Fickle Kitten Re: Food

Hi everyone! I apologize in advance if this post is kind of long - I have no one else to discuss this stuff with!

My boyfriend and I adopted two 4 mo kittens, Wasabi and Fred, about three weeks ago from a reputable shelter. They're brothers who were found as strays, and we took them to the vet a few days after we brought them home and they got a clean bill of health. They're so great in almost every way, but Fred is a very fickle eater and I'd love some advice about whether I should be concerned.

The shelter was feeding them Fancy Feast kitten wet food 3x a day with access to Hill's Science Diet kitten dry food 24/7. I had planned on continuing to feed this combo until they transitioned to adult food to minimize stress on them, but now that's no longer an option.

When we initially brought them home, I fed each of them half of a 3-oz. can 3x a day. They never exactly cleaned their bowls, but each was interested in the food and ate over half. But as the days went on, Fred began snubbing the wet food more and more, until a few days ago he just stopped eating it altogether. He is still drinking well and picks at the dry food, and he has normal stool.

After doing lots of research into cat foods (a lot of which was done on these forums!), I decided on Wellness kitten wet food (the pink can with no grains) as the next kind to try. I brought home a few cans yesterday and gave them 75% Fancy Feast and 25% Wellness for lunch and dinner, and both cats just went crazy for it. They each ended up cleaning their bowls at each meal, which has never happened before!

So, of course, I'm super excited and think I've found the solution. Well, come today, Fred is again unimpressed with his wet food. For breakfast I did 50/50 Fancy Feast and Wellness, and they both ate pretty well. For lunch I again did 50/50, and Fred snubbed it completely. So for dinner, I tried straight Wellness, a half can to each kitten, and Fred ate about 1/4 of it and Wasabi ate about 1/2. (Wasabi has been a pretty consistent eater throughout all this, never really cleaning the bowl but eating a significant portion.)

So now I'm at a loss. Did I transition the wet foods too fast? Is it too early to tell - should I keep trying with the Wellness? Should I be worried at all since they have access to dry food and water 24/7? I mean they're obviously not starving, but I want my boys to have good food that they love!

They have pretty good energy, but they also do sleep a lot. Wasabi is more energetic than Fred, but I also think it's part of his personality - Wasabi is more playful and crazy while Fred is more even-keeled.

I grew up with cats but have never had kittens, so any and all advice would be greatly appreciated! And as a reward for reading all the way to the end of my post, here's a picture! Wasabi is lying in the sink, and Fred is sitting by the faucet.


Thanks!!!

Most cats prefer dry if free fed. Dry is NOT good for male cats especially. Give them timed feedings if you can (wet or dry) you will see them finish wet food!

TwoHairyBabies said:

 
So, of course, I'm super excited and think I've found the solution. Well, come today, Fred is again unimpressed with his wet food. For breakfast I did 50/50 Fancy Feast and Wellness, and they both ate pretty well. For lunch I again did 50/50, and Fred snubbed it completely. So for dinner, I tried straight Wellness, a half can to each kitten, and Fred ate about 1/4 of it and Wasabi ate about 1/2. (Wasabi has been a pretty consistent eater throughout all this, never really cleaning the bowl but eating a significant portion.)

Click to expand...

Your cats are very cute!

Did you feed Fred and Wasabi the exact same flavors of Wellness and Fancy Feast? Some cats (including our two!) demand variety in their food service. I'm only half joking when I refer to myself as "cat catering": we have so many kinds of canned foods in the rotation that I'd have to go count them to tell you exactly how many there are. Some cats are also more partial to shreds than pates, so that's another consideration. If you want or need suggestions on foods, just ask. I think @bonepicker and I feed some of the same canned foods.

One other thing from our experience: our cats got much better about finishing their wet food when we got rid of all their dry food. I started weaning them off dry food by first offering it only at night, then only putting out only a small amount at night, then using it only as a garnish for their last wet food meal of the day. That took about a month; eventually the cats and I all forgot about the dry food.

They were underfed ten-month-old kittens when we adopted them so I don't know what their food situation was other than that they had a strong preference for dry food when we brought them home. The vet advised feeding them unlimited calories (they ate so much! they'd really been hungry!) until they filled out so we started them off with free-feeding dry plus wet meals, too, for about the first month. Over the last year and a half, gradually moved them to what I might call modified timed feedings: mostly set amounts of food (raw or canned) at certain times plus occasional small snacks left over for the slow eater. We work at home so this isn't a problem. Feeding these two isn't simple, though, and I suspect some of their food-related oddities may be remnants of their food anxiety from when they were small.

Did you feed Fred and Wasabi the exact same flavors of Wellness and Fancy Feast?

Click to expand...

I think you might be onto something with this. I only had access to the Fancy Feast kitten Ocean Whitefish flavor, and I have a feeling Fred isn't a fan of fish (doesn't like fish-flavored treats either). The Wellness kitten is chicken flavored, but it only comes in that one flavor.

The idea of a wet food rotation is really interesting and something I can see myself needing with these guys. How do you tackle setting this rotation up, like in regards to introducing new brands of food. I always thought it was supposed to be a gradual thing, but how do you gradually introduce new foods all the time? And how often do you switch (different food every meal, day, week, etc)? Since these guys will still be classified as "kittens" for a while, should I only rotate between kitten foods, or can I incorporate some brands like TotW, NVI, or Weruva that are for all life stages?

They each got half a can of Wellness for breakfast and lunch today, and Fred ate 50-60% at each meal. He did eat dry food after breakfast. I guess I just worry that they're not eating enough of the wet food at each meal for their energy and growth, so I'm reluctant to take it away completely at this point. Which would come first - eliminating the dry food or establishing a wet food rotation? (I am currently in the process of transitioning them from Science Diet kitten dry to Wellness Core kitten dry, which is grain-free.)

Sorry for all the questions, but I really appreciate the feedback and suggestions. I just want to give these little guys the best chance to be happy and healthy

TwoHairyBabies said:

 
I think you might be onto something with this. I only had access to the Fancy Feast kitten Ocean Whitefish flavor, and I have a feeling Fred isn't a fan of fish (doesn't like fish-flavored treats either). The Wellness kitten is chicken flavored, but it only comes in that one flavor.

Click to expand...

Our cats loved the Wellness Core kitten food, which has a small amount of fish (herring, I think) in it, but they didn't like the regular grain-free Wellness kitten food at all. About the fish: it's probably just as well that Fred doesn't like it -- our vet, anyway, is pretty anti-fish, other than small amounts of salmon.

TwoHairyBabies said:

The idea of a wet food rotation is really interesting and something I can see myself needing with these guys. How do you tackle setting this rotation up, like in regards to introducing new brands of food. I always thought it was supposed to be a gradual thing, but how do you gradually introduce new foods all the time? And how often do you switch (different food every meal, day, week, etc)? Since these guys will still be classified as "kittens" for a while, should I only rotate between kitten foods, or can I incorporate some brands like TotW, NVI, or Weruva that are for all life stages?

Click to expand...

Well, our rotation is always a work in progress! I would definitely suggest discussing food -- amounts as well as ideas on what might be best to feed your individual cats and how much you can switch -- with your vet. Our cats have never had any problem switching between foods, though: I think that's generally a bigger problem with dry foods. We weaned our cats off the dry food at the same time we were figuring out what wet foods they consistently liked: the rotation took some months and, really, it's still a work in progress because they still get bored. (And we were gradually working raw food into it the rotation, too.) Cat Catering has generally offered at least two kinds of canned food a day, perhaps even more in the beginning. These days they get three meals of raw food and two of canned, with each canned meal different. Like I mentioned before, short meals work well for us.

As for specifics of getting started... Shortly after we adopted them, they got pates and shreds from lots of brands, and I tended toward caloric foods since they were young, active, and very thin for their frames. Despite high calories, there wasn't much kitten food other than Wellness Core. I avoided many foods with carrageenan, tuna, and all grains, and eventually cut out potatoes and peas, too, because they're too carby. They tried lots of brands: Weruva (and still get some but one cat is sensitive to potato so much of Weruva is off-limits), NVI (never loved it, they no longer get it), Wellness Core adult foods (got tired of it), Merrick (not impressed), Nutro Natural Choice (they still get these as their night food), Tiki Cat (they still get some of these), Whole Paws (not impressed), Blue Buffalo (blech), and some others I don't remember off-hand... Eventually they got to prefer natural shreds of meat over pates and formed pieces of food.

Others may have different advice but trying a lot of things worked well for our cats. Their primary vomiting problems came from eating too fast and potato but some cats' systems are apparently more sensitive to changes in food than ours are.

Good luck!

I don't think you need to feed food with the word kitten any longer. I feed my cats watered down canned food twice a day with freeze dried chicken treats at night. I feed no dry. I allow fish once a week only. I feed the following changed up daily, Tiki Cat Puka Puka Luau (chicken shreds), Pride by instinct Rockstar Rabbit and Daredevil Duck (chunks), Nutro Natural Choice Chunky Chicken Dinner (Pate), Iams Purrfect delicacies Turkey & Liver in Gravy (bits), Wellness Devine duos chicken & duck (Pate and bits), Red Barn Tricky Chicky, (bits in Gravy), Fussie Cat Tuna & Prawns (shreds & whole shrimps), Merrick Duck & Chicken Pates. All are carageenan free except Fussie and Merrick. If they get bored with one, I sprinkle crumbled Purebites freeze dried chicken on top and they eat it. I try to give different textures and different proteins. Purebites are their treats in lieu of dry food. (I buy the large dog size) from Chewy.com. I add water to all the wet food, poop is minimal and they stay hydrated with wet foods. Mine like chicken, duck, rabbit and liver. In the end what cats like best is the key, switching up daily prevents boredom, allergies and helps in the event of a recall.