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Hey folks!
I'm fostering a (super cute) 12 week old kitten. She came in with a load of 40 stray cats from some communities in neighbouring provinces. It was a two day road trip to get them to us. Most of the cats that came through were pregnant moms, mothers and their kittens, etc. but this little gal came all on her own and is a bit of a mystery! She has her own bedroom, our spare room, and I've been keeping her isolated away from my cat. I'll have had her for 10 days tomorrow.
She's a special little thing- super confident right from the get go, chatty, and a huge cuddle bug. We did a quick vet visit with the rescue's vet when I picked her up so she could be vaccinated, dewormed and given flea treatment. The vet said that other than being underweight, she looked quite good and in better condition than a lot of the cats coming in from this batch.
The rescue is very small and short on cash, so you're not sent home with the best resources. I knew this ahead of time, so bought her a nice bed, toys, scratcher, etc but figured I'd take the food the rescue gave me since that's what she had been eating during the last few days. It was adult formula Meow Mix (womp womp). I got her home and she started scarfing down the kibble and was super perky and great meeting my roommates. The next day, she was pretty lethargic and not feeling great. I struggled to get her to eat over the next 24 hours- long story short, I took her back to the rescue's vet and they chalked it up to be an adverse reaction to the vaccines. They gave her an injection to help reverse the effects, hooked her up to an IV, gave me a can of A/D (critical care) food and sent us on our way. Thankfully, this seemed to do the trick, we got home and she scarfed down the kibble that was on the floor for her and loved the A/D. She's been back to her perky self since then.
Now, here's my current issue. I bought her some better food, a mix of kibble and wet food formulated for kittens. Of course, she turned her nose up to it and just wanted the Meow Mix. She got tired of the A/D and didn't want the rest of that either, and even seemed to get tired of the Meow Mix. Desperate to keep her gaining weight and eating, I gave her some of my cat's lunch time kibble (just some grain free adult formula Nutro, she eats raw for breakfast and dinner and I just get her whatever kibble for a snack at lunch). She, of course, loved this. But kitten is a kitten and I want her on an age appropriate diet! I thought that since all her favourite food was the "McDonald's" of cat food, I went out and got some Purina Kitten Chow to see if that could at least keep her eating for now, and she wants nothing to do with it. I've tried cans of gravy-type cat food, and she does eat some of that and grazes on my cat's kibble, but I have yet to find something that she'll consistently eat. She, of course, loves temptations and will eat some kibble if I put temptations in there, but the excitement doesn't last too long.
I know feeding her a variety of food isn't great and is just going to make her pickier, but with her being underweight my top priority is getting her to a healthy weight then worrying moreso about what diet she'll be on. My brother may adopt her, and I really want to find a diet I can send her home with so I'm not just passing on the problem- I want to set them up for success!
My question is- does anyone have any advice for what I can do to find a food she'll consistently eat that isn't a super complicated/expensive diet? I've spent so much money on this foster already and have limited funds, and so does the rescue so I don't want to ask them for support paying for all this food. She's darn near perfect except for being such a picky critter! My cat is a food fiend and pickiness has never been a problem, I feel so ill equipped to deal with a picky cat!
Thank you so much in advance for any advice you have for me! Attached is a picture of the little stinker for cat tax, of course.
I'm fostering a (super cute) 12 week old kitten. She came in with a load of 40 stray cats from some communities in neighbouring provinces. It was a two day road trip to get them to us. Most of the cats that came through were pregnant moms, mothers and their kittens, etc. but this little gal came all on her own and is a bit of a mystery! She has her own bedroom, our spare room, and I've been keeping her isolated away from my cat. I'll have had her for 10 days tomorrow.
She's a special little thing- super confident right from the get go, chatty, and a huge cuddle bug. We did a quick vet visit with the rescue's vet when I picked her up so she could be vaccinated, dewormed and given flea treatment. The vet said that other than being underweight, she looked quite good and in better condition than a lot of the cats coming in from this batch.
The rescue is very small and short on cash, so you're not sent home with the best resources. I knew this ahead of time, so bought her a nice bed, toys, scratcher, etc but figured I'd take the food the rescue gave me since that's what she had been eating during the last few days. It was adult formula Meow Mix (womp womp). I got her home and she started scarfing down the kibble and was super perky and great meeting my roommates. The next day, she was pretty lethargic and not feeling great. I struggled to get her to eat over the next 24 hours- long story short, I took her back to the rescue's vet and they chalked it up to be an adverse reaction to the vaccines. They gave her an injection to help reverse the effects, hooked her up to an IV, gave me a can of A/D (critical care) food and sent us on our way. Thankfully, this seemed to do the trick, we got home and she scarfed down the kibble that was on the floor for her and loved the A/D. She's been back to her perky self since then.
Now, here's my current issue. I bought her some better food, a mix of kibble and wet food formulated for kittens. Of course, she turned her nose up to it and just wanted the Meow Mix. She got tired of the A/D and didn't want the rest of that either, and even seemed to get tired of the Meow Mix. Desperate to keep her gaining weight and eating, I gave her some of my cat's lunch time kibble (just some grain free adult formula Nutro, she eats raw for breakfast and dinner and I just get her whatever kibble for a snack at lunch). She, of course, loved this. But kitten is a kitten and I want her on an age appropriate diet! I thought that since all her favourite food was the "McDonald's" of cat food, I went out and got some Purina Kitten Chow to see if that could at least keep her eating for now, and she wants nothing to do with it. I've tried cans of gravy-type cat food, and she does eat some of that and grazes on my cat's kibble, but I have yet to find something that she'll consistently eat. She, of course, loves temptations and will eat some kibble if I put temptations in there, but the excitement doesn't last too long.
I know feeding her a variety of food isn't great and is just going to make her pickier, but with her being underweight my top priority is getting her to a healthy weight then worrying moreso about what diet she'll be on. My brother may adopt her, and I really want to find a diet I can send her home with so I'm not just passing on the problem- I want to set them up for success!
My question is- does anyone have any advice for what I can do to find a food she'll consistently eat that isn't a super complicated/expensive diet? I've spent so much money on this foster already and have limited funds, and so does the rescue so I don't want to ask them for support paying for all this food. She's darn near perfect except for being such a picky critter! My cat is a food fiend and pickiness has never been a problem, I feel so ill equipped to deal with a picky cat!
Thank you so much in advance for any advice you have for me! Attached is a picture of the little stinker for cat tax, of course.
Otherwise I swear he'd starve himself to death 
