kitten/cat food?

We have a feeding question about our 3-month old kitten, Wiggles. We've been told that cats should be given kitten food until one year old. The problem is, there seems to be very little choice in that department: the supermarkets in our area carry only one brand of canned cat food marked for kittens, with only one flavor. And Wiggles has let us know in no uncertain terms that he does not like it: He asks for food but just sniffs at what I put in the dish, whines, and stares at me accusingly. We end up throwing out 2/3 of what we give him. Then, when we are eating, he repeatedly climbs up on the table until we have exile him to another room.
After several weeks of this I tried a few cans of a standard adult cat food brand that comes in several flavors. Wiggles apparently loves the stuff - He scarfs it all down and lets us eat in peace. He's still energetic and playful, although his play seems a little less aggressive. (I think he used to be in continuous stalking mode.) By these signs, the experiment seems to be a success. But I'm still uneasy: Am I setting him up for future health problems because of inadequate nutrition? (Or is this whole "kitten food" business just a marketing ploy?)

I'm certainly not an expert on feline nutrition but the little bit I do know is that kitten food is generally 35% protein and has a much higher fat content than adult cat food all stuff your kitten needs.

You mentioned the supermarket not having a varity of kitten foods, have you tried looking in your local pet shops? The food there is of a higher quality(some of them) and they tend to have a large selection of choices. I am in the process of switching my cats to Wellness and they love the stuff. Wellness does make a kitten food along with Nutro, Science diet, Iams(What we give the kittens at the clinic) and many other brands.

You usually can get food for kittens through a vet's office as well. plus you can start giving Wiggles (love the name) dry kitten food moistened with water. You can also do things like dribble small amounts of sardine oil, or tuna juice (not a whole lot) over the canned food that Wiggles so dislikes. You can heat the food up a few seconds in the microwave to help him eat it, add just a small amount of garlic to it to entice him to eat.

What about ordering kitten canned and dry food online? Have you tried petco.com for example?

At last - Triumph! (Not a boast - just the brand of kitten food Wiggles likes best.)
Thanks to the respondents for your suggestions. I no longer feel guilty that I'm starving my baby or feeding him the feline version of junk food.
But I still have one question: "Bad Habit" says kittens are supposed to get 35% protein, and I've read that elsewhere, too. But when I check out the "analysis" on the kitten food can labels, the highest I've seen is 14%. Is there something about these numbers that I'm not getting?

Good foods like Iams and Wellness say the food doesn't contain less than 34% protein..... I'm sure some brands will have a lower protein content than others.

Too bad the member who was into anaylizing pet food labels was here, she'd have a better explaination for you than I do.

says kittens are supposed to get 35% protein, and I've read that elsewhere, too. But when I check out the "analysis" on the kitten food can labels, the highest I've seen is 14%. Is there something about these numbers that I'm not getting?

Click to expand...

- you must figure it out on a "dry matter basis" to get more accurate percentages.
The triumph canned kitten food has:
12% protein as fed = 54.5% on a dry matter basis
6% fat as fed = 27% on a dry matter basis
The dry triumph kitten food has:
32% protein as fed = 35.5% on a dry matter basis
14% as fat as fed = 15.5% on a dry matter basis
Here is the formula to figure out the dry matter basis of a food:
100-(moisture content)/(protein percent)x 100 = DMB
Here is how I got the protein figure for the triumph canned kiten food:
100-78=22/12=.5454 x 100 = 54.5% DMB
Hope this helps!

Originally Posted:
"Here is the formula to figure out the dry matter basis of a food:
100-(moisture content)/(protein percent)x 100 = DMB
Here is how I got the protein figure for the triumph canned kiten food:
100-78=22/12=.5454 x 100 = 54.5% DMB"


Should have been:
Here is the formula to figure out the dry matter basis of a food:
(protein %)/(100 - moisture %)x 100 = DMB
Here is how I got the protein figure for the triumph canned kitten food:
12/(100-78=22)x 100 = 54.5% DMB

*kicks self*

I should've read the whole thread before foraging for data on my pet food. :tounge2:

My kitten food by Nutro Max dry has 35% protein. I'll admit to feeding Iams canned since that's all they'll eat, but we are working on switching our tastes to 'real' food.

Out of curiosity, what does adult food have in the way of protein? I should probably switch in a while, but I am concerned because my adult cat is at ideal weight and has eaten kitten food for her entire life. Now that my kitten is nearing a year old in August, I am considering feeding adult at some later point, but I don't want Poppy to starve. She was abused and when she feels she is not getting enough food she goes into a scarf and puke cycle.

Anyways, I also wanted to say Wiggles is a very cute name!