Hi, I'm Nikki.

adequatenikki

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Hello there!

Hope everyone is having a nice, relaxing weekend. :)

My husband and I adopted a kitten (approximately 5 months old confirmed by our vet), we were told she was 10-12 weeks when we got her on January 6th and because she's small for her age, we didn't doubt that for a second!

Goes to show my knowledge of kittens/cats, haven't had a kitten for about 12 years now since I was a young kid.
My adult cat, George, passed away a few years ago. 

We got her from a shelter, but heard that she was born in a barn.
I decided to name her Dandelion, Dandy for short. Think it suits her.

She's so weird and awesome
. This is the first cat I have had that licks my face. I've read that she will probably grow out of it, but for now I think it's inconveniently adorable. 

If anyone can give me any advice on how much she should be eating per day, that would be super helpful.
 

Right now, she''s on Kitten Purina One dry food (I also read that this is a pretty bad commercial food for her to be on, but I'm kind of out of my depth when it comes to knowing what food she SHOULD be eating, this is the brand that the shelter told me- but I really want to wean her off of it) If it helps, I live in WNY, USA area. My knowledge of dry kitten food is that it needs to be approved my AAFCO or something?

If anyone else could share their opinions on how many times a day she should be eating, that would be swell, too.
We leave food in her bowl all day and feed her Friskie's wet food puree 3 times a day (Morning, lunch, dinner). She loves her wet food.

I also play with her one on one for an hour a day and she has a huge cat tree, tunnels, toys, all the good stuff. 
I just don't want her to become overweight.

Also, right now she has signs of Chlamydia (which is unfortunate) so her eye is puffed up, but she's on the appropriate medication for it and it looks like the swelling is going down.

She's eating, playing, and drinking like a mad woman!

Anyway, sorry for the questions right off the bat!

Nice to meet all of you! :) :) 
 
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cat nap

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Hello @AdequateNikki, and welcome to the Cat Site (TCS).


Your Dandelion, Dandy, looks quite cute.


Is she a siamese or seal-point?

I'll try to answer some of your questions, but I'm not super good in the cat Nutrition department.

You'll probably get better advice if you take a look at the "Cat Nutrition Forum," and read up on some of the Articles listed in the Blue sticky section, at the top of the page.

http://www.thecatsite.com/f/64/cat-nutrition

Also if you post there, more knowledgeable members should answer you.

Because Dandy is a kitten, I think she should be eating as much as she wants.

Kittens burn off a lot of calories, running around and playing, and are constantly growing, up to about 1.5 years.

The way you are feeding her sounds good to me, in that she always has access to dry food, and really likes her wet food, too.

Most members here, suggest feeding mostly wet food, for adult cats, but I feed mine, both dry and wet, at about a 30/70 split. (I do the same as you, but feed wet only twice, morn and dinner, at age 1.5 years. Your way sounds even better.)

I live in canada, so cannot really help with brands, since my kittens were on Performatrin Kitten, then Wellness Kitten, and now eat Wellness Core, Wellness Complete Health, and the Performatrin brands.

I tend to look for meat being the first 2 to 3 ingredients listed in the dry food. For the canned food, I also buy Friskies, Wellness, Performatrin, because I want them to get variety, and not attached to just one kind of food. Some flavours and textures they like better, and some they don't. (For some odd reason, they don't like 'chunks' but only the 'pate' versions.)

If you do transition Dandy onto a new food, ...just remember to do it slowly...over a period of weeks, so as not to upset her tummy.

 [thread="248990"]Tcs Resources Thread Feline Nutrition Articles And Threads​[/thread]  

 [article="31138"]Transitioning Your Cat From Kibble To A New Type Of Food Canned Raw Or Homemade​[/article]  

Usually, it is recommended to add a little of the new, and then increase the new amount, by reducing the old brand.

I would not worry about the Chlamydia, since it is very common in kittens, and with the Vet medication you are giving, it should clear it up in 7-10 days.

As long as you use up the eye meds, like your Vet prescribed, it should take care of the problem.

I had to kind of laugh, at your mention of Dandy being 'weird and awesome'.

 This is the first cat I have had that licks my face. I've read that she will probably grow out of it, but for now I think it's inconveniently adorable
I have a female cat, 1.5 years, and she still likes to lick my face.

So you never know. Dandy may not out grow it. It might just be part of her personality.

I think it's adorable, too.


Except when it's 4 am, and she wants you to wake up.
 
 
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adequatenikki

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Hey! :)

Thanks for getting back to me.

I'm actually Canadian, too! :O Ontario representing.

I moved to the USA to get married to my Amurrrican husband. I've been here since March 2016! 

Thank you SO much for your Nutrition help. It's actually so coincidental because last night, my husband and I were researching kitten food and we decided to try the Wellness brands. 
We picked some up at Petsmart last evening.

We started weaning her off the Purina One Kitten dry food as of last night. I gave her a test kibble as a treat and she ate it right up. Thankfully Dandy doesn't seem very picky.

I felt so bad reading the Purina One kitten chow ingredients, as the first one was "Poultry byproduct."

Yeah, I'm not worried about the Chlamydia, her eyes seem to be taking very well to her medication. I just hope she isn't feeling any discomfort. 
She's still eating/drinking/playing/cuddling, so that's good. :) 

Oh my, yeah! The 4AM wake up calls have been interesting.. Like she will sit on my chest and purr until I wake up, or I'll feel her sandy papery tongue on my chin.
Thankfully, she has decided to mix it up a little bit and wake up the husband instead. :) Hopefully it'll stay that way, lool.

Yeah, the weird/awesome was in jest. She's hilarious  Right now she's currently messing with my husband's headset cord, I think I better go distract her..

Have a great day! :D 
 

tabbytom

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Welcome to TCS AdequateNikki and Dandelion :wavey:

Cat nap has given you very good information. Feel free to ask questions and also do check out the Articles section and also the other interesting threads on different topics and do post more of Dandelion's photos ;)
 
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adequatenikki

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Thanks for the warm welcome! You guys are wonderful. :) 
 
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