Introducing new kitten and meal-feeding simultaneously

I found this forum by searching for feeding tips, and I hope it's ok to just jump in.

We have 3 adult cats who have been free-feeding prescription dry Royal Canin Urinary SO for around 3 years, ever since our 5yo boy developed urinary crystals and needed hospitalization and catheterization. It was a scary time, and not something we ever want to repeat again.

At the time of the switch, we tried feeding the 3 cats separately so urinary boy was the only one eating the Rx food. After several days of yowling and not eating enough all around, we contacted the vet and got the ok for all of them to eat the Rx dry food. Not ideal but kept our sanity. Things have been great for everyone since then, no crystals and healthy weights for all.

Now we are considering introducing a rescue kitten to the mix (he found us). He's around 4 months old, and the vet said he shouldn't have the Rx food under any circumstances. She recommended transitioning everyone to at least twice/day wet meal feeding with Rx wet for urinary boy and kitten wet for kitten.

I have a couple of concerns and I'm wondering if we have any other good options here. First, I have read the tips here and elsewhere for transitioning multi-cats from established dry free-feeding to meal-feeding. It seems like quite a process, and one that has the potential for behavioral issues that I can only imagine will be compounded by introducing a new kitten to the mix at the same time. Further, we have our first human baby arriving in about 4 months that I expect will also impact the household dynamic and behaviors.

My second concern is our sanity. We love the freedom to take short 1-2 night trips to visit family on a whim, without needing a cat sitter lined up. It's a big part of our lives and something I want to (perhaps selfishly) continue. Not to mention the need for sleep that will only increase in the coming months.

Basically, we want to do our best for all 3 (or 4) cats involved. To be honest I'm feeling so daunted and overwhelmed by these potential feeding issues that I'm considering not being able to keep the kitten. Life is good now, everything is working, and I'm afraid of complicating our balance with too much change all at once. At the same time, I so want it to work because the kitten is a sweetheart and our good leads for true quality homes have so far fallen through.

One idea that I had, which very well may well be terrible as this is new to me:

Could we try keeping a high quality but non-Rx kibble out all/most of the time, and feeding one meal of separate wet foods per day? Rx wet for urinary boy, kitten for the kitten, something else for the other two?

Any recommendations for a kibble that would be safe for all? We have never tried switching anything around since the change to Rx dry 3 years ago. Maybe he would do ok on a maintenance dry, supplemented with Rx wet?

Again I know this isn't ideal, I'm just looking for a balance that works for all involved (humans and cats).

Hi, and welcome to TCS

I think the best thing in this situation really is to get all the cats onto a wet diet. The RC urinary kibble seems to be extra yummy (at least, according to my girl, who tries to steal it whenever she has the chance), so I really don't fancy your chances of stopping the kitten eating it if you have it around. In any case, wet (or raw) food is the 'gold standard' when it comes to urinary issues. Hydration is so important to keep the bladder flushed, and a wet diet is the single easiest way to achieve this - cats are designed to get around 80% of their fluid intake from their food anyway, and really struggle to drink enough to compensate for the dryness of kibble if extra measures aren't taken to boost fluid consumption.

A bit of non prescription wet food is far less likely to cause your crystals boy problems than non prescription dry is. If it were me, I'd go for all wet for everyone. I have no problems with leaving wet food out for a few hours if necessary, and I know many raw/canned combination feeders do the same with no problems. Automatic feeders (especially ones that incorporate a cool pack) are another option to consider.[article="29715"][/article][article="31138"][/article][article="31129"][/article][article="29707"][/article][article="31127"][/article][article="31120"][/article][article="30756"][/article][article="31142"][/article]