New Kitten and Feeding Raw

Hi, I have a new kitten, about 4/5 weeks old.  She came to me about 5 days ago just lapping up mother's milk substitute.  But I've started feeding her a gruel of the milk + Wellness kitten.  Last night I bought some Instinct "mixer" supplement stuff, and some Performatrin (Pet Valu) food.  She loved them both, and the Performatrin is less expensive.

I learned a lot here about feeding, before my 2 babies passes (FIP for one, kidney for the other, both cats 2.5 yrs old).  I want to know if I really need to feed my new girlie "kitten" labeled food.  Especially if I want to intro her to some freeze dried raw a-la Primal, Stella & Chewey's etc.  Seems ridiculous that the kitten labeled foods are all the same flavor, and I have to feed that for a year.  Then what happens when I want her to be interested in a variety of flavors?

Thoughts? My goal is really to feed a 50/50 raw (but commercial, freeze dried), wet diet to her and we will also get a companion for her soon.

Thanks in advance!

theresa, now Kitt and ????'s Mom

At the young age she is, I would give kitten formula kibble or wet for at least a month or so.  It has extra calories and fat that will help her grow and develop.  I usually switch off kitten formula around 3 months though, for several reasons: my kittens have done the biggest part of their growing; they have been spayed and neutered, which slows the metabolism making weight gain more likely; they are free-roaming the house with the adults and I don't want my adults getting fat off kitten formulas. A lot of the stuff with 'kitten' food is gimmick; it has the same basic ingredients as adult food; after all, we don't feed human babies different food than adult humans, we just pick the healthy stuff and mush it up because they can't chew.  Kitten kibbles generally are smaller, good for small kitten mouths, and generally higher in fat and calories, sometimes also in trace nutrients.  However, those nutrients are almost always, also in adult formulas, just perhaps in smaller amounts.  And if you are feeding a 3-6 month old kitten adult food, you can expect him or her to eat more of it, comparatively, than an adult would.

There are also good brands that make ALS (All life stages) foods.  They are nutritionally adequate for young and adults and even seniors.

I think it is a big mistake to say that cats under a year old should eat kitten formaulas exclusively.  Once kitty hits puberty and/or gets fixed, metabolism changes significantly.  You end up with a 9 month old kitten that is already overweight...sad.

But for a kitten as young as yours, I am all for kitten kibble...the wet not so much...it is mostly water anyway.  Adult canned formulas are fine.  Our cats and kittens enjoy raw food when it's on offer as well as cooked lean meats.  I am currently supplementing little kittens with boiled chicken leg and thigh, deskinned, de-fatted, and removed from the bone.  They go nuts for it.  And my dogs enjoy chicken leg quarters raw with a bit of the skin removed...too much skin and then we get butt-splosions.