Some general info - feeding a new kitten

[yoshke]

Actually full name is Pie-Crust-Asset because the vet said that if she made it (=not died) for 2 weeks after we picked her up from the street "we've got ourselves an asset"...

I'll let you each make your own conclusions about the vet's attitude towards life / pets / his profession.

 

[ldg]

The owner of this forum is Israeli (and vegan), but she doesn't feed raw.

What you may want to do is pull the kibble, and start feeding your kitty in timed meals first, using canned food. Kitties usually transition to raw pretty quickly, but they really need all their vitamins and minerals, especially calcium. Meat is high in phosphorus, and needs to be balanced with the calcium in bone. For most kittens and cats, the hardest part is the transition from being free fed to eating timed meals. For small kitties like Pikey, the more meals a day you can offer, the better.

And most people don't leave their kitties alone for a day or two, they get a cat sitter to come by and scoop litter, change water, and feed the cat(s). So just as you would leave instruction on how to feed, if it's just a day or two, you have the food in the fridge, dethawed, and leave a note on what to feed, when. If for longer, they'll have to get used to dethawing food, which isn't hard.

But no reason not to offer her some meat as a treat, see how she reacts. For bone-in meals, use chicken wings - the wingtip and that middle part, but not the part with the thick bone. They're easy to cut up into bite sized pieces with kitchen shears.

You can offer her raw egg yolks a couple of times a week as a treat, just like the canned sardines (in water, no salt). And yeah, raw fish isn't a good addition to the diet. Raw fish has an enzyme, thiaminase, which blocks the uptake of thiamin (vitamin B1). So best just to avoid it.

And ask away!

 

[meeepcosy]

I love all these interesting comments so far. Thank you all.

I'm pretty much in the same boat as Yoshke. We'our kitty for a little over a month now, also feeding her Hill's dry kibble. From time to time (which is about twice a week) we feed her wet food packets and/or boiled chicken.

Our vet expressly told us not to give Rasberry uncooked meat, and also not raw egg as it hampers her body's ability to digest protein.

Having that said, I'm quite interested in these raw food some people feed their cats. I don't think I'll go against the vet's advice (...yet lol!) But I do get why people feed raw.

What I want to know is, why such a big discrepancy between what the vet tells us and what I read on the internet?

Yoshke, you're not alone. You have AT LEAST one other friend here in South Africa who is just as cautious and confused about this as you are.

Once again, thank you for all the links to these interesting articles, I'll definitely make a point of trying to read them all.

 

[yoshke]

Meeepcosy! You have a friend here I am letting it come to me, and not forcing myself into anything here...do what feels right!

Ok. will start with canned, and work my way from there. 

But i still didn't understand - to go with muscle only? muscle and bone? can the liver wait for a bit while i figure this thing out? ahh!

Two questions more: 

1. How do we get little Pikey to not have baby kittens? Do we just keep her in while she is in heat (When the time comes?), or do we do some operation? 

2. Do you let your cats run around outside? we have a nice garden. There was cats that go through it sometimes...

 

[Willowy]

It's best to get her spayed (an operation) if at all possible. I think even vets there should be able to do it, preferably by 5 months of age. It's difficult to know when a cat is in heat, sometimes they can get pregnant when not in heat if the male takes them by force, and there are reproductive diseases that are fully or partially prevented by spaying.

As for outside, that's up to you. It's definitely much safer indoors, but if you can secure your garden so she can't get out and other cats can't get in, that's quite safe as well.

 

[yoshke]

how much wet food should she be fed daily? 

thanks

(1 and a bit kg, 3 months old kitten)

 

[ldg]

Kittens should be fed as much food as they want to eat until they're about a year old. The amount they want to eat should taper off as they get older. An adult cat that weighs 3.5 to about 5.5kg (8 - 12 pounds) typically eats about 140g - 170g (5 - 6 ounces) a day.

 

[ldg]

And they definitely spay and neuter cats in Israel!

 

[ldg]

I love all these interesting comments so far. Thank you all.
I'm pretty much in the same boat as Yoshke. We'our kitty for a little over a month now, also feeding her Hill's dry kibble. From time to time (which is about twice a week) we feed her wet food packets and/or boiled chicken.

Our vet expressly told us not to give Rasberry uncooked meat, and also not raw egg as it hampers her body's ability to digest protein.

Having that said, I'm quite interested in these raw food some people feed their cats. I don't think I'll go against the vet's advice (...yet lol!) But I do get why people feed raw.

What I want to know is, why such a big discrepancy between what the vet tells us and what I read on the internet?

Yoshke, you're not alone. You have AT LEAST one other friend here in South Africa who is just as cautious and confused about this as you are.
Once again, thank you for all the links to these interesting articles, I'll definitely make a point of trying to read them all.

Meeepcosy! You have a friend here I am letting it come to me, and not forcing myself into anything here...do what feels right!

One of the most important components!


OK. The raw egg. An egg is actually the most bioavailable protein there is, and it is typically the measure against which all other sources of protein bioavailability are measured. What your vet may be referring to is raw egg white. While yolks are high in biotin, whites are high in avidin, which binds to biotin. If you eat just egg whites daily for months, you may wind up with a biotin deficiency (this is important for people who were scared by the "yolks are high in cholesterol" scare and started eating only egg whites).

Some raw feeders feed whole eggs, many include them in ground food recipes. I don't make homemade ground, but I do feed my cats raw egg yolks. If a raw egg is going to be fed, IMO it should either be the yolk, or the whole egg, not just the egg white.

There is a lot of conflicting information out there. But, IMO, sometimes common sense... makes sense. :lol3: Feral cats are out there hunting, eating raw small mammals, and no one's calling poison control. Cats are physiologically adapted to this diet.

And just pointing out (again), not all vets are in agreement with your vet.

 

[ldg]

But i still didn't understand - to go with muscle only? muscle and bone? can the liver wait for a bit while i figure this thing out? ahh!

If you are feeding canned food most days, or at several meals a day, you can introduce raw food at whatever rate is comfortable for you. A growing kitten needs the proper amount of calcium and nutrients to develop in a healthy manner. But if you're going to feed only raw food, then it's important to provide the recommended amount of calcium and organs. Organs are nutritionally dense. For instance, there is little to no Vitamin A in most meat. The Vitamin A is mostly in the liver. If you feed exclusively raw, that liver is essential due to the vitamin A content.

 

[yoshke]

So, we started. 

New problem: she approaches the thin strips of chicken breast with so much caution! she licks it, then jumps around it, tries to get a jab at it, circles it, jumps again - this goes on for long minutes. 

Should i cut it into small bites for her? or let her figure it out? 

Thanks

 

[ldg]

In the end, did she eat any of it? Sounds like a cat playing with a mouse. :lol3:

You may want to cut it smaller for her. I have one kitty for whom I still have to pretty much mince the meat.