Need kitten food advice

[kate & kobi]

Does anyone have recommendations for dry food for picky kittens?

We've tried three different brands of kitten food for Pele (she's almost 5 months old now) - Iams, Felidae and Professional. She will eat each of these for a day or two, or just a few bites, and then she ignores them. The only thing she consistently wants to eat is our other cat's adult formula food, also by Professional. She is eating enough, quantity-wise, of the adult food, but of course I'm concerned that she's not getting adequate kitten nutrition.

They both get a small amount of Iams adult formula wet food (1/4 of a 6 oz can) every night. We tried the Iams kitten formula but she won't touch it; she just paws at the floor like she wants to bury it.

Are there any delicious kitten foods out there?

[Traci]

I had this problem with Cere at about 4 months......I usually give my kittens Iams, and she eventually didn't like it anymore so I switched her to Science Diet Kitten....she ate it faithfully, then was graduated onto adult. If I remember correctly, I think she was on adult maintenance by 5 months of age (kept eating the others').......as long as Pele is healthy, you could try mixing a kitten food with the adult, then taking those extra 4 or 5 weeks to graduate her onto adult food...(as you know, kittens can be fed adult maintenance at 6 months of age)

[kate & kobi]

Thanks Traci! I'll try Science Diet. I have three almost full bags of the other brands... maybe I'll donate them to the shelter, do you think they'd take them?

She's just a skinny little thing - on the thin side of Ideal on the body weight chart, I'd say - but is so leggy and her feet are so big that I have an inkling she's going to keep growing a lot. She will only eat a full serving of food if she's sitting on our lap, so it has become a nightly ritual - otherwise she never seems to eat enough in a day.

[Mona]

Kate,

My little Chloe has eaten the Nutro canned kitten food since we got her, and I have her eating the Science Diet Kitten dry nuggets. She seems to eat about 1/8 cup of dry and a can of the wet food daily.

HOneybun sneaks over and eats her food, and Chloe does the same with HOneybun's food at times.

Have you tried Royal Canin or Wellness dry. HOneybun eats the Royal Canin special33. They make a kitten food also.

Good luck.

HOneybun, Chloe and Mona

[kate & kobi]

Thanks Mona! I'm glad to hear that Chloe likes the Science Diet. On a good day, Pele will eat about a half cup of dry, and I split a quarter can of Iams between her and Kobi every night (that's all they'll eat in an hour or so).

We've been trying the SD Kitten for two days now. I've been mixing it in with the adult food (Kobi's food) that she likes; I'm going to phase it in over a week or so. She seems to like it, but her stool has gotten really soft and stinky over the past two days. Do you think this is a bad reaction to the SD, or is it just upsetting her stomach because of the change in food, and will she get used to it? She has had relatively soft stool ever since we got her, maybe because we've been trying different foods to get her to eat, but this is worse, almost diarrhea.

I'm hoping we can get her on one food and stick with that for a couple of months before we graduate back to adult food...

Another question ... how do you tell if a bag of food is bad? A couple of people have mentioned dry food being spoiled or bad, but I've never experienced this, so how do you know?

[Traci]

Kate, my kittens have never had any diarrheal problems on Science Diet....that's not to say some kittens won't, I've just never had a problem with it.

It could very well be the new food introduction...I'd give it another couple days, if the stools form to actual diarrhea, cease the Science Diet and try something else. Ensure she's getting plenty of natural water intake.

Her body condition score may only be slightly less than optimal due to her age and activity level. If she is highly active and energetic, of course she's going to expend more energy, but I would think she'd be eating more throughout the day. She could also be a finicky eater.

As for telling if a bag is good or not, you can tell rancidity right away.....the smell will be off, the kibble might be clumped together, and of course, always check expiration dates on the bag, ESPECIALLY with any brands that state "natural" or with "natural preservatives" which doesn't mean they are the best, natural preservatives only are good for so many months, usually about 3 after buying off the shelf, but never buy anything without checking expiration date first. Also depends on the brand, storage, where you bought it, etc.

Most of the posts in this forum about rancid food bags were referring to brands like Nutro, I've heard several reports of rancid food from them. If ever you encounter one, always call the manufacturer to report it, then demand a full refund immediately. (I'd also call the store where you purchased it and report it to them so they can check and take off the shelves if necessary)

I think Davet posted about mites or something in some foods, but this is a very rare occurance, and I have never encountered any problems with Iams or Science Diet.

[Guest]

Kate~

I had a bag of Nutro that smelled "funny" once when Honeybun was eating that brand and took it back to the store.

The Science diet has been improved and smells actually better than before. I did notice a soft stool in the beginning, but that has subsided. Of course that was Chloe first hard food. I have caught Honeybun eating Chloe's food. LOL!

I am going to cut down Chloe's wet food now that she is eating the dry food. I give HOneybun the Royal Canin special due to her sensitive stomach which is what is formulated for. It has less grain and filler.

Good luck with Pele and I hope it works out for her.

Mona, Honeybun and Little Chloe

P.S. There are a couple of more pictures on Debbie's Cloud of Chloe.