The saga of feeding my kittens

profdanglais

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Apologies in advance for the length of this post. I'm going to include all the background and details and hope that you knowledgeable people can give me some advice. Here goes:

My kittens (Hester and Hugo, 11.5 weeks) have eaten James Wellbeloved dry kitten food ever since they were weaned. When we adopted them, we kept them on the same food so they would feel comfortable and to avoid tummy upset. We got them from a friend of mine who has had cats all her life and who I think did a great job with these kittens, making sure they were well socialised, litter trained, etc. We haven't had any problems (touch wood) with them using their litter tray or eating their dry food. Hugo had a spell of soft stools, but after a dose of dewormer and some probiotic, he is now fine. They both poo regularly (1-2 times daily) and their poo is normal now (though perhaps Hester's is a bit dry...more on that later). However, my friend did tell me that she prefers feeding dry food because it's better for the cats' teeth. Now after having read loads of posts on this forum I have doubts about the truth of this (though the vet did tell me the same thing) and so am hoping to introduce some wet food into their diet. 

James Wellbeloved I think is only available in the UK, so for anyone not familiar with it, it is grain-free, uses rice and potato as filler with 29% turkey meal as its main ingredient, and seems to have a pretty high protein content at 33%. So I think that as far as dry foods go it is pretty good, and since I have read multiple times on TCS that kittens should be allowed to eat as much as they like and should always have some kibble available to them, I feel OK about my babies eating this food. However, I would like to get them eating some wet food as well. Now, when Hugo had his dodgy tummy, the vet gave us some pate-style tinned food designed to aid gastrointestinal issues that she said they would love. They did not love it. Not only did they refuse to eat it, but they pawed at the ground around the bowl and once Hugo dragged a piece of paper towelling that they had been playing with over the bowl to hide the food. This may be at least partly my fault because I at the time didn't know about introducing new food gradually and as the wet food was supposed to be to hide their medicine in, I was a bit too keen for them to eat it. Later I tried mixing it with their kibble, but they still weren't having it. 

After this debacle, I decided to try another kind of wet food. I did a bit of research and found Lily's Kitchen Organic Scrumptious Dinner for Kittens, which looked good to me. The kittens unfortunately were not of the same opinion. They reacted basically the same way as they had to the vet's food. Lily's Kitchen is also pate-style, so I began to wonder if maybe it was the texture of the food that they objected to. The day before I tried the Lily's Kitchen, I had made some chicken for dinner. I cooked it in the oven wrapped in tinfoil. When I took it out of the oven and opened the foil packet, Hugo jolted awake and started sniffing the air, and when I was eating he tried to climb into my lap and eat off my plate. So after they rejected the Lily's Kitchen, I cooked up another chicken breast the same way only without any seasoning, and offered a small piece to Hugo. He ate it enthusiastically so I put a few more small pieces plus the cooking juices into a bowl for him and he gobbled it right down and licked the bowl clean. So Hugo likes chicken. A few days after I discovered this, I roasted a chicken for dinner then made a broth from the carcass, something I do regularly. This time, instead of putting veggies and herbs into the broth I used only the carcass, and when it cooled I gave Hugo a bit and he lapped it up. I froze this broth in ice cube trays with about a tablespoon of shredded chicken breast and once a day I take out a cube and melt it with a bit of boiling water and Hugo gobbles it up. Hester, however, is completely uninterested. She doesn't react negatively, just doesn't show any interest in eating the chicken. A few days ago, I made salmon fillets for dinner and deliberately left some unseasoned to see if Hester would eat it. She did, with what seemed like reasonable enthusiasm, so I felt encouraged. Hugo ate his chicken and Hester ate her salmon. They are used to eating and drinking from the same dishes, so getting them to eat different things is a challenge. The next day I gave Hester more salmon and she ate a bit of it, but then Hugo came in and polished off the rest. Encouraged by this, I bought some Applaws salmon and tuna in jelly and gave them a bit of that today. Hugo seemed a bit uncertain at first but then cleaned his plate... and Hester's too. Again, she wasn't interested. Not opposed, just uninterested. From this I deduce that Hugo will eat meat and fish in flakes or chunks, but I don't know  yet what might tempt Hester. 

Both of them love kitten milk and I give them about a serving of this a day, and I see Hester drinking water daily as well, but I am concerned that if she won't eat wet food then she will get dehydrated. She is healthy and her fur is soft and glossy but I think her poo may be a little dry. Sometimes it takes the form of small pellets instead of a log. She doesn't seem to have any trouble pooing, though, so I don't think she is constipated. 

My main question is should I completely abandon pate-style foods, or try to sneak some in amongst the chicken and fish? I've tried mixing some in their milk before and they haven't really been fooled, but a bit of chicken in broth or even the Applaws are not complete foods, and I don't think I'm ready to commit to making home-made food for them, so I need them to eat complete wet food. There doesn't seem to be much kitten food available that is not pate. Is it worthwhile to try mixing pate into their chunks? I don't want Hugo to be put off the food he likes because he detects food he doesn't like mixed into it. And as for Hester, do you think she will eventually start eating the chicken and fish if I keep offering it to her? She did eat the salmon the first time. Are there any strategies I could use to get her to try wet food? Buying a million different kinds to see if she likes them is not really an option, financially. 

Finally, please reassure me that this is a slow process and they are still just babies and I've only had them 3 weeks and it will all work out eventually. I know this in my head but until I started reading this forum I'd had no idea that feeding a cat was such a complex issue, and I really want my kittens to get the best nutrition possible. 

Thanks for your help! 
 

LTS3

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@Columbine and @MServant live in England and can suggest UK foods that you can feed to your cats.

Have you browsed http://www.zooplus.co.uk/ to see what is available?

Here are some TCS threads on UK foods that you can start with:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/140110/kitten-food-uk

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/266327/commercial-wet-kitten-food-uk

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/266919/best-uk-cat-food

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245287/foods-in-the-uk

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/65806/good-quality-canned-food-in-the-uk

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/142078/which-kitten-food-in-the-uk

You can also try these brands which are probably labeled as for "all life stages" and are ok to feed occasionally to a kitten:


(these are suitable for ALL cats, not just diabetics)
 
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Columbine

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Transitioning from kibble to wet food is often difficult, so don't expect too much too soon. Toppers of various sorts are often the best route to take, as they help entice the cat to start eating and try this new food. Adding a touch of hot water can help too, as it warms the food just enough to make it extra smelly ;) This article has all sorts of tips and tricks (though I wouldn't get TOO concerned with stopping the free feeding just yet, given their age ;) ) :-[article="31138"][/article]

LTS3 LTS3 is right that Zooplus is a great resource for cat food, as well as other cat supplies. Good kitten brands from there are:-


  • WET
  • Feringa Kitten
  • Animonda Carny Kitten
  • Grau Gourmet Kitten
  • Animonda vom Feinsten Kitten
  • Bozita Tetra Packs (marked as All Life Stages, so good for kittens as well as adult cats ;) )
    DRY
  • Purizon Kitten
  • Applaws Kitten (also from Pets at Home)
  • Feringa Kitten
  • Orijen Cat & Kitten (also from other suppliers)

Thrive Complete Kitten Food is expensive but very pure, and is fantastic for transitioning as it looks very like the Applaws supplementary foods but is a complete diet.

Nature's Menu Kitten is a great choice too - available from Pets at Home, Nature's Menu and various other retailers.

Forthglade Cat & Kitten is another good one. I think it's available from Amazon as well as the brand site.

Lily's kitchen is also good, but I feel it's expensive for what it is compared to some other options. If they like it, though, then go with it. Mine can take it or leave it, and there are cheaper options that are just as good quality that they like better ;)

Other brands from Pets at Home are:-

  • Wainwrights Kitten (IMO the trays are much better than the pouches - higher meat content ;) )
  • Meowing Heads Kitten&Cat
  • Purely Holistic Kitten
  • Hi Life Tempt Me Kitten

These are all wet options, as I'm not mad about the kitten kibbles Pets at Home stock (other than Applaws, mentioned above ;) ). They have some great adult kibbles, but their kitten range is pretty limited :slant:

Personally, I'm not mad about James Wellbeloved foods in general, as the kibbles have a fair amount of grain/starches, and even the wet foods are higher carb than many out there. I guess I just feel it's overpriced for what it is, and there are better options available. Don't get me wrong - it's not a BAD food, just not as good as some other brands ;)

Some of the best toppers I've found are Thrive freeze dried treats (Zooplus, Pets at Home etc) and Cosma/Cosma Thai Snackies (Zooplus). They're just freeze dried meat or fish, are really stinky, and crumble into a powder really easily for sprinkling over wet food. My guys adore them, and will often eat previously rejected foods if I add these on top :yummy: Another great one for coming away from kibble is Purina FortiFlora. It's actually a probiotic, but the point is that the base is animal digest - the same stuff that kibbles are coated in to make them smelly and enticing to eat. Don't worry about following the pack dosage - you want it purely as a 'condiment', so don't need to feed a full dose at a time ;)

Hopefully that'll give you some ideas to get started :cross:

Good luck - transitioning off kibble is never easy, and will take a little time. It's definitely worth it though - it's far better for cats to have at least some wet in their diet :D
 
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profdanglais

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Thanks for the suggestions, I will look into them! Has anyone ever had a cat who just refused to eat wet food? Hester continues to show no interest in eating it. 
 

Columbine

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It does happen, but usually persistence pays off in the end. It can take a few weeks of being offered wet food for some to even look at it, let alone try it. You have to remember that these two have NEVER had wet food before - part of the process is helping them make the connection that "Hey, this wet mushy stuff is actually food" :idea:

When I was trying to get my girl to eat raw (something I eventually gave up on for a variety of reasons - family members being one of them :rolleyes: ) I found that pulverising some biscuits (old fashioned plastic bag and rolling pin trick :smash: ) and making pea sized morsels of the raw thoroughly rolled in the biscuit crumbs worked wonders for getting her started. Messy and a little gross to do, but definitely worth trying :)
 
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profdanglais

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Thanks. Patience is not a virtue I possess, so I will just keep reminding myself that it's a marathon, not a sprint :).

This is a tangential issue, but rather than starting a new thread I'll ask it here first: Is it possible that Hugo has an intolerance to tuna? A few days after we got him, he ate a bit of tuna that had fallen on the floor. I didn't think anything of it because I didn't think it would be dangerous for him. Looking back though, that was when his soft stools started, and they firmed up immediately after we started giving him Fortiflora. Yesterday I gave him about half a packet of the Applaws tuna and salmon, and this morning he had loose stool again. His first poo was half normal and half squishy and with mucous, and then shortly after that he had liquid diarrhoea with a tiny little red speck that could be a bit of mucous-y blood. I gave him some kitten milk and some chicken in broth, both with fortiflora. Waiting to see if he improves, if not will take him to the vet on Monday. The last bout of soft stools the vet attributed to worms, and both kittens had a dose of wormer that finished about a week ago. I did think it was odd that one kitten would have worms but not the other, since they share a litter tray and lick each others' bits, so now I'm thinking that it could be a tuna intolerance that's Hugo's issue, maybe he has irritable bowel? He was at the vet last Tuesday for his vaccinations, and the vet felt his abdomen and said he had "nice firm poo working its way through." I've been doing some research and tuna is always mentioned as something that cats are likely to be allergic/intolerant to, but haven't found many details about symptoms. Do you think this is a likely cause for his soft stools? He has no other symptoms, is energetic and active, no vomiting or lethargy or anything like that. 
 

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It is certainly possible that Hugo is allergic to tuna, but its WAY to soon to be thinking he has IBD. Being sensitive, or even allergic, to certain proteins does NOT equal any kind of bowel disease. I suggest you talk to your vet about having a poop sample tested for parasites so you know exactly what you're dealing with. A PCR test is what's needed, as it's far more accurate than other testing methods. With the symptoms you describe, I suspect giardia could be the culprit. It's a protozoic parasite, and you'll often get flares of mucousy, bloody diarrhoea in between bouts of normal bms. It's easy enough to treat with the right antibiotic though, so while it does need sorting asap, it's not something to panic about ;) [article="31569"][/article]
 
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profdanglais

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I did wonder about giardia, it seems likely based on his symptoms, but wouldn't Hester have it too? She has never had any abnormal stool. 

Thanks for the reassurance. I am feeling a bit emotional today and the return of soft poo after he had been doing so well, eating enthusiastically and growing, set me off and I had to have a little cry. Husband thinks I'm crazy. 
 

Columbine

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:hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs::hugs: So sorry to hear today isn't great for you :alright: Even on a good day, something like the return of soft poo is understandably both frustrating and worrying - especially in young kittens. Hang in there hun. You're a great mom to these two, and they're so lucky to have found such a wonderful home :hugs:
 
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