Still having issues with new kitten & older cat food and feeding

[okeelady]

I'm on the verge of tears!!! I've got other posts about food and feeding but things have changed some. I've had Bob (new kitten) for about a month and feed him dry kitten food mixed with canned kitten food with no problems. Emily who I've had about 2 years has always eaten dry food with water added and canned wet food with no problems until I got the new kitten. Lately she refuses to eat the canned so I've been feeding her the dry with added water which she now refuses. I've got 4 different brands of canned food and 3 different brands of dry food and have tried all. This morning she refused her normal dry and went over to the kittens bowl and started eating so I decided to give her some of the dry kitten food which she ate. I live about 40 miles from any pet stores but was in the area a week or so ago and looked at their food. I'm on social security and can't spend more on cat food than I do my own food. The canned foods I've tried are fancy feast, taste of the wild, 4health and Chewys brand American Journey. The dry foods I've tried are Purina One Sensitive Stomach, American Journey and Purina One Kitten. I use to feed Emily the Taste of the Wild Rocky Mountain Venison and she liked it. I may go buy a bag of that. I know you're suppose to slowly change the food (which I tried but she picked out the usual stuff and left the new) but how do you do that if a cat won't eat the usual? I've thrown SO MUCH food out the past few days.

 

[di and bob]

Emily is most likely still stressed from the kitten arriving and is on a hunger strike. A month is not long in a cat's life. if she starts hiding or doesn't start eating soon, a vet trip might be advised, to stop eating is the first sign of illness, but I have a feeling it is stress. Cats are so good at hiding it. Kitten food won't hurt her for now, and it could be given until all is better in the dynamics, but it is really high in calories, so offer less. If she wants dry, give it to her for now. Make sure there are several bowls of water setting around the house. Once the heirarchy is established and everything settles down she will start eating again. Don't feed the most expensive, it's often not what a cat likes anyway, so offer a variety of cheaper foods too. Try her old stuff too.
I have a newly diagnosed cat with leukemia right now and he is getting a lot of those pouched 'lickable treats', just to get him to eat something.......
PS don't throw away any unused food, canned and especially dry. Shelters gratefully usually accept it, but some may have policies in effect that don't allow them to accept opened bags. Get on facebook and see if anyone wants it that is feeding feral colonies or outside cats. I would bet they would love to have it.

 

[okeelady]

Thanks for your help. I do think it's stress as well. It's a huge ordeal when I feed them. I have to put both in a separate room while I get they're food ready then stand, watch and supervise. I'm sure they both feel the stress from me!! After 1 month they really get along great most of the time so I'm happy about that! I do think I'm going to go to tractor supply and get a bag of the taste of the wild and mix it with the kitten food. I can return it locally to them if they don't eat it. I've donated a ton of food to our local animal control. They have a lady that comes and rescues cats from there and takes them to her no kill rescue cattery and she gets the food. Thanks again!

 

[di and bob]

I know what you mean about having to separate them. when I go out to feed my two outside cats, tehy get so excited they actually turn on each other! I ahve to move quick and separate their food. Your two are doing GREAT for only a month, I bet things will settle down soon once yoru older cat is satisfied that the new 'whippersnapper' is put into his place. don't intervene her disciplining him unless she gets really bad and bites, etc. drawing blood. Kittens will be snarled at, hissed at, and slapped frequently to learn their manners, this even happens with their own little ones!

 

[sivyaleah]

We recently acquired a kitten that was nearly 16 weeks old in September (Luna ) and feeding was an issue at the beginning here also.

The kitten had a habit of bum rushing over to our resident cats bowl (Cocoabean - 10 years old), which would chase her off and then she'd refuse to come back and eat. As it is, she is a grazer and only eats about 1-1/2 ounces at a time so this became quite problematic for all of us. And she's a creature of habit and just would not eat anywhere else but her spot in the kitchen either. I had no idea kittens were SO insatiable, Plus, Cocoa really only likes her Fancy Feast and was not interested in the kittens food AT ALL. Not even her kibble. So, if she wasn't going to eat, that was that.

Stress was at played for sure. Cocoa would constantly look over her shoulder to see if the kitten was going to come over to eat her food.
I don't know if you have them eating near each other, but I would suggest having them eat on opposite sides of the room so they each have their own space.

By coincidence, Cocoa was due for her bi-annual check up during this time period and we learned she'd lost a few ounces from the last exam. My husband kept insisting he was feeding Cocoa ALL the time but I knew she wasn't really eating ALL the time and that proved my point.

Anyway, for us it just took some figuring out what worked. One simple thing was putting the kitten's food down first. We kept thinking that we had to put Cocoa's down first because she's the top cat but duh, cat's have alpha like dogs! So, down goes Luna's bowl and she dives in ignoring all else. Then, I only give Cocoa half a can instead of a full can (these are 3 ounce cans). I put down Cocoa's and she's free to eat what she needs to feel satisfied which is normally that entire 1-1/2 ounces. If any is left over, I pick it up so that the kitten won't get used to poaching on her food.

This seemed to help alleviate the issue a lot for us. Cocoa stopped looking over her shoulder all the time, and was able to relax and just eat which was the goal. It's now a month later, and there really isn't much of an issue with the two of them eating in the same room and now we've pulled Luna off the food she was eating when she came to us anyway. She's eating what Cocoa eats so each can snack from the others bowl if they want to. Plus, they now are finally becoming friends with each other, which helps too.

It does take a while for resident cats to fully get used to having a newcomer in the house and well, a kitten can be a handful even for a younger adult cat. If they are getting along for the most part you have things 1/2 way there and now just need to get this more stabilized. I do agree, however, if Emily continues to snub her food that going to the vet is in order. There is always the possibility that something else is going on. We found out that in addition to Cocoa being annoyed with Luna's food grabbing - she actually also had developed a cat cold that she caught from Luna! But we didn't know until she started actually coughing (yes, cats can cough as we found out) so clearly she also wasn't feeling well and probably eating was a bit painful for her or maybe her tummy wasn't feeling well. Once that was treated, and things calmed down with Luna her appetite got much better.

 

[okeelady]

Other than going broke I'm at my wits end. Last Sat I went and bought Taste of the Wild and started slowly mixing it in with the dry kitten food and it was going well. Both were eating it just fine. Bob the kitten had soft stool so Weds I decided to take a stool sample to the vet only to find he had roundworms. I thought it was from messing around with food changes but was wrong. The vet gave me Drontal pills for both Bob and Emily. I replaced both litter boxes and litter which wasn't cheap but easier than bleaching the old ones out. Well last night Emily hardly ate her dry food and this morning was the same. She has big feet (6 toes) and I watched her "pick" through the food digging out little kibbles of food and eating it. I read that Drontal can have some side effects but would that cause her to not eat normal? I really can't afford to keep trying new foods. If things don't improve this weekend I'll probably haul Emily to the vet.

 

[Tik cat's mum]

I have a very fussy eater but I have found cat's won't starve themselves especially with perfectly good food to eat. You said she's picked the dry out so it sounds like she's getting peckish. I would give it a few more days before you replace the food. it could be because of the kitten or it could be she's like my boy, he does this every now and then.He'd have me changing his food every two days for his own amusement I'm sure

 

[nycats]

Cats are so picky, and it can get very frustrating, but they can refuse to eat to a point where they develop hepatic lipidosis and die, so you should be careful. Have you tried food toppers to sprinkle on top, such as bonito flakes? I know a few brands sell different kinds. If you live in the US, chewy.com lets you give you refund for food that doesn't work out. Some pet supply stores also give samples of dry food.

You should definitely figure out if she isn't feeling well, and that's why she hasn't eaten. Maybe try offering piece of chicken, treats, or tuna to see if she eats food she likes.

Sorry for your struggles.

 

[sivyaleah]

Cats are so picky, and it can get very frustrating, but they can refuse to eat to a point where they develop hepatic lipidosis and die, so you should be careful. Have you tried food toppers to sprinkle on top, such as bonito flakes? I know a few brands sell different kinds. If you live in the US, chewy.com lets you give you refund for food that doesn't work out. Some pet supply stores also give samples of dry food.

You should definitely figure out if she isn't feeling well, and that's why she hasn't eaten. Maybe try offering piece of chicken, treats, or tuna to see if she eats food she likes.

Sorry for your struggles.

I agree with trying some human food. Something bland like plainly cooked chopped beef or chicken breast, canned tuna or sardines packed in water, some cooked salmon with no seasoning, Gerbers all meat baby food is always a big hit too and comes in chicken, beef, ham and turkey flavors. Make sure it's the PLAIN type, with no seasoning. I don't know a single cat that turns their nose up at that.

All of those above have come in handy when any of my cats weren't interested in food. Even my old boy, the night before he passed, managed to get interested in cooked hamburger meat.

At the moment you need to get the cat to eat - something. Forget about proper nutrition for now, it's calories and protein you need to get into her. If she is enthusiastic about any of the above then it's probably not an actual problem with her appetite - it is something about the foods you are offering and then figuring it out from there is the goal.

PS: Not sure why you are mixing kibble and wet food together. I'd personally just offer the wet at this point and dispense with the kibble since clearly she's going to continue choosing that over the wet food. But again, for now, just get something into her, anything and work from there.

 

[okeelady]

Thanks for your advice! Cats are such a challenge but worth every second of it! Emily is eating now. It was either 1.) the worm pill made her feel sick 2.) I was putting the kittens dish down first before hers. Once I used a different bowl and she didn't eat. When I put my hurricane shutters up she didn't eat. I got up late one morning and my routine changed and she didn't eat so who knows? I've only had the kitten just over a month and once I get this "food" thing squared away and when Bob is older I will be changing most of their diet to canned food because I don't want any blockage issues. Emily was eating a can of wet food daily plus her dry and she started refusing the canned when I got the kitten. Last night and this am they both got dry and ate it fine. Just battling one thing at a time ha ha. Thanks again!