9 week old doesn't like dry food.

So, we just got a new kitten, Bella Blue. She's so much fun and a handful.
I've been feeding her about a table spoon of wet food, mixed with 2 table spoons of dry every 3 hours. I leave out a bowl of dry food for her but she never eats it. I will be going back to work this week after taking a couple days off and I'm worried because she doesn't eat the dry food by itself. When she gets hungry she just begs me for the wet food mixture...
Will she eventually eat the dry food once she realizes I'm not there to give her the other stuff?
I don't want to starve her.

Have you considered leaving out the wet food and no dry food? How long will you be gone? Since my kitten eats so much too I usually leave out a little bit of dry food for him too when I am gone for too long. Another option is trying a different dry food. My cat likes Eathborne Holistic Primitive Feline, and I heard a lot of other cats love it too. Most independent pet stores allow you to return the food if your cat doesn't like it, also. 

Some cats seem to not like dry food because it is unfortunately nothing like what they would naturally eat. Other cats seem to be addicted to dry food lol. Mostly wet food is good because it is closer to their natural diet and prevents dehydration, it usually has higher protein and less carbs too. Since kittens eat so much I know how expensive it can be to feed them mostly wet. So If your cat just decides that they don't ever want to eat dry, here are some decent cheaper wet foods to get them past that kitten stage without breaking the bank! 

Nutro Natural Choice

Friskies Pates

Fancy Feast Classics

Whole Earth Farms

What about getting a timed feeder for her? That way the food should stay fresh for her. It's probably worth leaving a bowl with a little dry out too though - she may be picking at it when you're not looking.

It's not a great idea to make a wet and dry mixture, unless it's all going to be eaten straight away. The moisture from the wet food can encourage bacterial growth on the dry if it's left for any length of time

If she really doesn't like kibble, you could always try her on freeze dried raw. Many cats love it, and it's a great alternative to traditional dry food.

What Ghibli says is true I know once Sera entered into my care at 5 months she started refusing dry food and Vincent was the same way at 11 weeks. His foster told me he "loved his soft food" and it shows so I just gave in and fed them nothing but Friskies wet food with some Fancy Feast at times.

Thank you. She eats the entire mixture right away so it doesn't go bad. But she always has a bit of dry food by itself that I leave out.

GhibliTheCat said:

Have you considered leaving out the wet food and no dry food? How long will you be gone? Since my kitten eats so much too I usually leave out a little bit of dry food for him too when I am gone for too long. Another option is trying a different dry food. My cat likes Eathborne Holistic Primitive Feline, and I heard a lot of other cats love it too. Most independent pet stores allow you to return the food if your cat doesn't like it, also. 

Some cats seem to not like dry food because it is unfortunately nothing like what they would naturally eat. Other cats seem to be addicted to dry food lol. Mostly wet food is good because it is closer to their natural diet and prevents dehydration, it usually has higher protein and less carbs too. Since kittens eat so much I know how expensive it can be to feed them mostly wet. So If your cat just decides that they don't ever want to eat dry, here are some decent cheaper wet foods to get them past that kitten stage without breaking the bank! 

Nutro Natural Choice
Friskies Pates
Fancy Feast Classics
Whole Earth Farms

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I always heard that you're not supposed to leave wet food out for too long. I'm typically gone for 9 hours a day. Thank you for your reply

jamiem104 said:

I always heard that you're not supposed to leave wet food out for too long. I'm typically gone for 9 hours a day. Thank you for your reply

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I see.. hm. I see why you are looking into dry food then! I like Columbine's suggestion about the freeze dried raw. It pretty much looks and acts just like dry food if you don't add water to it and a lot of cats go crazy for it. If your cat eats the food right away (I'm talking wet food), it may be possible to just give the kitty double what you give her and let her eat at it when you are gone, then give her a little extra when you get home. I know that technically each brand says that you shouldn't leave your wet food out for more than an hour, but I know a lot of people that are fine with leaving it out for an hour or so (especially if the room is kinda cold). I know this is odd but you could also give her a portion of wet right before you leave and also leave a frozen/refrigerated portion of wet out so when it thaws they will eat that. The colder the food is the less bacteria growth. I think finding a dry food that your kitten likes would be a bit easier though!

GhibliTheCat said:

I see.. hm. I see why you are looking into dry food then! I like Columbine's suggestion about the freeze dried raw. It pretty much looks and acts just like dry food if you don't add water to it and a lot of cats go crazy for it. If your cat eats the food right away (I'm talking wet food), it may be possible to just give the kitty double what you give her and let her eat at it when you are gone, then give her a little extra when you get home. I know that technically each brand says that you shouldn't leave your wet food out for more than an hour, but I know a lot of people that are fine with leaving it out for an hour or so (especially if the room is kinda cold). I know this is odd but you could also give her a portion of wet right before you leave and also leave a frozen/refrigerated portion of wet out so when it thaws they will eat that. The colder the food is the less bacteria growth. I think finding a dry food that your kitten likes would be a bit easier though!

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Thank you for your suggestions. She doesn't even attempt to smell the dry food haha she has no interest in it at all. Perhaps she's not used to the crunchy texture since she's so used to wet food?

Well on catinfo.org the vet lady left wet food our for 12 hours at a time. She said its ok because a cat can handle a much higher bacteria content than us.

kittyluv387 said:

Well on catinfo.org the vet lady left wet food our for 12 hours at a time. She said its ok because a cat can handle a much higher bacteria content than us.

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I'm still not convinced about doing that with a young kitten. I believe all her cats were adults when she started leaving wet food out all day.

Columbine said:

I'm still not convinced about doing that with a young kitten. I believe all her cats were adults when she started leaving wet food out all day.

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i thought she did that with her foster kittens as well. But yea depends on th caregivers comfort anyways. Since kittens like to eat it might eat it all before the 11th or 12th hour.

jamiem104 said:

I always heard that you're not supposed to leave wet food out for too long. I'm typically gone for 9 hours a day. Thank you for your reply

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You can freeze canned food into serving sized portions and put the frozen chunks into a timed feeder to slowly defrost Some brands of feeders have an optional ice pack like the Catmate brand to keep food from spoiling too fast. If you use a feeder that has a rotating tray, any uneaten food becomes inaccessible as the tray rotates to the next food filled section so there's no worry about a cat eating potentially spoiled food. You do want to empty the tray at the end of the day and wash it out.

Maybe instead of regular dry food you can offer freeze dried raw instead. Some cats like that better than regular dry. Plus freeze dried raw is healthier. You can feed freeze dried raw as is instead of rehydrating it in water before serving as the instructions may suggest. Stella and Chewy's is a good brand to try as is Nature's Variety Instinct.