Kitten Nutrition!

I live in Northern Alberta and do not have access to a lot of different things...what do I feed her? I'm horrified. I'm feeding her Hills. She prefers wet. I have given dry. The dry is royal...and now I'm freaking out! She's 14 weeks..and I'd like to figure this out before she's stubborn. I read that Drs article on nutrition, I'm not making catfood. Sorry. Can you give me the name of some good commercial brands of wet food? Help!

Have you seen the articles on Cat Nutrition and Feeding in the Cat Health Articles section? Choosing The Right Food for Your Cat is a good place to start.
Everybody has a different opinion on what the best brands are, and what they feed often depends on its availability in their location, but browsing this forum should give you some ideas. Canned Cat Food Recommended By TheCatSite.com Members and Choosing the Right Dry Cat Food might also be helpful.

Hi there rileyslife,

I liked jcat's recommended article, "choosing the right cat food for your cat" in part 2 best! What the rest of us here feeds may help you give ideas, but I think if you can afford to feed Hills wet, you can do much better in alternative brands. Brands I like include Nature's Variety Instinct, Tiki Cat in chicken flavors only, Merrick, Wellness grain-free. I've heard First Mate (made in Canada) is also a very good. Finding high quality foods were often found in my small, local, neighborhood pet store because big box pet stores were usually a bit more costly (believe it or not) or didn't have much good quality selection. Always remember to read label ingredients! This will help you determine the quality of the product you're actually buying, instead of falling for gimmicky stuff that reads, "indoor formula" or "senior formula", later on. Cats of all ages in the wild eat the same food--there are no special diets for a certain age! Kittens also eat the same food, just require more of it for growth!

If your kitten loves wet food, good for her! I say stick to it, and if you must feed dry, make sure it is kept at a minimum or you'll likely develop with a dry food addict later on. I loved Canadian brands like Orijen and Acana, but fed my two kittens only 1/8 cup per day (left out during the night) and fed multiple canned foods throughout the day. (Buy largest can for cost savings!) One thing when feeding is the importance of keeping things in rotation. Feed your kitty a variety of wet food, from different brands, protein sources, and textures. Exposing her to a wide variety will keep her interested in her food and minimize finickiness, allergy potential, and boredom. Giving her different brands can also help you if one brand changes their recipe in the future and your cat no longer likes the new flavor. Other reason is if one company ever goes out of business, you aren't doomed if your kitty is dependent on that particular brand. There's often lots of recalls too, so better to start her early on the healthier choices that are out there! 

Thank you so much! Such great advice and a great place to start. We don't have any specialty stores where I live. I'll drive into the city, where I'm sure the variety is better. She doesn't like dry food. She eats very little and this morning, I took it away. I love the idea of rotating. They are so sneaky with ingredients, my daughter has allergies and I feel like it's that all over again! Ova-5 is egg...why can't they just say egg? It's getting better for humans, I wish they'd just say the same for animals...like if you're putting chicken brains in there, that's fine. Just tell me so I have all the straightforward information to be able to make an educated choice. Stupid question, when she doesn't eat all of it, I refrigerate, should I heat it up?

I'd offer her a small portion, maybe about 1.5 - 2 oz first, to see how much your kitty eats fresh from a can. If she's hungry, you can offer her a bit more. After a while, you'll know how much to offer routinely. If there's left overs, a good idea would be is to put the remainder in a glass dish (like pyrex) with the plastic lid and refrigerate til the next mealtime. This prevents any metallic taste some cats are sensitive to. You don't have to, if she's ok eating leftovers from the can, of course. Pet stores often sell plastic lids for the tin, so you can buy that or just use a plastic wrap with a rubber band to keep it in place. For the next feeding, I always add about a tablespoon of hot water to the left overs to take the chill off. Stir it up, and serve in a ceramic, glass, or stainless steel dish. (I avoid plastic bowls because it tends to cause cat acne on their chin). Some folks take it out of the fridge for about 15 minutes and add warm water. Warming it up encourages cats to eat because they'll surely smell the aroma, but the added benefit is that your kitty is getting supplemental moisture from the added water. 

Thank you! Great tip using warm water. I use glass ramekins for her food

Hi EmandJee

I found Instinct today. Wet & Dry. She's not super keen on the wet, but, I added some of her other stuff and she ate it all. The dry stuff has freeze dried raw, and is grain, soy, corn and something else free. I can't thank you enough. I suspect she was the runt of her litter and in the month we have had her, she has made great gains.

I use a LOT of Instinct in my own rotation. (Along with several other brands) I buy the 13oz cans of DOG food to get the best bang for my buck. It's the exact same formula as the cat food, just in a bigger (and cheaper per ounce) can. Figured it'd be a helpful hint if you continue feeding it.

Don't know how remote you are, but pet grooming parlors with boutiques will often carry higher end cat food. You can also order single cans from the places in my signature to see if she likes certain brands before investing in a whole case. Expose her to a lot of different food while she's young. You can also feed her snacks like egg, unseasoned scrap table meats, or sardines (feed fish infrequently, though) so she won't be picky in the future.

I'm not remote. I'm in a bedroom community of a larger community but we definitely don't get access to the same stuff that people further south seem to get

Totally great piece of advice...thanks