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mainecoonmama12

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I have a 5 month old Maine Coon kitten (I'm pretty sure), and feeding him is a little hard. When we adopted him from the shelter, he was so small and thin, so our number one priority was getting him to a healthy weight. We were feeding him the dry food the shelter gave us (science diet for kittens) and we got him some wet tuna. After a few days, we discovered that A) the reason he was so skinny at the shelter is because he does not like the food and B) he's really not that big of a seafood fan. We bought him some Purina Kitten Chow (which he loves) and I tried Whiskas out with him. He does enjoy the Whiskas, but he also gets pretty gassy from it. I've been reading and saw that's normal with that wet food, and wanted to know my options for him. He also goes slightly nuts at night and sometimes acts like he's scared of me or my boyfriend. I want to try to feed him better food, but he doesn't seem too fond of the idea. I put out the Natural Chicken and Duck stew yesterday (I had a coupon for petsmart) and it took him forever to eat it, I also tried the Blue Buffalo kitten food and after two hours he still hadn't eaten that. I need to know my options, because I want him to be healthy and happy, but I can't break the bank doing it.

Thanks in advance!
 

ellag

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firstly, thanks for adopting! wet food is the best food for cats! dry food can cause all kinds of health problems as they age. even cheap wet food is better than expensive dry food. cats also need the moisture in wet food. cheap dry foods like purina kitten chow are mostly corn and cats need MEAT! they don't need any grains. the food companies put them in as cheap fillers because meat is more expensive.

this is the best site for cat nutrition: www.catinfo.org

fancy feast canned kitten food is fairly cheap and most all kittens love it. it's best to limit the fish flavors also..
 
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kittymomma1122

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Mix the old food slowly with new food. Changing them a lot or too quickly can cause digestive upset and diarrhea.
 
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mainecoonmama12

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Thanks! My family only adopts and rescues, and it was love at first sight with Chewie. I have him on a diet of wet and dry food. My grandparents had a Maine Coon and I know he was all about the wet food,I also know he was incredibly picky with it as well. He definitely prefers real meat, I gave him some grilled (unseasoned) chicken and turkey and he gobbled it up. I was really hoping that he would like the Blue Buffalo, because it's still in our price range (the upper end), but has really nice ingredients. Because he's supposed to get so big, I want to make sure I'm feeding him the best food possible,within my price range. Thanks!
 

Columbine

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These articles may help. Bear in mind that excess gas could be an indication that the food doesn't agree with him. My guys are on a 80-90% wet diet, and have hardly any gas.[article="29707"][/article][article="31089"][/article][article="0"][/article][article="31127"][/article][article="31144"][/article][article="31138"][/article](has some great tips to encourage cats to eat new foods)[article="32765"][/article][article="29646"][/article]
If you have time, you might want to consider making your own cat food. You have to be sure to follow a balanced recipie (like those in the [thread="263751"]​[/thread]), but it can be a good option for fussy eaters - especially ones who love plain cooked meat.
 

lisahe

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These articles may help. Bear in mind that excess gas could be an indication that the food doesn't agree with him. My guys are on a 80-90% wet diet, and have hardly any gas.
Exactly! One of our cats was horribly gassy when we first adopted her: taking her off dry food as well as wet foods with potato (which also made her vomit) took care of that very quickly. She definitely has a sensitive stomach!

I'm with @ellag about feeding as much meaty wet food as possible, especially to an underweight kitten: that was our vet's advice when we adopted underweight kittens, and it really helped them get caught up on their weight and growth in a healthy way. Fancy Feast and Friskies (despite the rice) are both very decent options at decent prices!

Enjoy your kitten!
 
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mainecoonmama12

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So last night, I tried the can of Blue Buffalo again, and he ate it, slowly, but he did eat it. I figured he ate it slowly because it was a more filling food. Today we went to Petsmart to buy more and discovered that we had initially purchased the chicken and tuna and that's why he wasn't a fan. Chewie is not the biggest fan of seafood. So we bought him the chicken recipe, which he seems to love. We're going to keep feeding the dry food we have, then switch over to blue buffalo dry food as well (to give him both). 
 

Mamanyt1953

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Sounds like you have the food issues under control.  As far as the night crazies and going skitterkitty around you and the BF, well, he's just at that age.  Much of it will pass, some of it is just a cat thing.
 
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mainecoonmama12

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The food is great now! We also got him some new treats, which he loves. Now the only thing is to get him toned down on the play bites (we gave him loads of toys) and on his nursing on our clothes and blankets. I guess it'll go away with age?
 

Mamanyt1953

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The nursing, that kneading, rootling, drooling thing (the word for it is "smurgling."  Isn't that a wonderful word?) very well may abate with age.  Hekitty will be eight years old in April, and I'm still waiting.  If it doesn't bother you overly much, leave well enough alone.  It certainly won't hurt him at all.  Just... a cat thing.  Welcome to the Wonderful World of Cats!  They all have little things that simultaneously drive us mad and make us go, "Awwwwwwwwwwwww."
 
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