Advice On Switching Kitten From Wet To Dry Food.

[gaatsby]

I've recently gotten a bengal kitten who is approximately 11 weeks old. For plenty of reasons that involve health and other things that I could give you that could easily exceed whatever word limit this site has, I am making the choice that it is best to switch him to a dry food. So, like. This little thread is about switching him. Not about your opinions on wet vs. dry food. If that's all you come here to talk about I simply don't care to hear it because I don't care to spend my free time explaining my choices and reasonings to a stranger over the web.

My veterinarian and boss has given me a dry food ('Earthborn' brand kitten food) to transition him to but I am having a hard time doing so. He recently got a bacterial infection from the raw diet that the breeder provided me, like, the day I brought him home so we transitioned him to wet food with little problems. I've tried wetting it but it seems he still doesn't even acknowledge it?

If anybody else has done it before, how did you do it? In your experience, are bengals more picky eaters than most?

 

[kestria]

From what I’ve heard, bengals tend to have more sensitive stomachs than other cats and don’t do as well with food transitions. Have you tried mixing the dry in with some wet? I think that would be the way to get started if you want to switch.

 

[rgwanner]

I do not know about Bengals specifically. However I have transitioned domestic kittens several times. I have found that Royal Canin Babycat works well. It is a high quality food. You might try it. At this point it sounds like the most important thing is that he eat dry food, and so the brand may not be the most important thing. If he would eat the RC then you could transition him back to the brand your vet recommends.

I hope he gets better.

 

[Minxxy]

I've recently gotten a bengal kitten who is approximately 11 weeks old. For plenty of reasons that involve health and other things that I could give you that could easily exceed whatever word limit this site has, I am making the choice that it is best to switch him to a dry food. So, like. This little thread is about switching him. Not about your opinions on wet vs. dry food. If that's all you come here to talk about I simply don't care to hear it because I don't care to spend my free time explaining my choices and reasonings to a stranger over the web.

My veterinarian and boss has given me a dry food ('Earthborn' brand kitten food) to transition him to but I am having a hard time doing so. He recently got a bacterial infection from the raw diet that the breeder provided me, like, the day I brought him home so we transitioned him to wet food with little problems. I've tried wetting it but it seems he still doesn't even acknowledge it?

If anybody else has done it before, how did you do it? In your experience, are bengals more picky eaters than most?

I've never had a problem with my cats eating dry food . They actually prefer it . I feed www.drelseys.com It is high protein low carb. I'm not sure if that is for kittens though. You can also check out Young Again. They do h..a ve a kitten formula.
50/22 Lil Bites
50/22 Lil Bites

 

[duckpond]

Most cats will eat dry, they may just be fussy on the brand, all cats are picky, no matter the breed. I have fussy outside stray cats i feed I tried Earthborn dry, as my cats like their wet food. My guys would not eat the Earthborn dry food. and mine will never eat kibble that i have added water or wet food to. they are picky that way.

I will second Dr. Elseys dry food, its what i feed all of my guys and they like it a lot. Chewy is where i get mine, and they do offer a small 2 lb bag of Dr. Elseys to try.

That being said i have found that most cats take to Purina dry foods quite easily. Anytime i take in a rescue that does not want to eat i pull out the Purina, they have a lot of dry foods to choose from. Even if you dont want to stick with Purina forever it might be a good choice to start him with? Then if he likes it start adding in small amounts of what you want him to eat long term, and change him over slowly. Or stick with Purina, a lot of cats do good on Purina dry foods. I would still try to go as high protein, moderate fat, and low carb as possible.

My little white cat will only eat dry, i just make sure to keep several fresh bowls of filtered water out. and a Water fountain that she loves.

you can check out a lot of information on dry foods at the cat food data base.

CatFoodDB - Cat Food Reviews to help you find the best cat food for your cat

 

[Saf]

Dry food is like Pringles or Nachos. It's not hard getting a cat to eat it, it's hard getting them to stop.

Be sure to watch his drinking habits. He'll need to become a prolific drinker to avoid health issues. A rule of thumb is he should be drinking at least 70ml of water for every 30g of dry food. You can weigh his bowl of water to find how much he's drinking. 1g = 1ml

 

[Furballsmom]

On behalf of your cat; leave a tap dripping or as mentioned, get a cat water fountain--some even have two levels. Many cats will prefer running water over water that is sitting stagnant in a bowl. Change the water often, some cats will only drink fresh water. Try putting distilled or bottled water in the cat’s dish, they can tell the difference between the tastes and some will not like either tap or bottled water. All of these suggestions are for a healthy cat to prevent it from becoming dehydrated.

Earthborn isn't a great food for your cat. Find something better such as Dr Elsey's Clean protein kibble, then if needed try bonito flakes as a topper/enticement.

Welcome to Best Cat Food for Cats
Pet Food Guide

If your cat still resists, try Raw Feeding Cats: Types Of Raw Diets & Feeding Options

So, to clarify in case you're unfamiliar, additives that people typically do not like are agar agar, carrageenan, the various glutens(such as wheat gluten, etc), menadione bisulfate which is a synthetic vitamin K, and some people find that their cats don't do well with the starches (pea starch, potato etc), or they try to avoid grains, or some vegetables.

Other ingredients that aren't liked but can be found in cat foods are artificial colors, sodium nitrite and sodium nitrate, BHT, BHA, Ethoxyquin, sodium selenite - selenium, sodium, glucose, sucrose, corn syrup, propylene gycol, propyl gallate.

Rendering products are a challenging additive/ingredient since the consumer has no real way of knowing by looking at a label - I'm hoping that someone else creates a database we can use since I heard back from the people at Cornucopia regarding the Pet Food Guide, and they're not going to continue maintaining it. Reviews . com also has a cat food page that might be of use.

Depending on what you can afford and what concerns you the most versus the least, the most important thing is what will your cat eat - that is the best food.

Many members try and offset the bad additives by rotating foods, some expensive with some that is not, some with one bad ingredient, then the next day or two feeding something that doesn't have that bad thing but might have something else.

The idea is to give the cat's system a better chance to deal with bad stuff. Also, a variety can help if the manufacturer discontinues a favorite brand, which happens more frequently than it should.

 

[Ladewyn]

I would say you probably need to try a different kibble. We once got a new food for my brother's cat and my cat and neither would touch it, even after a week. We returned it, got a different brand, and it was all good. It may be a bit harder if he hasn't done kibble before, but definitely don't be afraid to switch up the flavour and brand until you find one he likes. You can also get 'sample' sized bags at a lot of pet food stores of different foods that may be worth trying. Regardless of what you feed, just as make sure you're transitioning slowly so as not to screw up his tummy. It may also help to pretend the new kibble is a treat for a little while.

 

[Furballsmom]

this might also help
Dry Food Comparison Chart | Zero Carb and Grain Free Cat Food

 

[Monk'sMom]

Transitioning a fussy cat... been there.
I do recommend what kestria said above. Try mixing and increase the food you are going towards incrementally. Mixing some dry food into a (small) amount of the wet food your cat likes best might work. If the cat just licks around it, leave it there without offering anything for a while. The smell/taste of his beloved food is still stuck to the dry kibbles.
Good luck!

 

[rgwanner]

How is the little one doing? What (if anyting) worked?

 

[Bella’s mom]

I've never had a problem with my cats eating dry food . They actually prefer it . I feed www.drelseys.com It is high protein low carb. I'm not sure if that is for kittens though. You can also check out Young Again. They do h..a ve a kitten formula.
50/22 Lil Bites
50/22 Lil Bites

My cats eat dr elseys, +primal raw, Stella and chewys