Hey there

just a quick question to clarify a few things for a newbie.

I have my 14 week old Birman kitten at home now and am feeding him on an applaws diet. He has half a 70g can of wet kitten applaws in the morning and half a can at night (topped with whiskas crunch as the breeder gave it to me and he is a bit fussy and won't eat unless I garnish his dinner with a topping, lol) I also free feed him with applaws dry which is out all day.

He also has a portion of kitten milk whenever I go out (e.g. to the shops etc). Its my way of letting him know I'm going out I suppose and its our little routine now.

My concern I suppose is as follows:

When do I need to start increasing the amount of wet food I am feeding him? I know the applaws says an average weight adult cat needs two cans of 70g wet food, but I am not sure that includes dry food? so am I okay to keep him on one 70g tin a day?

I am also not sure he is eating very much of the dry stuff. So I am worried he is not getting enough in terms of nutrients as I have only just been told the applaws wet is only considered a "complimentary" food rather than a complete food.

I know there are some supplements you can order and add to food yourself, would that be an option?

He is going to the vets again in July to be weighed for his worming treatment so his weight will be checked again then, but any advice would be great

Many thanks,

x

Is it possible for you to move over to a Complete Wet food rather than trying to supplement the applaws complimentary?

I'm far from an expert, but most people on seem to recommend that complementary foods are only really for a 'treat'. So maybe once or twice a week at most?

If you have already bought a lot of the applaws, you could start by mixing it in with whatever you replace it with and then just use it as a treat?

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"Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it."

A complimentary food should not be fed so much! (it does say on the back of the packets that its comp)

I cant tell how much dry and how much wet he is eating but if all his wet food is comp thats very concerning. He needs to be on a complete wet food alongside the dry.

Complimentary food I think can make up 20-30% of food, and should not be fed almost everyday, as looking at this it could make up 70-80% of his diet and from this he is not getting all he needs.

70g seems very little for a cat. I dont feed ANY dry but my cats still eat 300g-400g a day, kittens need a lot of food for growing...

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As a general rule of thumb, kittens should be allowed to eat as much as they want/can as and when they want it due to their smaller stomachs - In my opinion, one 70g tin a day sounds very little, I've seen people on here say their kittens will and can eat up to 400g of complete wet food a day. Adult cats generally require less food less often, even though I know mine would eat triple the amount if I let them

As for the Applaws, if he's not eating many of the biscuits, I would also be concerned that he's not getting what he needs in terms of nutrition. As Celador has mentioned, I would only feed complimentary foods a few times a week. Even if your kitten is eating his biscuits, everyday/week he's only getting half of what he requires. I believe about 20% of a cats weekly intake can be complimentary without it affecting anything.

I'd be wary of adding supplements to preprepared cat food, as you could unbalance whatever is already in there. Perhaps consider a change to another complete wet food? And if he's not that keen on the dry, then go without and feed more wet, unless you're putting it down when out at work etc.

ETA: I shouldn't take so long to write a post, G*M beat me

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Swoooooooooop

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brilliant, thanks.

I was TRYING to get advice when I took Jango for his first check up at the vet, but they didnt even know what applaws was.

What brand would you recommend that is in a similar quality to applaws in terms of quality etc but is a complete food? I shop at zooplus or pets at home

Many thanks for the advice!! I was worried I was doing something wrong

x

Asking a vet for advice on nutrition is like asking your local hairdresser! :P

Fabulous wet foods available on zooplus include: Grau, Bozita, Animonda Carny and Smilla. (better than Applaws imo :P)

PAH do a quite nice food called Purely Scrummy Yummy (pots not pouches) which are 72p. (They recently did a 4 for £2 offer, it may still be on! Very cheap, I stocked up!) They are 90% meat. The pate is quite dense and might need mashing up a little bit, but my kittens are fine with it (hey, its edible, theyre fine with it) You can get those in chicken or fish.

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btw, I got one of the tins of kitten food out of the cupboard and NOWHERE on it does it say that its only complimentary I only found out the complimentary bit by browsing on here per chance

x

I would have thought by law it would have to say it somewhere on the tin! I don't have a tin to hand and I can only find pics of the front of the can and the feeding rec on zooplus.

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I would have thought so too

I looked thoroughly and its really not there. All it says it that a normal sized cat needs 2 70g cans and a lactating or pregnant queen may need more?

Very misleading.

x