Our little 6 month kitten is a fussy eater - and I'm not sure what to do next!
She's just not driven by food at all and never actively asks for it.

She'll start eating but the slightest noise to distract her and she's off like a rocket to investigate. We've tried waiting with her while she eats so she's knows she's not missing out on anything but it's not a habit we want to get into! She eats more this way but she still won't finish the bowl. We feed her about six small meals a day (dry first thing in the morning followed by meals of 1/2 pouch of wet).

She's currently eating royal canin kitten wet food. I know it's not the greatest but we got some from the vet to try and she was eating it so we stuck with it, but she's now gone off it. She's slightly more enthusiastic about dry and currently has a mix of RC kitten and orijen (hoping to wean her off the RC eventually) but she prefers the RC to the orijen.

I'm waiting on a small delivery of Grau to try her on. She's not bothered about highlife or natures menu which are the only other brands tried to date. We've tried brewers yeast, crushed up thrive treats etc which is usually met with the same couple of mouthfuls and then she's off. She does graze on and off through the day so I know she's eating but it doesn't feel like she's eating enough. I'm worried about trying lots of different foods in a short space of time in case it upsets her tummy. She's not overly fussed by cooked chicken or tinned tuna in spring water either.

Can anyone offer advice what next steps should be? I will try her on the grau but I'm not convinced we'll have any better results!

Weight wise she's ok, she's a small cat but the vet is pleased with her weight gain to date.

That's cats for you! If you are worried that she isn't eating much, and you know that being with her while she eats helps her to eat more, then perhaps that is a solution in the meantime to get her to eat. And one of my cats used to eat little and often (recently read about studies -lab and observation of feral colonies - from the 1980s that showed that given the choice cats would eat 12-20 tiny meals a day), but over the years she has grown out of it and she now eats 3 meals a day.

TBH though, 3 pouches and some dry sounds like a decent amount to eat (though I guess that depends on how much you throw away). Is she still gaining weight? Do you ever weigh her yourself?

If she isn't that fussed with NM and HiLife, then Grau might not be a hit either. The RC is chunks in sauce right? So perhaps next time you order off zooplus order some schmusy vollwertflakes (the pouches) to see whether she will eat that.

Hope that helps!

It actually sounds like she is eating quite a bit. Some cats don't do well on eating three main meals a day, and self-regulate their eating. We always leave dry food down for Sooty and he gets small smounts of wet food whenever he asks us for it. If the vet thinks she weighs an appropriate amount for her size, then I would trust that.

She sounds like a very active kitty regardless so I really don't think you should worry. If she starts eating less, and less frequently, and becomes withdrawn, you would probably need to look into whether she doesn't like her food or isn't well.

It seems like they only eat a few mouthfuls, but as Hobbs points out, they eat loads of tiny meals a day and do better for it. Sooty has always self-regulated and never been overweight (apart from eating the odd vole which made him look like he was preggers!).

Give her a big snug, I'm sure she is ok! xx

__________________
Mummy to;

Sooty 9.6.1996 - 28.04.2011 Rest in peace my love!
Storm (Sueragdandy Phantom) 28.02.2010
Benji (Kassaro Benjamin Franklyn) 08.03.2011

We're throwing away about 1/3 per meal.
Hobbs - 12-20 small meals a day funnily enough sounds about right for what she's eating! We'll definately give schmusy a try, thanks for the rec.

The strangest thing for me is she never ever asks for food, never begs when we're eating food - it's just not on her radar! I've never had a cat like that before! Plus we're getting a second kitten in 6 weeks and I don't want him to be scoffing her food too, so I'd be much happier if she would clear her bowl, but accept I'm running to meet things that haven't happened yet. (worry!)

She certainly doesn't have issues with her energy levels and last night was bouncing off the walls! Play sessions regularly last 2 hours long - it's exhausting keeping up with her sometimes!

We went to visit our new kitten at the weekend and one the breeders female kittens was larger than Kiki but a month younger which sparked our worries off again (hence the post!) She's off to the vets on Thursday to be spayed (even more to worry about!) so we'll get an accurate weight again.
I have weighed her myself but am happier with the accuracy of vets scales than I am with mine.

Just wish didn't worry about everything she does quite so much! (worry! )
xx

Aww, remember though that cats come in all shapes and sizes and she could just be a small cat. See what they say at the vets on thursday and report back on what they said and how it all went. Might also be that the spay is going to kick-start her appetite.

Fingers are crossed for Thursday!

Exactly. Sooty is a moggy and he is much larger than most, and not a cat to ever be overweight. My friend has a moggy, he is a tiny little fellow compared to Soots and I always feel like I'm going to break him, but he has an average appetite, but is just a small sized cat

__________________
Mummy to;

Sooty 9.6.1996 - 28.04.2011 Rest in peace my love!
Storm (Sueragdandy Phantom) 28.02.2010
Benji (Kassaro Benjamin Franklyn) 08.03.2011

Hobbs, could you please advise on the consistency of the above pouches. I've read the info on Zooplus, but am not the wiser
Is the chicken and rice like shredded chicken or chicken chunks? Having my own 'fussy devil' I'm keen to try out anything new.
Thank you

Like compacted chunks in sauce. Like the Bozita chunks and i believe like the RC chunks.

Also, maybe it's worth not giving her so much on her plate in the first place, so if you always end up chucking out a third, then two thirds is technically enough for her. You can save the rest for later, it should be ok

__________________
Mummy to;

Sooty 9.6.1996 - 28.04.2011 Rest in peace my love!
Storm (Sueragdandy Phantom) 28.02.2010
Benji (Kassaro Benjamin Franklyn) 08.03.2011

Thanks again for all the advice, I'll keep you posted. Any recs for post spay food? Should she have chicken? A little treat? Or won't she be up to eating much?

I do wonder if I'll ever stop worrying about her! And goodness knows why we're going through it all again with number two!