Good quality kitten pate's?

Hi there!

I'm new to the site, and to cats! My boyfriend and I are adopting two boy kittens in about 2 weeks, they're coming from a very happy cat oriented house, and seem to be happily learning and weaning when we've seen them.

I've been researching and reading a lot here about the best food for my kittens, though a lot of the brand you all mention don't seem available here (London, England and some I've seen you've not mentioned.

I've bought two different wet food to try them on, Forthglade kitten chicken and duck, which seems really high quality (80% meat) and Lily's Kitchen organic dinner (65% of various meats) as well as some dry food as I will be feeding mixed. But I've noticed some people talking about how their cat only like chunky, or only likes pate. I think the ones I've got are chunky (I haven't opened them!) and I'm wondering if I should maybe get them some pate's to try, especially while they're little? But the pate's I've seen don't seem great quality. Can anyone recommend any good quality kitten pate's I might be able to get hold of here?

All advice appreciated! Expect to see me around

Harriet

Congrats on the kittens! They'll be so much fun but will also leave you wanting to pull out your hair at times...But at least kittens are adorable so you can't stay mad long.

While I don't know the cat food brands available to you (Could if these were pups! Lol!) I would suggest not limiting yourself to just "kitten" food. IMO, it's a huge gimmick, the whole "life stage" foods. My boy is about 4.5 months old (Had him since roughly 8-10 weeks) and the only reason he's ever had "kitten" foods are because I got too good of a deal to pass up....Which my 5 YEAR old also ate. Otherwise I feed a LOT of All Life Stage or Adult foods. Heck, both have even had SENIOR food because again, too good of a deal to pass up. Mice don't have labels on them that say "This mouse is only for kittens/adults/seniors". If it makes you feel better, then I'd suggest anything marketed towards All Life Stage. But feeding "adult" foods won't hurt them and would really broaden your choices.

I feed pate unless I accidentally grab the wrong can. Oliver, my oldest, is partial to pate. Anything chunked, sliced, ect tends to just have the gravy licked off and everything else left behind unless I squish it into a "pate" consistency with a fork. My kitten isn't nearly as picky though, he'll eat anything. Pate, chunks, slices, raw meats, cooked meats, dry food, ect ect. Left 3 steaks on the counter one night being an idiot and within a moment of just stepping outside for a quick smoke, came back in to less than half of a steak left. SMH! I'd suggest introducing anything and everything to them while they're young and willing to try new things. Oliver was fed dry food for 5 years until I adopted him with only the occasional small can of food as a "treat". I assume she fed pate because of his ways with anything covered in gravy. He now has no interest in trying new things to broaden his palate. Even switching to a canned food diet was a pain because he wanted the dry food he was used to! So again, I suggest buying several types, flavors and brands to rotate through!

Thanks! I thought the kitten specific food stuff was because they need more nutrients when they're growing? Good point about the mouse though!

There really isn't much difference in formulas. Higher calories and higher calcium in most cases but higher calories even for growing kittens isnt always a good option and adult formulas have plenty of calcium as is for healthy growth.  Heck, in large dogs people actually suggest not feeding ANY "puppy" formulas because too much calcium/phosphorous in the puppy formulas can lead to problems like Pano which is a very painful condition involving bone inflammation during their growth period. Adult foods feed these dogs the right amount and kitties are no different. (Actually, cats can get Panosteitis too though I don't think it's very common compared to dogs) I've fed dozens of kittens and puppies (As well as pregnant/lactating moms of both species) primarily "adult" or All Life Stage foods and yet to experience any issues with it. Even "ALS" is a gimmick IMO. A way to market what would otherwise be labeled "Adult" as something for all ages! But at least they're more honest about the fact age doesn't matter when feeding the food. Variety is the key more than any age target food. Feed a variety of foods and your cats will get everything they need through every stage of life.

Athemistia said:

Hi there!

I'm new to the site, and to cats! My boyfriend and I are adopting two boy kittens in about 2 weeks, they're coming from a very happy cat oriented house, and seem to be happily learning and weaning when we've seen them.

I've been researching and reading a lot here about the best food for my kittens, though a lot of the brand you all mention don't seem available here (London, England

and some I've seen you've not mentioned.

I've bought two different wet food to try them on, Forthglade kitten chicken and duck, which seems really high quality (80% meat) and Lily's Kitchen organic dinner (65% of various meats) as well as some dry food as I will be feeding mixed. But I've noticed some people talking about how their cat only like chunky, or only likes pate. I think the ones I've got are chunky (I haven't opened them!) and I'm wondering if I should maybe get them some pate's to try, especially while they're little? But the pate's I've seen don't seem great quality. Can anyone recommend any good quality kitten pate's I might be able to get hold of here?

All advice appreciated! Expect to see me around

Harriet

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Good luck on the new cats!

They're just like my boys (I adopted 2 boys from a house with 5 cats, but the owner sadly couldn't keep Boogie and Gandalf, so I took them). Don't open the cat food cans yet, they are vacuum sealed, so once they are opened you need to cover and refrigerate them, which makes it lose the juiciness. I would ask the original owner what food they ate, and feed them that for the first few weeks, then gradually introduce them to a new food that is better, like a healthier, cheaper, or more convenient food. 

Remember that wet food is healthier for cats than dry food in the long run. Also, wet foods are best with low grains/grain free, and make sure the first ingredient is a meat, and at least 2 of the first three ingredients are meats.

For your original question, Purina  (Friskies and Fancy Feast) makes some good Pates, if they're available in your area. They should say Pate on the label of the can if you can find the brand.

Do people feed their cats the same brand every day for every meal? If you combine different ones do you rotate each meal? Or per day or per week? I want my kittens to have a lot of variety but reading around it seems people have different patterns? Any advice?

With wet food, provided your kitties have no allergies or digestive issues, you can rotate foods however you want to.  It's a good idea to feed a variety of proteins.  Feeding the same protein for a very extended time increases the chances of a kitty developing an allergy to that protein.  It is a good idea to only feed fish occasionally.  Most kitties love it so occasionally as a treat is fine.

Dry food is different and isn't as good for kitties as the wet.  Dry food has to be changed very gradually by mixing increasing amounts of the new food.

It really depends on the cat and the food.

For wet, my cats readily eat Friskies and Fancy Feast, but when I got Wellness and some Petcetera brand, I had to mix it in for them to eat it. Depending on what brand I'm feeding or what recipe I'm feeding, I'll usually mix some foods together. We can't finish a full can of fish-based pate in our home in one day, and I feel better if they're not always eating a full meal of fish, so I usually mix that with a turkey or chicken-based food. My cat isn't a huge fan of the fish anyway, so there tends to be leftovers with her. I use a similar mix (same foods, different proportions) for as long as one can of food is open. I don't like to have more than two cans open at once.

I'm feeding two dry formulas of one brand right now, but am looking to introduce another of higher quality. As @Denice stated, these can't be changed cold turkey. Dry food has to be transitioned.

When I fed dry food, I mixed several brands. Mostly to prevent the cats from getting too attached to one brand in case I couldn't get that brand at some point, also to diversify their nutrient intake---not to put all my eggs in one basket, I guess you could say. But I have a lot of cats; it might be hard to buy multiple bags of food for mixing and use it all before it goes stale/rancid if you only have one or two cats. Maybe if you keep it in the freezer (provided you have the room).

For canned food, yeah, whatever I feel like feeding them that day. I have several different flavors of 3 different brands that I use on a regular basis, and a couple more brands that I buy occasionally.

Thanks

How long does a bag of dry food stay fresh for once opened? It doesn't seem very clear on the bag!

Athemistia said:

Thanks

How long does a bag of dry food stay fresh for once opened? It doesn't seem very clear on the bag!

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That's actually a good question.

For dry food, it will last for a looong time, based on my experiences. It may get a little weird if you don't close the bag right, kind of like chips going stale.

For canned food if you ever switch to it (which I recommend)

Canned cat food is vacuum sealed at first, so they never really expire. I tend to buy the smaller cans though, because you can use it all in one sitting.

However, once you open it you can cover in aluminum (tin) foil and put it in your fridge. It loses a lot of the juiciness, but stays fresh.

I've got wet food and will mostly be feeding that, but will have some dry as well. The food I've got is in little sealed trays instead of cans, so will probably cling film them in the fridge, but as will be feeding kittens little and often they won't have to stay open long! I'll have to clip up the dry food bags

I rotate my cats canned food daily. If I use a big can then they get the same food for both meals. Small cans they'll get 2 different flavors/brands, one in the morning and one at night. Right now I have a rotation of 14 different flavors between maybe 6-7 brands. I don't really feed kibble anymore but when I did I bought small bags and used different brands/flavors for each new bag. No mixing or transition, just cold turkey. Never had an issue doing this. In fact, I've been feeding wet exclusively with maybe a tablespoon of kibble per cat like once a week tops as a crunchy "treat". So they are no longer "used" to dry. That bag was Simply Nourish. I grabbed a 15lb bag of Canidae and have been feeding mostly dry with warm water added because I have a honeymoon coming up and needed something simple for the "doggy/kitty sitter" to feed. (And to cut food cost for the moment until everything is paid for) No issues. Canidae has a nifty velcro strip to keep it sealed which helps keep it fresh. Otherwise I use clips on other brands. (Some have convenient ziplocks on them!) They'll keep a good while as long as you keep the tops closed on the bag. You can also divided a bigger bag into zip locks or jars (I use old pickle jars) and use one bag or jar at a time so the entire stock isn't exposed to air every day, every time you feed them which also helps keep it fresh.

If you DO move it to different bags/containers, be sure to hold onto the empty bag until all the food is gone just in case there was a recall while feeding it so you can refer back to the expiration date and lot numbers. Recalls are another reason I recommend a large variety of food. If your cats are hooked on one brand/flavor and you try to introduce new foods later in life if the food was recalled or something, you'll likely have a much harder time getting them to eat what they aren't used to.

Thanx CHWx, that's good advice. Putting it in separate bags definitely a good idea. I'm in England and haven't seen a lot of the brands people here mention, but I've taken the general advice for reading the ingredients of what we have here. Would be interesting for someone to do a thread of what's available in some countries and not others. We seem to have some good wet food here I haven't heard Americans mention