Kitten in China. Difficulties finding good food

ok..I thought that might be the reason. The Vet actually looked quite horrified that I'd even consider spaying her at five months. I wonder if they use a really old-school method to spay her... He figured 8 months would be ideal but not sure if i can hold out that long with her going into heat. But I guess if it's risky here, it's better to wait.  Now I know why there are so many feral kittens running around everywhere!

I'm really paranoid now about her escaping from my apartment..She's already a crazy climber and almost got out onto the roof through small openings around my kitchen ceiling/tiles!! My apartment is made kind of cheaply and it would be SO easy for her to get out! Should I confine her to just one room?..( a litter of kittens in China would really be the worst)

melvaughn said:

 
ok..I thought that might be the reason. The Vet actually looked quite horrified that I'd even consider spaying her at five months. I wonder if they use a really old-school method to spay her... He figured 8 months would be ideal but not sure if i can hold out that long with her going into heat. But I guess if it's risky here, it's better to wait.  Now I know why there are so many feral kittens running around everywhere!

I'm really paranoid now about her escaping from my apartment..She's already a crazy climber and almost got out onto the roof through small openings around my kitchen ceiling/tiles!! My apartment is made kind of cheaply and it would be SO easy for her to get out! Should I confine her to just one room?..( a litter of kittens in China would really be the worst)

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then they would really trip out at some of the vets in the usa who spay/neuter at 2 pounds/2 months!

detmut said:

 
then they would really trip out at some of the vets in the usa who spay/neuter at 2 pounds/2 months!

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Well I'm being told that if the spaying is done too early it increases significantly the risk for complications (during the operation and after) but also apparently it is not always successful, i.e. a follow up operation is necessary to get the desired effect...whatever that means!

I actually heard a story of a dog getting only partially spayed and still having symptoms after so maybe not everything is removed the first time! Sounds awful either way!

since the amount of light influences the heats of a female cat, is it possible to minimize the heats by restricting the amount of light? a darker (and cooler) room. to mimic winter as much as possible. 

melvaughn said:

ok..I thought that might be the reason. The Vet actually looked quite horrified that I'd even consider spaying her at five months. I wonder if they use a really old-school method to spay her... He figured 8 months would be ideal but not sure if i can hold out that long with her going into heat. But I guess if it's risky here, it's better to wait.  Now I know why there are so many feral kittens running around everywhere!

I'm really paranoid now about her escaping from my apartment..She's already a crazy climber and almost got out onto the roof through small openings around my kitchen ceiling/tiles!! My apartment is made kind of cheaply and it would be SO easy for her to get out! Should I confine her to just one room?..( a litter of kittens in China would really be the worst)

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maybe confine her when you're not there. It's a shame you can't get a dog crate for her. Can you not stuff things into the places she could get out? Anything and everything to keep her safe. Does she have a name? She's very pretty. More pictures please.

melvaughn said:

Maybe this is a silly question and I'm imagining things but I noticed my kittens eyes are changing colors. They use to be a yellowish/green color and in the past few days, I noticed they are becoming more and more brown! Like a darkish brown. Is this normal? I thought 'brown' is not a color most cats have? And she still seems to be a bit 'scrawny' in the body as if she's just not gaining much weight!

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She is a beautiful tabby. I love tabbies.
I don't know about the eyes but is she cleaning her plate every meal time? How often do you feed her? Dry or wet food?
I'd like to hear the answers to my questions.

I think it is possible to get a dog crate and that's a great idea. I can also make the room cooler for her. I have taped the small openings around my kitchen ceiling...(at one point she was partially through the ceiling!! and I live on the 7th floor!)

I've talked on a expat forum in Shanghai and other people have experienced the same dilemma with vets refusing to spay smaller kittens that are in heat so I guess this is the standard here.

She rarely cleans her plate. She takes a few bites and is done. She will often come back to it though. I was giving her half a can (34 oz) of Wellness in the morning and half at night. Now I've switched to Mio9 (tuna based) temporarily which she loves, but still never finishes all of it at one time.

I leave dry out all the time (Royal canin kitten) and she picks at that throughout the day and night.

Her name's Gypsy. Here she is balanced on top fo the door frame. She loves to climb

She's gorgeous so sweet. I love theach second picture little flirt.
she's obviously got a small tummy. Does
She drink water? Lovely name.

I actually bought her a water fountain recently and have noticed she drinks more water from it. Ya she does have a stomach but tends to look smaller when standing and walking at certain angles. Her heat cycle is over so I noticed she is particularly quiet now. Should enjoy it while it lasts!!

So I'm noticing a discrepancy in ingredients in the bags of Royal Canin kitten food I've been feeding her. Usually the first ingredient is Chicken meal. At least the bag at the corner pet store has chicken meal listed. But I recently ordered a bag online from a Chinese ordering website at a discounted price and today I noticed the ingredient list is: Rice, Chicken meat Powder, Chicken meat and bone powder, duck meat powder, duck meat and bone powder, wheat gluten"...

Not sure why Rice is now suddenly the first ingredient unless I ordered some generic brand. Plus all the 'powders'?  I noticed the kibble feels different and she isn't eating as much of it... Either way, it doesn't sound like good ingredients yet this is the best I can find here..Royal Canin is considered top of the line here because it's imported and more expensive. I can order better brands online of course but for double/triple the price as back home which I can't afford...so Royal Canin is pretty much my only option right now. (for dry at least)
I even tried frying some slices of beef once (I don't buy meat at all so don't really know what to get) but she refused to eat it.

Royal Canin has 2 different kitten formulas in the USA. Mother & Babycat which has chicken by product meal, brewers rice, chicken fat, corn, wheat gluten, etc. and the Kitten formula which has brewers rice, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, wheat gluten, chicken fat, etc. 

yes, I've been using only the kitten formula, not the mother and baby cat. But I've noticed there are two different kinds of kitten forumula's here with different ingredients and the bag say's 'manufactured in China" on it. So maybe it's slightly different ingredients then...Either way, not very good ingredients!

Have you seen what the difference is besides the ingredients ie where was the first lot made, are the bags the same on the outside?

The bags are the same on the outside/ same name..etc. 

I'm noticing now that they are imported from Europe but say "Manufactored by Royal Canin China" on the side. The one with the "Chicken meal" listed as the first ingredient was from Germany and the one with Rice as the first ingredient and meat 'powders' is from France..so I guess the European brands are different from US. There's no corn listed at all...but rice is the first ingredient on the two current bags I have, so not that impressed.

I actually noticed some Chinese brand 'grain-free' dry kibble that lists mostly meat.."Nature's Bridge" and "Metz" by they are not designed for kittens, so maybe i should just stick to what I have.

Different countries have different labeling requirements. Meat "powders" might be the same thing as meat meals, just using different terminology. If you really want to know if it's the same, you could contact Royal Canin and see what they say.

I feel your pain with her being in heat. My first cat went into heat early and the waiting list was long so it took 3 months to get her in. She howled almost constantly the whole time. Hopefully Gypsy won't be that vocal!

I contacted Royal Canin and they said this: "The high quality ingredient availability can vary between countries. Because of this factor there is a difference of ingredients in the formula available in China and the formula available in the USA"

Then they gave a list of the US ingredients and the ingredients are completely different from the bag I have. The bag I have has no corn or egg products at all. The only grains in China Royal Canin is rice and wheat Gluten but then I wonder about the meat powders. I pay quite a lot for the bag here and I'm told it's high quality because it's imported, yet it's still totally different in the end!
 

How much does a five month old kitten typically weight? I'm soooo close to getting her spayed now but the Vet is insisting that she must weight 2.5 kg before it is 'safe' otherwise it will be a huge risk. When I told him cats in the US/Canada are spayed very young he said "they have more advanced techniques there"...Yikes! I don't know what kind of procedure they're going to do on her here! 

But right now she's 5 1/2 months old. I don't have a scale so I'm just guessing that she's 2.5kg by now which equals 5 pounds. She's gone through 3 heat cycles now so I'm anxious to get this out of the way! But he keeps going on about how risky it is! It seems no vet in China will spay a cat until it weights 5 1/2 pounds.

I'm setting the appointment for end of March meaning she will 'almost' be 6 months.

Most of the 5-month-old kittens at our shelter weigh plus/minus 3 kg., with females running 2.5 - 3 kg. and males about 500 g. more. German vets typically won't spay until about the age of 6 months, either, supposedly due to the anesthesia risk/lack of training in "pediatric altering".

Okay, I don't have a scale but noticed in her 'booklet' that she weighed 1.55 kg back in early Dec so by now she should be 2.5. Vets here are probably the same. They are not trained in pediatric spaying and the 'risk' I assume is related to the anesthetics. She's in heat right now, but I will book the appointment end of March and hope she's no longer in heat at that time!

It's good to hear from you again. I was thinking about you only a couple of days ago. Apart from all this worry, how's she doing?