more expensive than say, the cheapest canned food out there but supplementing a tiny bit with raw using a egg yolk or snacks of raw chicken can be pretty cheap - especially if you are cooking already. This way you can add a little variety, and also get some benefits from feeding raw. 

I used to be a full-time college student - in the beginning I was feeding Trader Joe's canned cat food which was 69? cents per 5.5 ounce cans, and was feeding Wellness Turkey wet food (13 ounce cans, 12 pack, 37.99), with cat litter (40 pounds, 14.99) I qualified for free shipping for most online retail stores. Now I feed 90% raw, but still occasionally feed canned. 
Lastly pinkman, I greatly appreciate the advice on the raw food. I try to cook quite often, so adding in occasional bits of chicken isn't a total pain. Though is there anything else you recommend I add besides chicken and egg? For instance I work with tilapia a lot, as well as a lot of red meats. Not really many other fish and birds though. Also for the egg yolk, would you just add a little bit in with their wet food, or mix it in, or give it separately all together?
 

pinkman

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Friskies Poultry Platter, Mixed Grill, and a couple others I can't remember seem to be favorites of this board. 

With supplemental raw - you can do raw red meats, although some kitties do not tolerate it well. You'll never know till you try though. With the egg yolks, I'd mix a tiny bit of it in her wet food at a time, gradually. Raw fish is actually not recommended, as an enzyme? in raw fish can destroy thiamine. You can look into no-salt, packed-in-water sardines for her though - as they are a good supplement of Omega-3's and can be fed whole. Many raw feeders do supplement their diet with packed sardines. 

Of course, all of this is for supplementing - it doesn't substitute a balanced diet. 

For a kitten her age she should be getting multiple meals - three minimal, more the better. If you're feeding her something all-stages she will probably eat more of it than say, kitten food because kitten food is usually heavier on the calories. She should be eating as much as she wants. When my kitten was around 12 weeks old he was eating up to 10 ounces a day (only raw, no dry). 
 

denice

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I would feed her a total of 9 ounces a day.  Kittens actually eat more than adult cats, an adult normally does well on 6 ounces a day without any kibble.  I think it's good to feed a cat mostly wet food.  There are a lot of us here, myself included, who have cats that are kibble addicts and it can be very difficult to break that.  I have gotten my cats to about half wet and half kibble and pretty much given up the battle.   Wet food is better for them because of the extra moisture and fewer carbs.  The Friskies and the Newmans look very similar.  The Newman's doesn't have the meat by-products in it which is a plus.
 

vball91

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For general feline nutrition info, this site written by a vet is awesome. http://www.catinfo.org/  You are looking for high animal protein/moderate fat/ low to no carbs when it comes to cat foods. This chart http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf  compares most of the commonly available wet food in the US. Cats being obligate carnivores have no nutritional need for grains, vegetables or fruits.

So yes, there are many Friskies varieties that have better nutritional profiles than Newman's Own. Plus you get 5.5oz rather than 3oz for less money.
 You are looking for the pates only, keeping fish flavors to once a week. The Fancy Feast classic pates are another good budget choice.
 

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Like I mentioned, we are in college and cannot afford to have a raw diet...
Just wanted to comment on this. I am in college and I feed raw. My raw diet cost less than half of what a good commercial food does (still a little more expensive than the grocery cheap-o ones, but given the nutrition value of raw, it's a great trade-off!). The commercial ones were getting too expensive for me to feed, despite having one cat.

That said, wet food is good. Since it's a kitten, you should let her eat as much as she wants. I think about 9 oz is a good starting point.
 

laralove

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I have these two Fancy Feast Classics on subscription through Amazon: Tender Beef and Chicken  and the variety pack of Beef, Chicken, and Turkey & Giblets. They're among the cheapest, and by setting them up for monthly delivery, I get a 5% discount (15% on months when three other subscriptions ship), and I have Student Prime, so shipping is free. So that averages out to about 55 cents per can, about a nickle cheaper per can than I get at the grocery store. And I can swap the subscription for some of the other low priced-Classic options, if I want. 

I'm also a college student and I've got two kids, so I feel your budget pain.
 
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dylo

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I just wanted to thank everyone and let you all know how much I appreciate your help and support. I went ahead and ordered the fancy feasts, and have also started to feed our kitten a supplemented raw diet including raw egg yolk daily, as well as what ever meat I am cooking that night.Last night she had turkey and tonight is chicken. :)

In addition to the raw food, she is getting almost double the amount of wet food a day, though not quite 9oz, she doesn’t eat it all. I’m still currently leaving the dry food down until she matures. In the past couple days alone she seems a lot happier and has so much more energy.

I am truly grateful for everyones help again.
 

gothickitten

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We feed all of our kittens mostly dry food, Purina Kitten Chow, and they do just fine on that. When we do give them wet food it is the Walmart brand pate food. Can't remember what it costs though. Our adult cats eat strictly dry food unless they have to be given medicine then the only way we can get them to take it is by mixing it into wet food.
 

denice

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I just wanted to thank everyone and let you all know how much I appreciate your help and support. I went ahead and ordered the fancy feasts, and have also started to feed our kitten a supplemented raw diet including raw egg yolk daily, as well as what ever meat I am cooking that night.Last night she had turkey and tonight is chicken. :)

In addition to the raw food, she is getting almost double the amount of wet food a day, though not quite 9oz, she doesn’t eat it all. I’m still currently leaving the dry food down until she matures. In the past couple days alone she seems a lot happier and has so much more energy.

I am truly grateful for everyones help again.
I am also glad to hear she is doing so well.  I'm thinking probably the extra energy that she has shown so quickly is from getting fully hydrated.  I know when an ill cat is given sub-q fluids they feel much better very quickly.  Being fully hydrated is much healthier for her, especially her urinary system.
 
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