New Kitten Feeding Questions

[pattiw]

The food is relatively new, they only released that line within a year and a half or so. They make a good wet food too but it is too pricey for me to feed on a regular basis.

We are on a budget because I am back in school. I feed these brands of wet:

Tiny Tiger (from Chewy- basically a cheaper Fancy Feast)
Fancy Feast Classic pates
Sheba pates
Crave pates (if I can find a good sale)
Friskies pates (we recently added these in and my cats cannot get enough- so much for feeding "better" brands!)
Redbarn lamb

I'm located south of Macon.

I totally get the budget, we lived check to check basically while my husband was in the military and we were raising 3 kids. Its only been a short time, since his retirement and its just us, that things have loosened up a little. Good for you for going back to school, best of luck!
And hey, I have no problem with any of those foods, they are the exact ones we've used over the years with FF being top of the list! I don't think anyone has cats that don't love it in one variety or the other! And....I certainly didn't mean that I'm willing to spend over 2.00 a can either like I saw in Petco the other day! Unless I had a pet with special needs that only that one particular food was known to help! We all have to do the best for them we can and the rest is genetics and fate! I'll look into Dr Elsey's wet food but it may be more than we need to spend as well. Thanks again.

 

[recurringecho]

He seems quite healthy but just is not eating as much as he should be. He gets Wellness Core for kittens. Any suggestions?

Is his eye and ear still infected? Is he on medication? I'm wondering if that could be affecting his appetite. Also, how often does he play? Maybe a longer playtime can help encourage him to eat?

As other said, it's good to include different brands in rotation. Also, include different types of food and as many different primary sources of protein if you can! Kittens imprint on their food at a young age, and it would be good to introduce a wide variety of food to them so you won't end up with a picky kitty if something comes up.

Hi, I'm curious why you said vets have little knowledge abt cat nutrition and dental care?? They ARE the one's who SHOULD be very knowledgeable in both. If not them then who?

There are many fields and specialities within the veterinary profession. Your primary vet might have a bit of knowledge on nutrition, but unless they've specialized in nutrition, that knowledge is be pretty limited. Just like how your primary care physician might have a general knowledge of what a human's nutritional needs are, but might still refer you to a nutritionist because they have had several thousands of hours more education and experience in the field than your primary physician and will give you better advice.

 

[pattiw]

Is his eye and ear still infected? Is he on medication? I'm wondering if that could be affecting his appetite. Also, how often does he play? Maybe a longer playtime can help encourage him to eat?

As other said, it's good to include different brands in rotation. Also, include different types of food and as many different primary sources of protein if you can! Kittens imprint on their food at a young age, and it would be good to introduce a wide variety of food to them so you won't end up with a picky kitty if something comes up.



There are many fields and specialities within the veterinary profession. Your primary vet might have a bit of knowledge on nutrition, but unless they've specialized in nutrition, that knowledge is be pretty limited. Just like how your primary care physician might have a general knowledge of what a human's nutritional needs are, but might still refer you to a nutritionist because they have had several thousands of hours more education and experience in the field than your primary physician and will give you better advice.

Ohh, ok got it....That makes sense, I guess I just wasn't thinking that as pet owners not only do we have to see specialists for ourselves, but also for each area of care our pets need. Although obviously most of us use our vet for all of our pets lifelong medical care unless a very specific, hard to treat disease comes up and the owner wants no expense spared. I hope that didn't come out wrong! I just mean I know personally that having pets over the course of my life who have had some serious illnesses, by the time you've exhausted everything your vet has to offer for treatment/cures, you certainly could go to a specialist but the poor animal has lost so much quality of life and when you weigh the prolonged suffering for the pet on what may be useless, to the exorbitant costs of a specialist and their treatments, I would guess only a small % opt to keep going. So for nutrition concerns we do rely on our regular Vet.