Transitioning from kitten to adult diet

Hi,

  Pumpkin is getting desexed in 12 days so, since she is almost 6 months, I thought that it would be a good time to begin the transition to adult food. The issue I've found is that she's almost always wanting food so I'm not sure how to decrease her portions while transitioning from the kitten food. At the moment she gets 2 85g pouches of wet food spread over 3 mealtimes and about 1/3 a cup of dry food that is always available.

  She's been sampling some grain free dry all stages biscuits as well as a variety of wet foods so I'm confident with the transition just not reducing the portions and taking away a wet food meal time.

  If relevant, she's just over 2kg and pretty small with a saggy belly.

As she is only 6 months - what's your reason to transition? Kittens can go up until a year before they are "adults". But, it is totally fine to feed adult food to kittens until they reach of age, but you should be feeding them as much as they want - don't regulate yet. Only start structuring meals  (routine feedings 3 to 4 times/day) when she is a 1 year old.

Also, I would recommend keeping things constant before surgery - too much change can be stressful, especially for cats who are used to routine.

You may already know this - but it's best to feed only canned (and even better to feed raw). Scrap the dry if you can - it's species inappropriate and can lead to many health problems down the road.

Here is a helpful blog on the best foods - you should have Ziwipeak available in Australia.

http://www.naturalcatcareblog.com/2010/12/the-7-best-natural-commercial-cat-foods-so-far/

These also may be useful:

http://catcentric.org/nutrition-and...ding-your-house-cat-whats-all-the-fuss-about/
http://catcentric.org/nutrition-and-food/cats-carbs-and-calories-an-obligate-carnivores-perspective/

Best wishes 

For wet, we've been giving the kittens adult food since six months. For dry, we started to transition to adult food after we ran out of the last bag of kitten food. I have a feeling this mixture will last us well into their second year, but that's ok. That started late last month, and the boys will be 9 months old a week from today.

After that, 100% adult food.

  Okay thanks for the advice.  On other threads that I've read people have transitioned their cats to adult food around 6-7 months so I had assumed it was the done thing. Since Pumpkin's still a very petite kitten I don't mind keeping her on kitten food & usual feeding schedule unless she starts to get fat after her spay.

  Pumpkin really loves her wet food but my vet told me I should only be feeding dry. I decided to offer the dry so she has food when no one can be home during the day but keep the wet food as the majority of her meals.

Some folks feed adult from the beginning, just more of it. I think it mainly depends on your comfort level situation. I remember thinking about it at six months too and decided I'd buy another bag then and decide when that bag ended :lol3: In my case, since the community food (that I feed all the cats) is lower in phosphorus, I wanted to keep them on kitten food just a little bit longer.

That's interesting that you vet says you should only be feeding dry! Most say the opposite these days.

Donutte said:

That's interesting that you vet says you should only be feeding dry! Most say the opposite these days.

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I agree! And I always find the dry-food-only advice a little puzzling, particularly since there's no real evidence for the claim that dry food cleans teeth. Our vet, who's a cat specialist, is very pro-wet food. She likes to talk about meat. She recommends high-protein, low-carb wet foods, which, among other things, is particularly important for young growing cats because they need the protein to grow.

As for kitten food or adult food, I agree with Violetxx that the biggest thing is that your kitten gets enough food at this point. When I asked our vet about kitten food or adult food (we adopted our cats at ten months and they were very underweight) she was pretty indifferent: the big thing was that they get enough quality calories to grow. Lots of adult foods are as caloric as kitten foods so we fed mostly adult foods and a few kitten foods that the cats liked. Honestly, it was important to us to introduce them to a wide range of foods and the kitten food offerings were limited anyway, so variety and availability were big factors. 

Her words were that dry food is condensed nutrients. My partner agreed but I put the foot down since I buy the food and feed her

Gonger said:

Her words were that dry food is condensed nutrients. My partner agreed but I put the foot down since I buy the food and feed her

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That's very weird! Maybe she's seen malnutrition after people fed foods that aren't complete, that are only intended as supplemental? (I think our vet has seen that with some people who feed raw diets that lack proper vitamins and minerals: it's made her a bit leery of raw foods.)

And I know what you mean about having to put your foot down!

Congratulations on getting your kitten desexed! This is a wonderful step in being a responsible cat owner In so far as nutrition is concerned, felines are kittens until age 12 months. Adult cat food is not great. It is simply less nutritious than kitten food (cheaper ingredients, less protein, hence a lower cost). Look for "all life stages" or "for kitten & cat" or "kitten food" only. Skip "adult" "indoor" etc.  Cats need a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes a day of active play with you to stay fit emotionally and physically. Break this up into two to three play sessions. Be sure to feed at least 1/2 of the diet as wet food (canned or raw or cooked "raw") to maintain hydration (felines typically drink less because they expect to get their hydration from their prey). 

Gonger said:

  Pumpkin really loves her wet food but my vet told me I should only be feeding dry. I decided to offer the dry so she has food when no one can be home during the day but keep the wet food as the majority of her meals.

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That's a really unfortunate statement, old school and backwards way of thinking. I personally would change vets if it were me. There is scientific literature, countless veterinarian articles and speakers that 100% disagree. It is being shown the dry food is responsible for the epidemic in pets seen today. Cats in the wild do not get diabetes, become obese, develop irritable bowel syndrome, chronic kidney disease, urinary stones, etc. This is all related to diet and it has been linked to feeding a cat a food high in carbohydrates and low in moisture - both things that cats bodies are not evolved to cope with. They desert felines (with little thirst instincts) who have evolved to eat 100% meat diets (obligate carnivores). It would be like feeding a cow or deer meat. Or a better comparison: feeding a tiger grass or veggies.

I really hope you reconsider this advice, but also question everything related to cat nutrition and behaviour as most vets get little training (primarily sponsered by Hills and pharmaceutical companies). 

I have many resources if your interested in learning more.

All the best to your furbabies!!   

The clinic stocks Science Hill dry food exclusively so I took what she said as a potential sales pitch & a lot of articles on her contradicted her statement so definitely wet-centric diet. After that visit we never got the same vet at the clinic. Our next vaccination was from a lovely cat specialist who gushed about how pretty Pumpkin was.

Looking into raw food and proper additives/preparation but for the time being I'll start sussing out good all stages brands of wet. The little furry bugger nicked off with a chicken breast that was thawing on the bench so she's keen on getting raw meat. :lol3:

Gonger said:

The clinic stocks Science Hill dry food exclusively so I took what she said as a potential sales pitch & a lot of articles on her contradicted her statement so definitely wet-centric diet. After that visit we never got the same vet at the clinic. Our next vaccination was from a lovely cat specialist who gushed about how pretty Pumpkin was.

Looking into raw food and proper additives/preparation but for the time being I'll start sussing out good all stages brands of wet. The little furry bugger nicked off with a chicken breast that was thawing on the bench so she's keen on getting raw meat.

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How great that you can take her to a cat specialist! We took our previous cat to a clinic that was pretty dog-centric and they knew absolutely nothing about how to feed a cat properly. We take our two cats now to a cat specialist and it's so different: when I called to make the first appointment, one of the first questions they asked was, "What are you planning to feed them?" She's really up on oddities of cat health and behavior.

We feed our cats a combination of canned and raw foods and that works really well for them and us.

And that's very funny about the chicken (and very good, too, in its way, because it shows she's interested in raw meat)! That reminds me of my cat that nibbled on a thawing Thanksgiving turkey...

Stumbled across your thread cause I was browsing for similar topics; I wanted to know how to help a kitten go from 3-4 meals per day down to two once they reach adulthood.

I plan on feeding my kittens (6 & 9mo) till the 6 month old is at least 12 mo, and then some. He's pretty lanky, sides are a bit pinched in (though he's starting to get some fluff). So depending on where his fluff level is at, I might be feeding him beyond the 12 month mark. The 9 month old, he's a decent, healthy size. Maybe a little tubby, but unless he gets like so obese he can't walk... lol. I figure kitten food, with its high protein and fat content, is not just meant for their bodies! It's meant for their brain function as well!! So until they're full grown, body and mind, they'll get kitten food.

These guys have the right idea in that kittens can eat adult food, as long as they eat more of it. However, not all kittens can or will down that much! I had Iams brand food, kitten food even, that said to give them a cup per day. He couldn't eat that much! Even with reducing the amount down to 1/2 cup due to his wet food meals, he still wasn't finishing that... I looked at better quality kitten foods, Science Diet & Blue Buffalo, and they had like 5/8 cup listed. Meant he was getting more nutrients for each bite. So it doesn't really matter what food you use so much as how much is she able to eat. If she can eat the amount the bag says, she's fine. If not, keep her on the kitten food till she's full grown. 

I decideded to keep her on kitten food for the full year, unless she starts getting fat, and Pumpkin has decided that she wants all stages dry.