4 month old underweight kitten has become fussy about food since ~5 days...

[u_u]

Hi there.

My parents picked up a ~10 week old doll-face Persian kitten in early January from a breeder. She was already eating dry food, but we transitioned her to wetfood (pate) in the coming weeks after. The brand we started on was Fancy Feast kitten and we rotated 4 flavors with no problems. The flavors were: Chicken, Turkey, Whitefish, Salmon. On average she'd eat a whole can a day, although she eventually stopped liking Whitefish/Salmon. She was also really small when we got her-- I assume she was the runt of the litter, but she was steadily gaining weight with our care. Her last weighing was on Feb 26th when we took her to the vet final vaccine visit; she was 3.1 pounds and she gained 1 pound compared to the visit on Jan 29th. I assume the weight gain looked good to my vet because she didn't mention anything else about it.

Fast forward to about a week ago (she's now just 4 months old) and she has lost complete interest in Fancy Feast and she's become very difficult to feed. So far she's done two separate 12 hour "strikes" where she will sniff whatever I put down, nibble a little and just walk off... sometimes she won't even nibble. Since then (last Saturday), I've immediately been trying different foods. The first new food I tried was Blue Healthy Gourmet Chicken Pate (kitten), this along with whatever Fancy Feast kitten flavor she'd eat worked for a little while then she also lost interest in it-- can't even get half a can done. Couple of days ago, I learned of "all ages" canned food and Fancy Feast had some of these, so this opened up more flavor options. Sadly, it's still difficult to get her to eat much and according to the back of the can, I need to be feeding her twice the amount of an adult daily serving for her age, which I come no where close. I do leave a bowl of dryfood out for her to snack on (it's a Nutro brand), but she barely eats out of it.

She does still play a lot (for now?) and still has some really wild episodes here and there like last night where she was extremely crazy from 3AM to 4AM. However, I'm very worried about her weight. She was already behind by a pound according to internet information (apparently at 4 months of age she should be about 4 pounds) and her recent choice of skipping multiple meals must be having an impact on that.

Some pictures I just took of her:
[Click]
[Click]
[Click]
[Click]

Something I probably should mention is from the time we got her, my parents would slip in adult food here and there. My father feeds outside cats with cheap Friskies wetfood and whenever he does this, he always feels obligated to drop a spoonful into her bowl-- usually twice a day. My mother would feed these to her sometimes. [Click] [Click]
So I'm not sure if what my parents did contributed to creating this finicky behavior or not.

So with all that out of the way... does anybody have any advice for me? Any USA food recommendations that won't break the bank? Is it normal that I will have to possibly rotate brands so often and alternate between unfinished cans throughout the day/week?

Thank you!

 

[susanm9006]

Have you tried giving her some kibble? Some cats just prefer it and since that is what she ate early on she may just want that. There is nothing wrong with giving her both and you can try some other quality brand wet foods .

 

[mentat]

Multiple people feeding throughout the day results in no one knowing her actual caloric/volume intake per day. Ask your dad to always offer a set amount, i.e. quarter of 5oz can, once daily so you know what she is getting. A "spoonful" twice daily could be as much as 2-3oz twice daily, which would be very filling and lead her to satiety, so no hunger when you start dropping a buffet in front of her. If he "always" feeds the Friskies, same diet, same texture, she may already have a preference now for that diet. Work with the other "feeders" in the home, organizing a plan to feed seafood fancy feast this week for ex, then poultry next week, then beef/ham flavor after that. Introducing dry and introducing cooked meat texture can ensure she does not develop feeding behavior problems when you need her to eat these types of food medically or due to limited availability of other foods in future. 24 hours inappetance is the concern point per cat vets, but your kitten is eating daily, just not when 1 (you) of 3 people in the home feed her. Good luck with your Persian beauty.

 

[kittenmittens84]

If she’s coming to the food bowl, sniffing and/or taking a few bites, and then walking away then it’s possible she’s not feeling well, that’s a common sign of nausea in cats.

 

[cataholic07]

I would say vet visit just to ensure she's not sick. It could be her being picky (I actually fed my boys 6 different brands and flavors every week and kept changing) my one cat Jethro was extremely picky and wouldn't always eat. They would not eat any dry food at all. Once I switched to a premade raw however, they love it and inhale it all. So try different flavors/brands (and carragean free as much as possible) some cats like different textures, some only will eat the same type. Having fostered 19 kittens, yah I understand a picky kitten lol. I always fed different flavors every day and 2-3 brands. Also I would recommend heating it up a little bit to help entice her

 

[u_u]

Have you tried giving her some kibble? Some cats just prefer it and since that is what she ate early on she may just want that. There is nothing wrong with giving her both and you can try some other quality brand wet foods .

She lost almost complete interest in dryfood when she was exposed to wet. We do leave some out for her to snack on, but she barely eats any.

Multiple people feeding throughout the day results in no one knowing her actual caloric/volume intake per day. Ask your dad to always offer a set amount, i.e. quarter of 5oz can, once daily so you know what she is getting. A "spoonful" twice daily could be as much as 2-3oz twice daily, which would be very filling and lead her to satiety, so no hunger when you start dropping a buffet in front of her. If he "always" feeds the Friskies, same diet, same texture, she may already have a preference now for that diet. Work with the other "feeders" in the home, organizing a plan to feed seafood fancy feast this week for ex, then poultry next week, then beef/ham flavor after that. Introducing dry and introducing cooked meat texture can ensure she does not develop feeding behavior problems when you need her to eat these types of food medically or due to limited availability of other foods in future. 24 hours inappetance is the concern point per cat vets, but your kitten is eating daily, just not when 1 (you) of 3 people in the home feed her. Good luck with your Persian beauty.

Honestly, I think you could be right in that she has established preference for that texture now. He hasn't fed her as much in a while; I forgot to mention that it's mainly been me that is feeding her for the past week or 2. I wonder if she could be protesting in some way because she's not getting any more of that adult food that she was fed somewhat frequently since it gave so much diversity in her meals. I'll see about reintroducing some of it and we'll keep track and do more planning.

If she’s coming to the food bowl, sniffing and/or taking a few bites, and then walking away then it’s possible she’s not feeling well, that’s a common sign of nausea in cats.

It's possible, but her behavior hasn't changed at all. She's still very lively and hasn't shown signs of lethargy nor has she thrown up. And if I serve her a different food, she's likely to go after that instead-- especially if it's fresh (just opened can) and not warmed up leftovers from the refrigerator... I think out of my desperation I'm creating a bad habit that will be costly. >_<;

I would say vet visit just to ensure she's not sick. It could be her being picky (I actually fed my boys 6 different brands and flavors every week and kept changing) my one cat Jethro was extremely picky and wouldn't always eat. They would not eat any dry food at all. Once I switched to a premade raw however, they love it and inhale it all. So try different flavors/brands (and carragean free as much as possible) some cats like different textures, some only will eat the same type. Having fostered 19 kittens, yah I understand a picky kitten lol. I always fed different flavors every day and 2-3 brands. Also I would recommend heating it up a little bit to help entice her

Thank you. I had a previous cat who ate the same brand (fancy feast) her whole life, so I was mistaken to think this would be the same. This is my first time raising a kitten (we just adopted an adult cat before), so I have things to learn.

Carragean free? I'll keep in that mind. Reading now, it looks like Blue brand uses "carragean" in their "Healthy Gourmet" line. :X

And yeah, I recently started warming up the food (in the can) by floating it in a cup of warm water for some time. It does help some.

 

[mentat]

However, I'm very worried about her weight. She was already behind by a pound according to internet information (apparently at 4 months of age she should be about 4 pounds) and her recent choice of skipping multiple meals must be having an impact on that.

Body condition scoring, rather than a specific number in weight, is how vets determine appropriate development and feeding. The online kitten growth and weight gain charts are a guide, not a rule. Be careful applying these to your unique cat. Many individual persian kittens are smaller than the standard size. Heck, moggie DSH kittens can be smaller than standard. My last adoptee was 1.5lbs at 4 months. 5lbs now, and she's a 6 out of 9 (6/9) BCS as an adult, her wee frame is a little round right now. She's my only fatty, as she tips so easily towards overweight, increased body condition with a meager 50kcal extra in stolen goods daily ;]

Just don't want you worrying about a "standard" that doesn't fit your girl anyway. She sounds petite, and appropriate at the 2 kitten visits you described.

 

[mentat]

My Cat Won't Eat: Feeding Picky Eaters
"One approach is to offer food at a morning mealtime, leave it out for 15-30 minutes, then take it away until the next mealtime. At the next mealtime, offer the food again for 15-30 minutes. Whatever is not consumed is removed. This approach works best with dry kibble. If you offer canned food, it is best to discard what is not eaten in order to prevent illness from spoiled food. Unfortunately, this means wasting food. To reduce waste, offer just a small amount of food per meal, gradually increasing to an appropriate meal size as the smaller volumes are eaten consistently. Offer frequent meals initially – at least 4-5 meals a day to avoid too little calorie consumption. As your cat starts eating more at each meal, you can try decreasing meal frequency."

make feeding time interesting and active with puzzles and games. Food Puzzles for Cats started by feline behaviorists and surgeons.

 

[mentat]

Many good notes here on how we condition our cats to be fussy/picky inadvertently. How to Feed a Fussy Cat

 

[jefferd18]

Your kitten is a beauty! I agree with mentat- she simply doesn't look like she is sick or malnourished. Her eyes are bright and from what you have told us she has boundless energy. j

 

[Jemima Lucca]

My kitten Jemima was as you described your little one. She would turn her nose up at most food we gave her. It ran the gamut from canned to kibble to raw etc. our vet even gave us flakes that were supposed to be irresistible to cats. Jemima also ran a pound behind the month age. But she was alert, active bright eyed and healthy. She did have 2 episodes of vomiting. One was to a beef/hoki wet food and another time to a fish flavored tiki brand. We settled on raw Stella and chewys and/or primal pork (believe it or not). She’s expanded her tastes to a New Zealand brand called kiwi kitchens. Jemima likes lamb and venison best. My vet said because she is so finicky, we need to constantly rotate her food. We also get freeze dried raw Stella and chewys. When she turns her nose up, we crumble some of the freeze dried food over what ever she won’t try. It’s been a lot of work and coaxing to get her to eat well. With 2 kittens, it’s been a challenge because Lucca eats anything and everything ! Jemima’s vet said she’ll always be smaller. Sorry to ramble but I hope it helps you a little she’s the smaller kitten-Lucca is 3 months younger and 5 lbs heavier

 

[u_u]

I thought I'd update just in case somebody comes across this thread with a similar situation:

Shortly after posting this thread, I began looking more closely at her eating behavior and tried feeding her in different ways; finger feeding (yuck!) and a makeshift "lick-able feeding stick" (plastic zip bag with snip'd edge) gave me positive results-- it showed me that she was still willing to eat enough as she usually would and that there was something wrong with bowl. She denied the very same food in her bowl, but would eat it if I fed her with either of the two methods I mentioned above. Of course this is not something I want to keep doing for long. >_<

So after some reading around, it turns out breeds with a flat-type face (even though mine isn't that flat compared to most Persians) don't like the kind of bowls my parents had bought when we just got her. Something about whisker stress? I don't know exactly, but I guess this would explain why since the beginning she would always take a sizeable chunk out of her bowl and then eat it off the floor. My guess is that the food just wasn't enticing her enough to put up with the stress of eating out of her bowl and that's why she wasn't eating that much when I posted this thread.

So since then, I now opted to temporarily feed her on a shallow plate; she no longer drops food onto the floor and seems to be eating fine now. I'll try to look for a proper (not overpriced) bowl for her soon.

 

[Jemima Lucca]

I thought I'd update just in case somebody comes across this thread with a similar situation:

Shortly after posting this thread, I began looking more closely at her eating behavior and tried feeding her in different ways; finger feeding (yuck!) and a makeshift "lick-able feeding stick" (plastic zip bag with snip'd edge) gave me positive results-- it showed me that she was still willing to eat enough as she usually would and that there was something wrong with bowl. She denied the very same food in her bowl, but would eat it if I fed her with either of the two methods I mentioned above. Of course this is not something I want to keep doing for long. >_<

So after some reading around, it turns out breeds with a flat-type face (even though mine isn't that flat compared to most Persians) don't like the kind of bowls my parents had bought when we just got her. Something about whisker stress? I don't know exactly, but I guess this would explain why since the beginning she would always take a sizeable chunk out of her bowl and then eat it off the floor. My guess is that the food just wasn't enticing her enough to put up with the stress of eating out of her bowl and that's why she wasn't eating that much when I posted this thread.

So since then, I now opted to temporarily feed her on a shallow plate; she no longer drops food onto the floor and seems to be eating fine now. I'll try to look for a proper (not overpriced) bowl for her soon.

What I did was go to the humane society thrift store and bought a bunch of porcelain bowls, not sure what they’re for, but very shallow. They are maybe the size of a 4in bagel. Any bowl like that will work. I got them for .75 each. Otherwise you’ll pay $7-8 at a pet store. And I guess plastic is somewhat off putting to finicky cats