Finicky 4-month-old

I've got a 4 month old kitten who I adopted from a shelter where she was all but completely raised by humans. The moist foods they fed her at the shelter were Merrick's Pate's. I've tried them, and the Friskie's canned foods that I feed my other cats, but she turns her nose up at all of them and only eats the dry foods I give them all (the others eat any canned food I put out). 

Does anyone have any good suggestions for a moist food I can give the baby that she won't turn her nose up at?

Try any of the Weruva foods and their lesser expensive Soulistic line and Tiki Cat and Pride by Instinct.

A lot of people (including me!) seem to find that picky cats love Nutro Natural Choice's canned foods. They are nicely caloric for a kitten and aren't super-expensive. The chunky chicken seems to be especially popular; our cats eat that, minced chicken, and sliced turkey.

Our cats also eat Tiki (they like the Gourmet Carnivore foods best) and certain Weruva Cats in the Kitchen foods but, out of their canned repertoire, it's the Nutro (and their raw foods) they're consistently happiest about. All these foods, plus the ones LTS3 mentioned, have texture that the Merrick and Friskies pates do not. Maybe that will help.

Good luck!

My boy was pretty much completely raised by humans as well! He loved his wet food when I fist got him at almost 6 weeks old. It was regular kitten Hills Science Diet chicken. I'm not a fan of HSD, but it was all he would eat after having a vomiting-based allergic reaction to a Purina wet food. I'll digress on the part of the story, haha.

Anyways, as soon as I introduced dry food when he was old enough (about 10 weeks) to start free feeding it was ALL he would eat. Since I didn't need to do 3-4 meals a day with wet food anymore, I had plans to free feed him a moderate amount dry food and do a meal of wet in the morning and in the evening.

However, he would hardly touch his HSD canned food anymore. So, I tried a few other brands. He would just lick some of the gravy and run off. ALL he wanted and would stare at me for was the dry food. (Blue Buffalo - Healthy Growth for Kittens is the dry brand I use. He LOVES it.) I too was surprised by this because I have always had cats that LOVED wet food. When I would pop open the cat they would come running! I would be pestered with meows until I put the plate on the floor! But, this kitten of mine could care less! lol

I talked with one of the Veterinarians at my work about this, because I'm really (personally) not a fan of having a cat ONLY eat dry food. Especially since I have a boy kitten. I want him to get lots of moisture because I'm paranoid about the potential for urinary stones/blockages in his older age! (the woes of being a Vet Tech, you fear everything before it happens, haha!)

She told me that lots of cats are just "carb-junkies". Some cats truly just aren't as excited about wet food once they get a taste for the delicious crunchies! The Vets tell me that lots of cats do fantastic and live just fine on all-dry-food diets. But, to always offer wet food, even if it's just as an occasional treat, because it is nice to give them the extra hydration! Since, as I'm sure you know, cats aren't huge water drinkers. The only other downside is that, like with human food, the carby dry food is higher in calories. So you just have to be careful when they are an adult cat about becoming over weight! 

I now have Gage (my boy!) eating wet food ONCE daily (that's all he will eat, he still just loves the crunchies!). He gets about 1/4 of a 3oz can every night after we have our exuberant play session before bed. 

I recommend Blue Wilderness Kitten - Chicken or Salmon flavor. That is the only wet food he will eat. I have tried other Blue Buffalo kitten wet foods and even many other brands (I won't throw out the whole list) and he only licks some of the gravy and then leaves it there. Blue Wilderness seems to be his love. And even with that he will only eat the 1/4 can. If I offer anymore it gets left uneaten.

Some cats just like the carbs.

I can relate, I love pizzas and pastas myself! Hehehe.   

Edit: The Blue Wilderness is pate consistency. So if you think the pate is the issue, the brands that the people above me posted are good brands to try as well! I hear Nutro is a fantastic brand! I'm just giving my opinion off of experience, not because I think Blue Buffalo is the best or only choice! Haha.

Only thing I wouldn't suggest at all is anything that is a truly raw diet. Raw diets are not a good idea for kittens because of the potential for bacteria!

Relienna said:

 
My boy was pretty much completely raised by humans as well! He loved his wet food when I fist got him at almost 6 weeks old. It was regular kitten Hills Science Diet chicken. I'm not a fan of HSD, but it was all he would eat after having a vomiting-based allergic reaction to a Purina wet food. I'll digress on the part of the story, haha.

Anyways, as soon as I introduced dry food when he was old enough (about 10 weeks) to start free feeding it was ALL he would eat. Since I didn't need to do 3-4 meals a day with wet food anymore, I had plans to free feed him a moderate amount dry food and do a meal of wet in the morning and in the evening.

However, he would hardly touch his HSD canned food anymore. So, I tried a few other brands. He would just lick some of the gravy and run off. ALL he wanted and would stare at me for was the dry food. (Blue Buffalo - Healthy Growth for Kittens is the dry brand I use. He LOVES it.) I too was surprised by this because I have always had cats that LOVED wet food. When I would pop open the cat they would come running! I would be pestered with meows until I put the plate on the floor! But, this kitten of mine could care less! lol

I talked with one of the Veterinarians at my work about this, because I'm really (personally) not a fan of having a cat ONLY eat dry food. Especially since I have a boy kitten. I want him to get lots of moisture because I'm paranoid about the potential for urinary stones/blockages in his older age! (the woes of being a Vet Tech, you fear everything before it happens, haha!)

She told me that lots of cats are just "carb-junkies". Some cats truly just aren't as excited about wet food once they get a taste for the delicious crunchies! The Vets tell me that lots of cats do fantastic and live just fine on all-dry-food diets. But, to always offer wet food, even if it's just as an occasional treat, because it is nice to give them the extra hydration! Since, as I'm sure you know, cats aren't huge water drinkers. The only other downside is that, like with human food, the carby dry food is higher in calories. So you just have to be careful when they are an adult cat about becoming over weight! 

I now have Gage (my boy!) eating wet food ONCE daily (that's all he will eat, he still just loves the crunchies!). He gets about 1/4 of a 3oz can every night after we have our exuberant play session before bed. 

I recommend Blue Wilderness Kitten - Chicken or Salmon flavor. That is the only wet food he will eat. I have tried other Blue Buffalo kitten wet foods and even many other brands (I won't throw out the whole list) and he only licks some of the gravy and then leaves it there. Blue Wilderness seems to be his love. And even with that he will only eat the 1/4 can. If I offer anymore it gets left uneaten.

Some cats just like the carbs.

I can relate, I love pizzas and pastas myself! Hehehe. 

 

Edit: The Blue Wilderness is pate consistency. So if you think the pate is the issue, the brands that the people above me posted are good brands to try as well! I hear Nutro is a fantastic brand! I'm just giving my opinion off of experience, not because I think Blue Buffalo is the best or only choice! Haha.

Only thing I wouldn't suggest at all is anything that is a truly raw diet. Raw diets are not a good idea for kittens because of the potential for bacteria!

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Not true about raw! There's an entire sub-thread in this community dedicated to raw feeding. Done properly it's completely healthy and a great option, many many cat owners feed raw (including me). I have 4 six month old kittens doing amazing on a partial raw diet. Please don't spread information that isn't true. 

missmimz said:

Not true about raw! There's an entire sub-thread in this community dedicated to raw feeding. Done properly it's completely healthy and a great option, many many cat owners feed raw (including me). I have 4 six month old kittens doing amazing on a partial raw diet. Please don't spread information that isn't true. 

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I am aware there is a forum for raw diets and that it is an option that does work fine for many cats. I just happen to work for a Vet Clinic where the majority of the Veterinarians are not a big fan of raw diets for multiple reasons in cats. Do many cats eat it and do well? Of course. But, I have seen small kittens come in with GI issues due to a raw diet so I was just sharing my concern, not bashing the concept as a whole.

My kitten is same age, she's not very picky, but she does have a favorite she will devour instantly every time. This has become an essential food for her. Have started buying cases of the stuff because of her, it's called Fussie cat. There is one or two flavors she does not care for though. The faves are chicken veg, chicken egg, chicken duck. My other cats don't seem to care for Fussie cat much though, it's weird. They seemed to like weruva a little better. I give them all sorts of foods. Precise and Dave's because they come in big cans. Little bit of Mauri, beyond, friskies, Sheba, instinct. They also get dry food on small amounts. Dry is Fromm or annmaet or iams. Plus plain goat kefir or yogurt, small amount. Kitten also loves precise kitten canned food, but only sometimes, and not like Fussie.

Relienna said:

I am aware there is a forum for raw diets and that it is an option that does work fine for many cats. I just happen to work for a Vet Clinic where the majority of the Veterinarians are not a big fan of raw diets for multiple reasons in cats. Do many cats eat it and do well? Of course. But, I have seen small kittens come in with GI issues due to a raw diet so I was just sharing my concern, not bashing the concept as a whole.

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I understand its your opinion, but you phrased it in a way that's factual inaccurate. While you and your vets may not think its healthy, feeding raw meat that is properly prepared is NOT dangerous to kittens and there is no (or incredibly small) risk of bacterial infections. Unfortunately there are still people out there that don't feed raw that is properly prepared in order to avoid contamination. 

missmimz said:

 
I understand its your opinion, but you phrased it in a way that's factual inaccurate. While you and your vets may not think its healthy, feeding raw meat that is properly prepared is NOT dangerous to kittens and there is no (or incredibly small) risk of bacterial infections. Unfortunately there are still people out there that don't feed raw that is properly prepared in order to avoid contamination. 

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Okie dokie. I'm just a moron then.

I'll rephrase it. "Feel free to feed your kitten a raw diet as long as it's prepared properly."

About raw food......I adopted an 8 year old cat with unknown history who turns out to be completely intolerant to raw food in any form. Pretty much with any raw, freeze dried raw, frozen raw, any form, any meat, she would vomit.

Since raw was taken out of rotation, no vomit, or hardly any food related, like regurgitation, which was what would happen. Raw food is definitely not good for all cats. Did try very hard to give raw a chance, it's just not worth the risk. Took me a long time and vet visits to figure out it was her food and not something else.

Also have relative with 3 cats with kidney problems, they also vomit with raw, think she said there was also diarrhea. she was much quicker to blame the food than I was.

Although I can't afford wysong, thought this was interesting newsletter http://www.wysong.net/pet-health-and-nutrition/the-case-against-raw-frozen-pet-foods.php

Used to feed some raw to my older cat with cancer, even frozen rad cat, it seemed ok. She was dying already though so not sure how good it was.

By the way, my veterinarian is very open minded and likes Stella & Chewy's or at least she did, she is not holistic either. She is really into Wysong, think the guy is a vet too or something, could be wrong...

chalupa said:

About raw food......I adopted an 8 year old cat with unknown history who turns out to be completely intolerant to raw food in any form. Pretty much with any raw, freeze dried raw, frozen raw, any form, any meat, she would vomit.

Since raw was taken out of rotation, no vomit, or hardly any food related, like regurgitation, which was what would happen. Raw food is definitely not good for all cats. Did try very hard to give raw a chance, it's just not worth the risk. Took me a long time and vet visits to figure out it was her food and not something else.

Also have relative with 3 cats with kidney problems, they also vomit with raw, think she said there was also diarrhea. she was much quicker to blame the food than I was.

Although I can't afford wysong, thought this was interesting newsletter http://www.wysong.net/pet-health-and-nutrition/the-case-against-raw-frozen-pet-foods.php

Used to feed some raw to my older cat with cancer, even frozen rad cat, it seemed ok. She was dying already though so not sure how good it was.

By the way, my veterinarian is very open minded and likes Stella & Chewy's or at least she did, she is not holistic either. She is really into Wysong, think the guy is a vet too or something, could be wrong...

Click to expand...

OP can skip over to the raw food forum if they want more info on raw feeding. No point in having this debate that article has been addressed over in that community before. No one said that "all cats do well on raw" i simply pointed out that the other commented was not correct in saying its "dangerous" to feed raw to kittens. One of my cats vomits kibble, but never vomits raw. I'm not going to say all kibble is bad, it's not, in fact i still feed some kibble to my other cats, he just doesn't tolerate it. 

missmimz, sorry realize it seemed like argument.  I would probably still be feeding my cats some raw foods, if had not had the one with the problem. I know others and my own veterinarian who feed raw. I think raw may have very good benefits, but I'm no scientist. At the same time, can we really trust those who sell pet food? If you make your own, you're amazing, to me.

Maybe try giving your kitty a variety of textures too. I try to give my kitties pate because it tends to have less carbs, but they seem to love the texture of chunks and slices. And different "sauces" too, like gravy or gelee, or whatnot My kitties love weruva chicken, but they're kittens who need more calories and weruva is quite low calorie, so I give them weruva only once every week or two.

My recommendation would be Simpson's Premium and Nature's Menu 

http://www.simpsonspremium.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=55

http://www.naturesmenu.co.uk/

Especially the 1st one, the kittens' recipe, makes me wanting to eat it myself..