New Kitten Won't Eat Old Food

murphy9

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I just brought home my 8 wk old kitten on Thursday night. He was on Purina Kitten and Meow Mix Savory Morsels wet food. I'm trying to switch to Wellness Core and Soulistic chicken.

He did not eat the first night, but had nursed and had hard food at his foster home.
The next morning he ate all his wet with a dab of the new Soulistic, then ate all the wet again with some of the dry food it'd softened with water. He didn't eat much for dinner.
This morning, he still won't eat dry and picked out all the Soulistic chicken pieces to eat. Won't touch the Meow Mix chicken.

He has had a solid poop, one diarrhea, then a soft but not liquid poop yesterday. Drinking lots of water. I think the diarrhea was from stress, but I don't want to upset his tummy. I've been trying to slowly convert. Yesterday was just a little new food. Today is 80% old, 20% new. Tomorrow 60/40.
But now he isn't eating his old food. I only got him to eat solid by wetting it and covering under wet food. Since he's picking out the Soulstic, he can't get to the dry underneath.

Should I switch to Soulistic more quickly? I don't want him to starve from being picky. Also, don't want to upset his stomach.
I need some advice on that and also tips for getting him to eat dry would be appreciated.

Edit: It's Soulistic Good Karma (in gravy) right now. So both wet foods are real chicken pieces. He just picks the Soulistic shreds out. I tested by putting one more Soulistic piece in with the Meow Mix, and he still picked it to eat.
 
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bonepicker

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Murphy9 said:
I just brought home my 8 wk old kitten on Thursday night. He was on Purina Kitten and Meow Mix Savory Morsels wet food. I'm trying to switch to Wellness Core and Soulistic chicken.

He did not eat the first night, but had nursed and had hard food at his foster home.
The next morning he ate all his wet with a dab of the new Soulistic, then ate all the wet again with some of the dry food it'd softened with water. He didn't eat much for dinner.
This morning, he still won't eat dry and picked out all the Soulistic chicken pieces to eat. Won't touch the Meow Mix chicken.

He has had a solid poop, one diarrhea, then a soft but not liquid poop yesterday. Drinking lots of water. I think the diarrhea was from stress, but I don't want to upset his tummy. I've been trying to slowly convert. Yesterday was just a little new food. Today is 80% old, 20% new. Tomorrow 60/40.
But now he isn't eating his old food. I only got him to eat solid by wetting it and covering under wet food. Since he's picking out the Soulstic, he can't get to the dry underneath.

Should I switch to Soulistic more quickly? I don't want him to starve from being picky. Also, don't want to upset his stomach.
I need some advice on that and also tips for getting him to eat dry would be appreciated.

Edit: It's Soulistic Good Karma (in gravy) right now. So both wet foods are real chicken pieces. He just picks the Soulistic shreds out. I tested by putting one more Soulistic piece in with the Meow Mix, and he still picked it to eat.
Click to expand...
If someone gave me soulistic I would not eat the other stuff either. Stick with good wet food like soulistic
 
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murphy9

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bonepicker bonepicker - Will he get on upset stomach from eating all Soulstic + dry?
His previous diet was Purina Kittten, occasional Meow Mix wet, and milk from nursing.
 
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I guess what really caught my attention is the fact that you mentioned he had "nursed" at his foster home.  I'm thinking that he's not been completely weaned yet and that may be why you're having eating problems with him.  It's been so long since I've had a kitten that I'm not quite sure what you should do.  Maybe someone else with experience can help you out with this.
 
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murphy9

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keyes said:
I guess what really caught my attention is the fact that you mentioned he had "nursed" at his foster home.  I'm thinking that he's not been completely weaned yet and that may be why you're having eating problems with him.  It's been so long since I've had a kitten that I'm not quite sure what you should do.  Maybe someone else with experience can help you out with this.
Click to expand...
I was worried too. I was happy when he ate all his wet food the next morning.
I'd been thinking of giving him kitten milk formula if he refused to eat.
Just not sure if I should go buy formula or switch to more Soulistic.
 
bonepicker

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Murphy9 said:
bonepicker bonepicker - Will he get on upset stomach from eating all Soulstic + dry?
His previous diet was Purina Kittten, occasional Meow Mix wet, and milk from nursing.
Click to expand...
Meow mix vs soulistic is the low grade to high grade, I would go for 80 percent wet grain free good canned and grain free good quality dry. Purina and meow mix are pretty low on the good quality scale!
 
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murphy9

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Starting to think I might need to mix his dry food with kitten milk replacer and have Soulistic on the side.

Anyone have experience with KMR 2nd Step Kitten Weaning Food? Or just stick with their regular formula?



bonepicker said:
Meow mix vs soulistic is the low grade to high grade, I would go for 80 percent wet grain free good canned and grain free good quality dry. Purina and meow mix are pretty low on the good quality scale!
Click to expand...
That's why I'm switching, but didn't want to do it too quickly. :)
 
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murphy9

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Went to the store and bought PetLac - they didn't carry KMC powder. I mixed the formula in with the dry food. He didn't seem interested. I poured some of the "gravy" and a small piece of chicken on it. He ate almost all of it. He sniffed and pawed the side where I put wet food, so I gave him some Soulistic.

It's the most he's eaten here, and he had a decent poop! Hoping he keeps it up :)
 
lokhismom

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Keep in mind that Soulistic is a low calorie food so you'd have to feed him more of it than you would some other wet foods.   

btw, if he likes Soulistic there's also Weruva which is made by the same company.
 
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murphy9

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Lokhismom said:
Keep in mind that Soulistic is a low calorie food so you'd have to feed him more of it than you would some other wet foods.   

btw, if he likes Soulistic there's also Weruva which is made by the same company.
Click to expand...
The dry food he'll be switched to is Wellness CORE Kitten. I've been doing 1/4 cup dry and trying to get to 3 oz of wet. Would he be better off eating a full 5.5 oz can per day, or stay with 3 oz?
Good Karma is 68 cal/3 oz can and Harvest Sunrise is 64.
 
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With the kitten only being 8 wks old, he should be fed as much as he'll eat. He certainly needs more than 1/4 c dry and one meal of wet.

If you want to do set meal times, he'll need about 5 meals daily (feed him as much as he'll eat) until he reaches about 12 weeks, then you can drop down to 4, then 3....I'm of the mindset that *most* adult cats do well with 3 daily meals (before work, after work and bedtime.)

If you are gone for most of the day, you can look into timed feeders or feed schedule wet meals and free-feed dry food during the day. You can wean him off this as he gets older.
 
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murphy9

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CatPack said:
With the kitten only being 8 wks old, he should be fed as much as he'll eat. He certainly needs more than 1/4 c dry and one meal of wet.

If you want to do set meal times, he'll need about 5 meals daily (feed him as much as he'll eat) until he reaches about 12 weeks, then you can drop down to 4, then 3....I'm of the mindset that *most* adult cats do well with 3 daily meals (before work, after work and bedtime.)

If you are gone for most of the day, you can look into timed feeders or feed schedule wet meals and free-feed dry food during the day. You can wean him off this as he gets older.
Click to expand...
I've been feeding every 8 hrs. 1/4 cup dry divided per feeding. Then start with a scoop of wet and add more if he finishes.
He doesn't finish the dry, even when mixed with formula today.
I've been holding off on a lot of Soulistic and mixing it with the fosters' wet food. But his last poop was normal, (he had some liquid poop last night) so I'll be feeding Soulistic normally.
The Wellness CORE bag reccomended 1/4 cup if fed with 3 oz of wet.
I tried free-feeing the dry, but he doesn't want it unless it's softened.
 
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catpack

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You might want to consider a different dry food. The kibble size for Wellness CORE is quite large when compared to the kitten's size. It's also possible that he just doesn't like the CORE.

I know several people that use Royal Canin Baby Cat. I use to, but didn't like the ingredients, so now I use the Pride line by Instinct (Nature's Variety.) I haven't found a store that carries it, so I order off Chewy.com.
 
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murphy9

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CatPack said:
You might want to consider a different dry food. The kibble size for Wellness CORE is quite large when compared to the kitten's size. It's also possible that he just doesn't like the CORE.

I know several people that use Royal Canin Baby Cat. I use to, but didn't like the ingredients, so now I use the Pride line by Instinct (Nature's Variety.) I haven't found a store that carries it, so I order off Chewy.com.
Click to expand...
I believe the Wellness CORE Kitten has smaller kibble. He eats them softened.
 
Kat0121

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CatPack said:
You might want to consider a different dry food. The kibble size for Wellness CORE is quite large when compared to the kitten's size. It's also possible that he just doesn't like the CORE.

I know several people that use Royal Canin Baby Cat. I use to, but didn't like the ingredients, so now I use the Pride line by Instinct (Nature's Variety.) I haven't found a store that carries it, so I order off Chewy.com.
Click to expand...
Petco and Petsmart both carry Pride by Instinct. Amazon also carries it and it can be added to a subscribe and save order. I get the lucky's lamb that way. 
 
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I should have specified. I'm talking about the dry food line of Pride. The kibble is very small (very similar to RC Baby Cat...but the kibble is softer.)
 
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murphy9

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He ate his dinner like I said, then another meal before bed. All of the wet and most of the dry mixed in Petlac.
I've tried feeding him today, and he won't eat. He'll sniff it, then dig at the ground like he does when he's finished eating (to "bury" it.)
He ate the most he has last night and has pooped a multiple times since. Mostly loose or soft (but not liquid) poops.
He's very playful when he's awake, not lethargic at all. He sleeps a lot, but I know kittens can sleep up to 20 hrs.
As a note, this is only his 4th day here. He came from his mom and litter, at this foster home, Thursday night.
 
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murphy9

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Update: I warmed up some Soulistic Harvest Sunrise in the microwave. He lapped up the juice, then ate pumpkin pieces, and most of the chicken!
I'm thinking he wanted warm food, since he's used to nursing along with food. He keeps going to the water heater along the wall and putting his paws on the guard (not too hot, I checked.)
I'll try again with the food. Anyone opposed to microwaving the Soulistic? I might try warming it in a water bath and see if he likes that too.
 
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There's nothing wrong with nuking the cat food as long as you make sure that it's warm and not hot.  Warming up the food releases more of the scent of the food and cats depend a lot on their sense of smell for eating.  I usually dump the can of cat food in the dish and then rinse out the can with warm water and mix it in the food in the dish.  This way, warm food and additional liquid which is a good thing.
 
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