Feeding the baby

How much? How often?

Currently, I feed her (13 weeks) a couple of tablespoons of wet food, 4x a day, dry food, which she really doesn't eat?(should I be worried she doesn't eat dry food?) thanks!

Hey rileyslife, 

I would not be too worried about your feline baby not eating dry food. I, as well as many others on here, do not believe cats should be fed dry food or if they are, it should be kept to a minimum. Honestly, dry foods, even the supposed high quality dry foods, are chalk full of carbohydrates. Cats are not biologically deigned to properly digest and utilize the nutrients in carbohydrates. Thus, as a result, many cats become overweight or even morbidly obese on dry food because the carbohydrates in the food are turned into fat. 

Also, dry food is well dry. Cats, having descended from wild African cats (i.e. creatures that live in the desert), do not have a high thirst drive and consequently, a lot of cats do not drink a lot of water. When a cat is on dry - even only half dry - the dry food contributes to dehydration. Because a lot of cats do not drink water to begin with, they have no way of replenishing the moisture that dry food deprives them of in the long run.

Constant low grade dehydration can and all too frequently does lead to kidney damage and sometimes ultimately kidney failure. Thus, I would tell you not to worry about your girl not eating dry food. Yes, you can continue to feed her dry food if you choose to (if she even wants to eat it), but never ever make it the staple of her diet.

I hope this helped.  

Yes! It did. Is there a brand that is better? Currently I have her on advantage...I want the best. This looks good, just chunks of chicken and what looks like smooshed veggies.

I should add, I got the hint that she didn't like the dry food because when I'd walk into the kitchen, the bowl was knocked over. I picked it up, went in again, yep, knocked over again! Lol

LOL! You're a good cat mama. Some cat parents don't get the message. Your kitten is great because she seems to instinctively know that dry food is not good for her. It's like she is saying, "Mom, what is this junk?".

Is Advantage made by Hill's or Purina? When I try to look it up all I find are links to the Hill's site and Purina site. In general, I do stay away from those brands for several reasons. My favorite easy to find pet store food is Nutro Natural Choice varieties. My cat is a pate fiend so I give her the pate varieties, but if your cat prefers chunks and slices, Nutro Natural Choice has those textures, too.

I like the Nutro Natural Choice because there are no veggies, carbs etc. Additionally, Nutro Natural choice has a few selections that are carrageenan free. Carrageenan free is preferable as there is way too much uncertainty about what it does to cats. It is thought to be cancer-causing. The down side is that they only have one specific kitten formula: soft loaf chicken recipe for kittens. Other than that, in all honesty there is no real difference between the adult formulas and the single kitten formula, so I would say it would be all right to go ahead and feed her the adult Turkey and Chicken varieties of the texture of her choosing.

They do have a Duck variety of the soft loaf, but it unfortunately contains carrageenan. 

As a result, I have to stick to Wild Calling 5.5 ounce cans to provide my girl with some variety in her diet at a decent price.

Thehistorian said:

 
They do have a Duck variety of the soft loaf, but it unfortunately contains carrageenan. 

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Our cats love the duck soft loaf but I only give it to them very occasionally, as a treat, because of the carrageenan! I couldn't believe it when a Nutro rep who was at a recent event at a pet food store a couple weeks ago didn't know about carrageenan.

LisaHE said:

 
Our cats love the duck soft loaf but I only give it to them very occasionally, as a treat, because of the carrageenan! I couldn't believe it when a Nutro rep who was at a recent event at a pet food store a couple weeks ago didn't know about carrageenan.

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Hopefully that rep will pass the word onto the higher powers at Nutro and we will get a carrageenan free Duck from Nutro! One can hope.

Thehistorian said:

 
Hopefully that rep will pass the word onto the higher powers at Nutro and we will get a carrageenan free Duck from Nutro! One can hope.

Click to expand...

He (and his colleague) looked at me like I was a complete freak!

You have a fast growing fur baby and should feed her as much as she wants 3-4 times a day.

I was in the same boat as you last fall when I rescued an abandoned feral kitten. I was clueless about what to feed too. Since then, I have decided that the very best gift I can give my baby is to educate myself on feline nutrition. This forum has taught me so much as well as http://www.catinfo.org/#top.

Learn all you can about your obligate (strict) carnivore and species appropriate food. Then you can laugh (or get angry) at the cat food commercials on TV. Once you educate yourself, there's a very good chance that you'll know more than your vet about what to feed a healthy cat. My daughter is in her last year of vet school and I have been shocked at how little they are taught about feeding cats and how much influence the pet food industry has within vet schools.

As for specific commercial foods, I use these two lists as a starting point (since they aren't always current) and then read ingredient labels:
http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2010/12/the-7-best-natural-commercial-cat-foods-so-far/
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPublic9-22-12.pdf

I have tried many brands and varieties, and have found about 8 canned, frozen raw and freeze dried raw brands that my boys like. The perfect food for your fur baby is a "mouse or bird in a can" but no company has ever been brave enough to sell that! (However, I do buy frozen mice at pet stores, thaw, and enjoy the entertainment of watching the primal instincts of my little hunter take over! He plays and then eats everything; no blood, nothing leftover.)

Try to find at least 4-6 foods from 4 different companies that she likes. You don't want to risk being dependent on a particular food and then the company discontinues, changes the ingredients/taste, has a recall or adds a bad ingredient you don't like.

Scourge the lists above for high protein and low carb foods to try. None are perfect (which is another good reason to rotate). Also, you have to make your own decision about feeding fish. I don't except sardines occasionally as a treat and raw after my husband's fishing trips. You also have to decide which questionable ingredients you don't want to feed (large fish, grains, vegetables, menadione sodium bisulfate, guar gum, carrageenan, high ash percentage, meat by-products, and the list goes on).

I feed a variety ranging from commercial frozen & freeze dried raw and Tiki Cat chicken on high end to Fancy Feast Classics (pate) and Petco's Soulistic Good Karma or Harvest Sunrise (shredded chicken) on the cheaper end. From what I have seen, kittens who are fed a wide variety of foods don't become such picky eaters.

If I remember correctly, treats and people food should be no more than 15% of her weekly food intake since it's not balanced (meaning she's not getting enough of needed vitamins and minerals). However, we all love to give treats! Personally, the biggest failing of most canned foods is insufficient protein and instead filled with cheap carbs. When I see chicken breasts (natural, with no added ingredients) on sale, I buy a pack. Depending on my available time, I will either cut it up raw or bake and save the liquid. After it's finely chopped, I add the meat and liquid to ice cube trays. I put the frozen cubes into a freezer bag. Then, several nights per week, I have a defrosted cube in the fridge (or zap a frozen cube for 15-20 seconds in the microwave). He devours his treat and I feel better knowing my growing kitten is getting additional protein.

Learn, learn, learn and you and your baby will be rewarded with many more happy and healthy years together!

Thank you for all the information. Yes, Advantage is Hills. I don't know a lot about it, I bought it at the vets