Cat question.

[1frankie7]

How old is a kitten when it stops needing KMR(if it has no mother?)

How would you introduce a young kitten to an older cat(5 weeks to a 5 year old)?

What would be the best way to feed a young kitten(dry and canned, preferably)?



Actually, an info on small kittens would be nice!

Thanks!

 

[mmas4]

The best thing you can feed a cat is a balanced raw diet or a whole prey diet. Then balanced home cooked, then canned, then kibble. Kibble is not biologically appropriate for cats. Even the lowest quality canned food is better than the highest quality kibble. So if you dont want to do raw, whole prey or home cooked then you should feed canned.
I dont know the answer to your other questions.

 

[1frankie7]

I know, I am actually fairly educated on cat nutrition, I dont feed dry to nibbles and dont know much about it.

I would feed a little dry mostly because Im gone for school the first 7 hours of the day and want to leave her with some food, nibbles is older so I feel he can live with being fed fewer meals daily. I will feed her all canned when Im around.

I actually used to feed raw to nibbles, and I would love to still be feeding it. But he stopped eating it and I stopped being able to stomach it.

Of course the dry and canned which will be fed will both be grain free and high quality.

 

[mmas4]

He should be fine if you just feed him 3 meals of canned. Before you go to, when you get home and before you go to bed.

 

[MaryGoodnight]

Aww do you have a kitten? I love kittens, my cat had four a year and a half ago on the 4th of July (we called them Freedom Kittens.) she started to wean them at 4 weeks, but they don't stop fully until 8 or 10 weeks (8 weeks is when most people rehome kittens, I waited until 12 so the siblings could bond a little longer) if the kitten has no mother I would start introducing some (high quality) canned food in a dish with low edges around 8 weeks and gradually edge off the feedings as they get comfortable with solids.

Your 5 year old cat will never like your kitten. At least this has been my experience. My cats took about a year to like each other and they are mother and son.

 

[mmas4]

They may be buddies. I introduced a kitten to a 9 year old cat and they got along great and are now best buddies.

 

[Shurrim]

Best is to show attention to older cat when introducing. He needs to feel that's still HIS place and HE's the favorite. I've used that more than once and it went rather smoothly. They will fight. Like the piggies they need to establish a dominant.
For food I can't help you. I'm not sure I've always fed my cats very well, sadly. I've fed what my vet recommended.. was part canned, little part dry, for teeth apparently.

 

[1frankie7]

Dry actually isn't good fro their teeth, its a myth.

 

[fresian.m]

Wow. Now I feel bad. My cats eat all dry. My parents buy the food. :\

 

[partygirlha]

I agree with canned all around (@ Fresian.M - it's OK if they get dry - I had one cat on 100% dry and she did fine - but canned is healthier if they are prone to any health issues)

There are some really good canned kitten foods and we were told to feed those for the first year. As for switching from the bottle to canned foods, put a very small amount out and when she's ready he'll try it. At first she may want the bottle and just pick at the canned food, but she'll make the switch soon. one note is that they really like the KMR, so once you think she's able to eat full meals of canned food you'll need to cut back on the bottle - or mix some KMR into the canned food, and change the ratio until it's all canned food.

you got a lot of advice about the intros so all I'll say is that it's more about personallity than age. Personally I would intor sooner than later, but that's just me and not based on much. - Oh if the kitten is not yet box trained (but I'm guessing she is), watching an older cat will help train her.

 

[mmas4]

fresian, dont feel bad but you really should have your parents get canned. At least half canned half kibble. My cat got struvite crystals when he was around 5 because his body was not getting enough moisture. When they are fed kibble they are always borderline dehydrated which puts a huge strain on their organs. If you cannot get canned, you can put catnip in the water to encourage them to drink more. You can also float the kibble.
As for vet recommendations, I dont listen to them anymore. They dont have to learn about nutrition to become a vet. They put Ty, the cat with struvite crystals, on hills dry food, which is all corn and he needed to be on a wet food. I switched him to canned and raw after I learned how bad the food was and he has not had crystals since.

 

[cam767]

When we found a small alley cat (who we named Alley) we used to feed her canned food to start. We added some of the special kitten formula to it to make it more liquid so she could lap it up. She was probably more around 3 months old but since she was living in an alley and apparently the runt of the litter she wasn't getting enough. She was literally skin and bones. You may want to try something like that to start with if he is not eating solid foods. Gradually add more canned food and less formula.

I've always feed my cats kibble and they did fine (2 different vets said they were very healthy cats). One of my cats was 18 when he died and the first 17 years he was on dry food. The only reason we switched over was because his teeth were getting bad. He never did like the canned food even when we offered it when he was younger. My current cat gets both. He also had crystals. He has a specially formulated diet the vet gave him (CD). After his surgery and switching the diet he has had no more issues. She also had me get a water fountain for him because some cats (and he was one) do not drink enough water. He does seem to drink more now because the slow swirling motion attracts him.

I never had a problem with introductions until we brought our youngest cat (well now only cat) into the house. My original group (there were 7) just always respected that Jade was the leader and dominant one. They did sleep together and play together just fine. When we brought our youngest into the mix we had 2 other cats. I wouldn't have brought him in except our wonderful neighbors (and I say that with sarcasm) moved and apparently forgot to bring their cat with them. Now that was very interesting because he was a cocky thing and tried to take over. Actually he did take over. The other 2 males (neutered) had no intention of trying to be leader. They could have cared less. lol Basically because they didn't care what he did there were no squabbles.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck with the kitten.

 

[mmas4]

Cam, Hills/science diet, which is what C/D is, is one of the worst foods you can feed a cat. Its mostly corn and it has lots of carbs and cats need little to no carbs. Cats are obligate carnivores and should not have any grains. Too many carbs in a cats diet can cause all sorts of problems including obesity.
Kibble really should not be fed at all. Cats need about 75% moisture in their food. Thats what a rabbit or mouse has. Kibble has about 10% in it and they do not make up the moisture by drinking. Canned food has about 78% moisture so it is a lot closer to what the cat needs.

Here is a good link on cat nutrition.
Feeding Your Cat: Know The Basis of Feline Nutrition

 

[fresian.m]

My parents buy whatever the heck they want and never listen. They buy Purina. Good or bad?? I KNOW for a fact they will refuse to buy canned. If I float the kibbles in some water when I give it to them will it make up for some of the moisture?

 

[mmas4]

Purina is a bad food. When you buy cat food it should not have any corn, rice, soy, wheat, anything that is not specified like meat meal or animal meal (if it is not specified it could be from anything including road kill or dead pets from the vet) or any grains, artificial colors and flavors or preservatives like BHT, BHA and ethoxyquin. It also should not have any fish. I forgot why but cats should not have a lot of fish, especially males.
Floating kibble will help make up moisture. You can only leave it out for around 20 minutes because once you get the kibble wet it starts to grow bacteria. But thats ok since cats should be fed in meals. They are not grazers. Adult cats only need to be fed 2 times a day.
Here is a list of foods that do not have any grains. Some are cheaper. I would personally avoid fancy feast because it has menadoine in it.
Food Products

 

[fresian.m]

Ok I'm as conspicuously as possible trying to improve my cat's diet. It's hard only because if my parents find out I'm concerned about my cat's diet, they will murder me. They already warned me, because they're sick of me "obsessing" over my pig's diet. Anyway, I was trying to feed the cats, but I couldn't float the kibble because my mom would ask what the heck I was doing. So I ended up dumping a little water in while they were eating. THe cats were... displeased. I feel guilty and a bit helpless. Argh!


ETA: Ok I give my cats 2 meals a day. I feel a bit better now I'm doing SOMETHING right. :sarcastic But not much.

 

[mmas4]

My mom got mad at me too when I started to obsess over my cats diets but she got over it and now they get canned and raw (im still in the process of swtiching them over to all raw). You can tell them that in the long run, a better diet is cheaper. A bad diet can cause obesity, arthritis if the cat gets fat, IBD, diabetes, kidney disease, bladder and kidney stones and allergies (lots of cats are allergic to grains). When my cat got crystals there was a huge vet bill which could of been avoided if he was fed canned. He is in pain when he walks because he is starting to get arthritis (hes losing weight now) and he was at a huge risk of diabetes (thank god he didnt get diabetes).
If you feed a high quality food your cats will also eat less. Foods like purina dont have as many calories and a higher quality food. My cats used to eat a ton of food when they were fed hills and moew mix and now they only need 5-6 ounces each of canned and raw a day. Its actually cheaper for me to feed canned and raw.

 

[fresian.m]

I'll sneak my way into this. I've already clarified to them that I am the official owners of hte cats. THen I will begin buying the food, then I will switch the food.

 

[mmas4]

Hope it works out.

 

[1frankie7]

Good luck fresian!


Errg, someone just pushed on me to buy royal canin. I would never, feed that, but I hate it when I have to explain why its bad. I get "looks".