Looking for opinions/suggestions!

[xojessie]

Hey everyone!
I have recently adopted a kitten. She was about 15 weeks when we got her and is now about 19 weeks!
When we first got her, from what I could tell, she was just being fed a low quality commercial dry food. So being a bit of a food snob (lots of pet store type jobs-mainly lots of dog knowledge) I started researching cat nutrition/diets.
Now, I know Raw would be the ideal diet for her, but having a toddler and dogs, it isn't quite something I'm able/willing to go all out on and we have limited freezer space .... I've heard if you feed raw, they should eat exclusively raw??
I've came to the conclusion that what will work best for our household would be a canned and freeze dried/dehydrated diet. So my questions..
1.) Is it okay to feed a mix of them? I am having a hard time finding any sort of solid answers on that. I picked up a bag of the Primal today to try out (which she devoured!)
I was thinking, half can of wet in the morning, freeze dried lunch and the remaining can for dinner..?
2.)I was also planning(hoping) to vary the proteins/brands of freeze dried/dehydrated.. as I do mix her wet food.. she doesn't generally get the same proteins/brands everyday. I use a variety of Merrick, Tiki, Go!, Weruva, etc. Is this something that is OK for cats? As of yet, there hasn't been any issues with her stools or vomiting, so I've just kept the alternating .
3.) I have also been leaving about 1/4 cup of dry food out for her. She gets it in some sort of interactive/forging toy, so she doesn't just inhale it.. Sometimes she'll eat the majority in 24hours and other times it can last 2-3 days. Now I know kibble for cats isn't the most ideal.. I have her on Acana and was thinking that maybe once that bag runs out, I'd just stick solely to wet/freeze dried/dehydrated.. any thoughts on this? I don't mind a small amount of kibble for crunching purposes..plus being a kitten if she needs a snack in between meals??
4.) Lastly, does anyone have thoughts on maybe throwing in a store bought raw food into the mix? I'm trying to find what's best with our budget so I don't think a exclusive raw diet is something we can manage at this point. But every now and again, would it hurt to give her a portion?
My apologies for this being so long!!! I havent had much luck getting any of these questions answered. I was hoping to get some input and options from all of you!
Thank you in advance!
-C

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• xojessie
• Feb 3, 2017

 

[dorimon]

No worries!  And she's such a cutie--what is her name?

 

[xojessie]

Thanks so much for your reply! I've heard such mixed things..especially with kibble involved.
Her name is Jessie

 

[lisahe]

We also feed a combination of foods and proteins, in five meals a day. We feed commercial raw, homemade cooked, and canned, and that works very well to keep our cats from getting too bored with their food!

 

[dorimon]

Thanks so much for your reply! I've heard such mixed things..especially with kibble involved.
Her name is Jessie

Try to feed as little dry and as much wet/raw as possible.  Ultimately, you have to find what works for you.  Our kitties get at most 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) of dry each day, and we plan to phase out the dry food.

 
We also feed a combination of foods and proteins, in five meals a day. We feed commercial raw, homemade cooked, and canned, and that works very well to keep our cats from getting too bored with their food!

I've had some pet owners tell me I'm crazy when they learn we feed four meals to the kitties each day.  I don't understand  Why are our feline or canine babies less important than human babies?  It  would be considered neglect if one were to only feed a human child one meal per day.

 

[lisahe]

 
Try to feed as little dry and as much wet/raw as possible.  Ultimately, you have to find what works for you.  Our kitties get at most 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) of dry each day, and we plan to phase out the dry food.

I've had some pet owners tell me I'm crazy when they learn we feed four meals to the kitties each day.  I don't understand  Why are our feline or canine babies less important than human babies?  It  would be considered neglect if one were to only feed a human child one meal per day.

Yes, the important thing is finding what works for individual cats.

That's "what works" is why we feed five meals a day! One of our cats tends to overeat (and then barf) if she's fed too much at a time. Beyond that, she always claims to be hungry -- the cats are rescue cats and were underfed when we adopted them -- so all the small meals help keep her feeling like she's being fed. It's easy for us to feed all those meals because I work at home but even when I'm traveling, my husband is able to feed at least four meals even on days when he's at the office. It's all a matter of timing! And portion control.

 

[dorimon]

 
Yes, the important thing is finding what works for individual cats.

That's "what works" is why we feed five meals a day! One of our cats tends to overeat (and then barf) if she's fed too much at a time. Beyond that, she always claims to be hungry -- the cats are rescue cats and were underfed when we adopted them -- so all the small meals help keep her feeling like she's being fed. It's easy for us to feed all those meals because I work at home but even when I'm traveling, my husband is able to feed at least four meals even on days when he's at the office. It's all a matter of timing! And portion control.

Our older one used to be very aggressive in demanding food.  We decided to split up her two meals (what she used to get from her previous home) into four meals, so that there was less time between meals.  I think it helps her feel less hungry throughout the day when the food is rationed out into small servings throughout the day.

We feed "first breakfast" in the morning when we wake up (5-6am), "second breakfast" before my husband leaves for work (8-9am) or around noon on weekends, "first dinner" when we get home from work (6-7pm), and "second dinner" before bedtime (11pm).

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

...

We feed "first breakfast" in the morning when we wake up (5-6am), "second breakfast" before my husband leaves for work (8-9am) or around noon on weekends, "first dinner" when we get home from work (6-7pm), and "second dinner" before bedtime (11pm).

lol, my husband and I do the same for our cat! We call it "Breakfast" (6-7am), "Brunch" (11am, usually commercial raw food), "Teatime" (3-4pm) and "Dinner" (5-6pm). Sometimes there's a midnight snackies too. -sigh-

 

[lisahe]

I'm glad to hear we're not the only ones: here it's breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, and bedtime snack. The schedule when I'm traveling is like @dorimon's!

 

[xojessie]

Omg! I saw somewhere cays should eat every 5-6 hours...so I haven't been able to give her a bedtime snack more than a few times..as dinner is about 630 and I head to bed around 1030... so glad I can give her something to tie her over until morning! I've been feeling awful she had to wait so long!!
Thanks guys!

 

[cindycrna]

We have kittens right now and I am trying to raise them on a proper diet.  Our 6 month old may be fighting FIP, another story.  I had never heard of freeze dried raw until Stella and Chewy's and that works great for us. Possible FIP kitten was from a shelter and wasn't a big canned fan and right now we just want him to eat anything. We found both like Blue Buffalo Wilderness to nibble on between Stella and Chewy's. The boys like Duck Duck Goose. The ability for them to eat dry does help when we are gone for 24 hours at a time. And they like Orijen but not as much as Blue Buffalo. 

 

[sophie1]

Free access food and a mobile toddler are always a problematic combination.  Do you supervise the dry food sessions, and check regularly for stray pieces?  It's certainly helpful for kittens, but 19 weeks is old enough that three meals a day should be fine without the dry treats, if you decide to stop doing that.  Similarly - you didn't mention this but with a toddler it's probably a good idea to stick to raw foods that have been high pressure pasteurized and tested for pathogens.  That's pretty much every major brand, but not all proteins within each brand - check the labels.

Freeze dried food is great for storage convenience, but it's a lot more expensive than frozen food.  Check per-meal prices and see.  Hopefully your freezer will handle one bag of frozen food, with freeze-dried bridges between bags if you can't handle two at the same time.  Feeding variety is a very good idea, because in recent years almost all the major brands of frozen raw food have gone through supply disruptions or even discontinuation with no warning.  And a variety of brands and proteins will keep your kitten from getting too picky later on.

Sounds like your toddler will have a wonderful little friend to grow up with!  Oh one more thing...do keep claws clipped as kitten claws can get very sharp.

 

[xojessie]

Free access food and a mobile toddler are always a problematic combination.  Do you supervise the dry food sessions, and check regularly for stray pieces?  It's certainly helpful for kittens, but 19 weeks is old enough that three meals a day should be fine without the dry treats, if you decide to stop doing that.  Similarly - you didn't mention this but with a toddler it's probably a good idea to stick to raw foods that have been high pressure pasteurized and tested for pathogens.  That's pretty much every major brand, but not all proteins within each brand - check the labels.

Freeze dried food is great for storage convenience, but it's a lot more expensive than frozen food.  Check per-meal prices and see.  Hopefully your freezer will handle one bag of frozen food, with freeze-dried bridges between bags if you can't handle two at the same time.  Feeding variety is a very good idea, because in recent years almost all the major brands of frozen raw food have gone through supply disruptions or even discontinuation with no warning.  And a variety of brands and proteins will keep your kitten from getting too picky later on.

Sounds like your toddler will have a wonderful little friend to grow up with!  Oh one more thing...do keep claws clipped as kitten claws can get very sharp.

-I don't generally supervise her dry kibble. I measure out about 1/4 cup. Half goes into her foraging-type dish and the other into her treat ball. There's not usually any loose kibble hanging around... if so, the dogs usually sniff out the odd one here or there lol.
I've been trying to lessen the dry kibble.. but she just seems so hungry.. perhaps I'm not feeding enough wet/freeze dried?.. she gets a can day day (half morning, half night) and then half the recommended feeding for the freeze dried...right now that's 2 Primal nuggets.. if there's kibble down, lately it's completely finished.. she also rarely leaves any wet food behind...she nearly licks the dish clean! Which is helpfull for cleaning up right after lol.. she appears a good weight..she has a vet check up next Friday, so I'll have a second opinion which will be nice

I've been clipping her nails regularly already. She's doing great with it. Also have been getting her used to me rubbing her teeth so I can brush them! She seems to enjoy a good gum massage

 

[sophie1]

Sounds like she should be fed more.   You don't need to worry about overfeeding kittens, and it is amazing how much they can sock away.   Try increasing her raw meal by one nugget and see what happens? 

 

[xojessie]

Sounds like she should be fed more.   You don't need to worry about overfeeding kittens, and it is amazing how much they can sock away.   Try increasing her raw meal by one nugget and see what happens? 

That's a good idea thank you!