kitten to adult food at 5 months?

destinyz12

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I am going to start switching my kitten over to adult food soon after she is spayed (she will be 5 months), since that seems to be the consistent recommendation-switching over after spaying because of their metabolism slowing down.  My only concern is- will that hinder her growth and development in any way since she will still be growing at that point?  Since she gets a mix of wet and dry food, I was thinking of possibly only switching one of the 2 over to adult (probably the canned food) and keep one kitten version (dry food) for a little longer.  Any thoughts or advice on all of the above?  On a side note, another question- Is it also still recommended to slowly wean a cat from one dry food to another if it's say, just from the kitten version to the adult version of the same brand and flavor? (Whole Earth farms grain-free chicken) I think the only difference would be the calorie/fat content and the kitten version has salmon meal as an added ingredient for some reason, and the adult one does not(thank god).   Thanks!
 

msserena

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I kept my kittens on kitten food til they were around 1 year old. Because their bodies are still growing & getting their immunities up, kitten food has different stuff then adult food.

You can switch flavors between brands no problem, when you switch from brand to brand, that's when stomach upset can occur.
 

Kieka

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I would leave her on kitten food until she's a year old. Kittens need the added nutrition in kitten food to continue to grow. I've never had a problem with a cat getting fat after they were spayed/neutered. I've had a few cats that the vet wanted to lose a pound or two but that was usually remedied with a reduction in wet food on that one cat and a short term switch in dry food to a lower calorie count one. Rocket was my last kitten and I fed all three cats kitten food until she was a year old then we switched to the all stages food. The boys did gain a smidgen of weight during the 6-7 months they had access to kitten food but they lost that fairly quickly once they were off kitten food. I should point out that my cats do go outside during the day and run around a lot so they likely get more exercise than the typical indoor only cat. 

All that said, I've heard a lot of indoor only cat owners do switch off kitten food after spay/neuter. If you do take that route you want to make sure you pick a good high protein, low carb food option to make sure she still has the nutrition she needs to grow. If I am remembering right, the biggest difference in kitten food is a higher protein to fat ratio and more calories per cup. You'll want to read the nutrition on your kitten food and pick an adult food that is lower fat, lower calories but still high in protein. If you are staying within brand that shouldn't be a major issue but it doesn't hurt to verify.

The other option is to closely monitor her weight and growth when you notice her weight increasing just around the midsection without any physical growth elsewhere then switch off the kitten food. It really is a question of personal comfort and what is best for you. If you are willing to watch her and switch if she puts on too much weight so she can get the added kitten nutrition do that (just be willing to also help her lose the weight if needed). Or just switch to adult food so it isn't as big of a concern. I've always been hyper vigilant when it comes to my cats weight. If they appear to be packing on some extra weight I up the play and if that doesn't help I work on portion control better. 

For myself, when switching foods, since I have 3 cats I usually buy the 12+ pound bags. I have a garage storage bin that holds about 20 pounds and an indoor bin that holds about 5 pounds. I will just add a scoop of the new food to the old as the indoor bin has room. So old food low in the indoor bin, add a scoop of the new, mix well, indoor bin low, add scoop of new, mix well, that method works well for me because I have the space and it slowly increases the ratio of new to old over a few weeks. I've never had any problems switching food with that method. On a smaller scale you can put 3/4 cups of old and 1/4 cup of new in a ziploc bag, mix well and feed, when that mix is gone do 1/2 cup and 1/2 cup, mix well and feed, then 1/4 cup old and 3/4 cup new. You might have to adjust the quantity depending on how much you feed but the idea is to transition over at least a week so your kitties tummy can adjust. Even if it is just kitten to adult of the same brand a slow transition is a good idea. Yeah, you could do it quickly but there is no way to know in advance if your kitty will have trouble with a quick switch within the same brand so why risk it? 
 
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destinyz12

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Thanks for the info.  I have a few more weeks to decide, but I think maybe I will try staying with the kitten food for a little longer and just monitoring her weight, and then switch over if she seems to be gaining extra weight.  She's an indoor cat but still extremely active/hyper as most kittens are, so hopefully she continues to stay just as active after the spaying. 
 

LTS3

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I never fed kitten food to my Aby. He ate commercial raw food as soon as he was weaned. His growth and developement was not hindered in any way.

You could feed both kitten and adult food until your cat is a year old and then completely feed adult food.
 

oldgloryrags88

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I use kitten food until my (large breed) Ragdolls are 18 months old. They're a slow growing breed. My girl is 5 months old now and eats a all life stages diet. Have you looked into one of those by chance?
 
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destinyz12

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I've noticed that some brands have an "all life stages" option but I never really looked into it.  What brand do you use?  And is the formula in these ones generally closer to a kitten stage, an adult stage, or some kind of balance in between?
 
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oldgloryrags88

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Taste of the Wild river canyon is what I normally use. 15lbs for $26. Yes, the protein percentage on it is 32%. Their rocky mountain variety is 44% protein I think. Basically all pet food is the same; puppy and kitten food is just higher in protein and calories usually.
 
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