Thank you for reading – I hope you are sitting comfortably

Let us introduce you to Merlot (Long Hard tortie lady) and Shiraz (Short hair ginger male) who are brother and sister and now 4 months old today, My partner and I live in a flat so we were often concerned of getting kittens, however a friend of ours had a litter and when we met the 2 at 6 weeks it was love at first sight.

They were so good – showed them the litter tray when they arrived and they have behaved ever since. We are on our litter 2nd tray and will need a bigger one soon. It is kept next to our toilet so we can scoop out the ‘gifts’ they leave us. We use ‘worlds best cat litter' and we love it, so do they it seems. Moved them off clay based, its natural and can be flushed. We cat proofed the flat as much as we can with cable ties ect and making sure any space under beds, sofa ect were clean and free. We bought them a bed which they like to use, need a bigger one or 2 now though. They have tons of toys and we are now considering a puzzle toy for their treats.

OK – food. Now I thought we were sorted until I stumbled onto this sight and how our eyes have been opened.
We admit we thought we were being clever getting lots of Whiskas as was on special – ended up with 30 boxes of 12. We were sucked into brand names and also the babies (what I call them when I get home and in the most silly voice) were already on it. So we give Whiskas dry and wet. However after extensive reading we will change our approach and I hope we are on the right track.
1) Dry food will soon be a thing of the past (or at least a treat) in that case we will look at brands such as Acana or Orijen. I want high protein, low carb kibble. I hope those are good choices. They will still have to work for these via a play toy I intend to get,
2) wet food. We still have lots of boxes left and they do enjoy the food. We have all the fish, gravy and meat varieties so they can have a mix. We will look at purchasing 3 or 4 varieties, so to keep it interesting for them and also maximize the nutritional content. We are looking at James Wellbeloved, Hi Life, Bozita, Smilla, Animonda Carny and Grau. I hear their good. I know Petnatur, Pfotnliebe, Mac’s and granatapet are also good but hard to get. I tend to shop on zooplus so will see what I can do. I wish to ensure the food is complete also and even though the kittens are young, I see that there is no real difference in getting kitten only food as adult food, in smaller quantities, is just as good? We will aim for high meat content (higher single meat than offal is better) and low carb / no grains

To help with their teeth will give them some tinned tuna in spring water once a week. They sampled a bit of this the other day and went mad for it. We have given them ‘dreamies’ again I rustle the bag and their like something possessed. Also we have whiskers cat milk. We will not buy this again when they are used up, its more a treat for then we give them their meds and make them take the drontal tablet.

As for meds, we will stick with tablets for worms. I am aware there are spot on products such as profender, however I want them to be used to tablets, especially if they require anti-biotics when their older. We currently use frontline and drontal at moment as their indoor cats (until we move). Did not see point of advocate at this stage as a) prescription and b) indoor cats. If there are other options that people find work best then please let me know
As for drinking, they will drink out their bowel but love to drink out glass’s filled with water.

Our biggest challenge is not letting them out the front door and keeping them off computer keyboards when we are trying to type. We are looking into pet /child gates for height and to stop them dashing for the door

I think you have our life story. I wanted to start this page for a) I am sure this wont be the last time we seek your help and would rather ask questions and get answers from experienced owners and b) as a thank you and testament to all of you who take the time to post and help educate us newbie parents - especially to Hobbs2004 (if you are reading this, the info I have seen from you is amazing)

Thank you for your time and any comments or experiences with the food will help

McPeedster

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Merlot - Tortoiseshell and White princess
and her sibling
Shiraz - Short Hair Ginger Prince

McPeedster, welcome to the forum and congrats on your kittens (though you didn't get them at 6 weeks, did you?).

Anyhow, great choice of foods though personally I would ignore the JWB and the HiLife and just focus on the Grau, Animonda and Bozita pate. I know you say that you like shopping at zooplus and the free delivery is certainly a bonus point but shopping at German online stores isn't that different and would vastly improve your access to some good foods (though, granted, you would have to pay postage).

And you are right, if you go for good quality wet food you don't need to worry about a kitten variety but you may need to feed them MORE not less.

I am slightly puzzled by one of your comments though. You feed tuna once a week to help with dental hygiene? I fail to see how some cooked tuna can make a difference - in my mind tinned cooked human food isn't much better in terms of chewing or tearing than tinned cat food. What am I not seeing?

Some raw food that is either chunks so that they need to tear and chew or some raw meaty bones a couple of times a week and toothbrushing will do more for their dental health than either dry food, wet food or tinned human food.


Re the worming, we have milbemax, which is a tablet. But we only routinely wormed our kitten when she was still a kitten; we don't as a rule worm (or flea) our adult cats (despite them being raw fed). Instead, we get stool samples done. But as with most things in life it is a risk and benefit analysis and that suits our circumstances but might not be right for you.

Hope that helps

Hi!! Welcome to PF.

Nothing to add to Hobb's reply but just wanted to extend a welcome.

Please post some pics of your babies in Cat Chat so that we can all admire them.

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Hi, lovely story, you've done your "homework before going to school" the best way you could, congrats!
Firstly, don't worry, you're not the first pet owner who's made this unintentioned error of feeding with Whiskas. But now, that you realize it, isn't it better to stop it totally? I know you've spent a certain sum of money on it, you don't need to throw it away, just offer it to a cat center (rescue center), I'm sure many will appreciate it.

Secondly and most importantly from my view point, please try to sort things out from the hard work that Hobbs has done (I myself haven't finished reading in that area, but I always learn something new and I always bring a change), and try to feed them with raw food. I tell you from my own experience that it's very difficult to do that when the cats will be adult, and they will not accept it easily. I have completely stopped the dry food more than 1 month ago (I offered about 3-4 kg of Applaws dry left to another cat owner) and my cats are still making me feel [damn] guilty about it. It's a feeling I don't wish anyone around here to go through Plus, you need to be tough enough to resist in front of their long faced sad faces Needless to say I've had nights when I could not sleep, thinking they are starving themselves and being many times on the edge of buying dry again and let it be, give up ...

Your cats are so young, you can do this without problems. Mixing the good food with the bad food will improve the bad, but also will decrease the quality of the good one. Your kittens need quality, they are growing and need nutrients, don't subject their liver to those additives in Whiskas, now that you already know those are no good.

As for worms, I do exactly the same as Hobbs, because my view is the deworming medicines surely affect the liver too. But the kittens must be dewormed, most of them have worms from the cat's milk. I don't remember the right age for deworming though. However, I deworm them no matter what before their vaccination time (but I'm not sure if this must absolutely be done).

Hobbs, Anca and Moggybaby, thank you so much for responding. I'm on a train right now dipping out of reception so will properly re-read, other than small screen on phone, and respond when I get in. But thanks for your time.....you already have me thinking And pondering. Will defenitly get some pics up later tonight of the kids

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Merlot - Tortoiseshell and White princess
and her sibling
Shiraz - Short Hair Ginger Prince

hello Hobbs, firstly let me assure you we did not take them at 6 weeks. more 8.5. that way we got them friday and then took them straight to the vet on monday for their 9 week jabs ect

thanks for the reinforcement. though the choice were based on both your previous comments, review and others. I think i went through your previous A-Z list and highlighted all foods with 'high' protein count and then read the rest of the information around it. I will go back to your list to get the website names for those German brands. Will do some comparisons between all of them in regards to nutrition and draw myself a spreadsheet to compare costs ect, however I assure you that my babies are worth it and paying good money for quality food twill prevent issues later in life I am sure.


ok I think this was me being a numpty. I was reading a few comments and posts and after so much reading I misunderstood that 'raw' feeding was giving cats tuna, chicken, meats that have been cooked or uncooked. i understood the concept of raw being good for their teeth but was off with the food group. What I need to do is read the stickie on Raw. I read the stickies on Dry and on wet - my homework this weekend is to read that post also. but they did like that can of tuna I gave them lol

thanks for all that and will look more into stool sampling.......interesting concept. their not due anything for a wee while at the moment anyways.
thanks though for your comments - really appreciate the feedback on our approach.

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Merlot - Tortoiseshell and White princess
and her sibling
Shiraz - Short Hair Ginger Prince

thanks Moggy - nice to meet you. Will now need to trawl the endless pictures I have taken and select a few good ones. All I tend to do is take pictures. we have had had them since they were 9 weeks and now their 4 months but my my have they grown

thats a good idea and definitely worth thinking about. i would not ebay them as that way I feel really bad earning money for things I will pass onto someone else when it is not good quality lol

good thing that you were able to remain strong and resist giving dry. i have started to ween my cats off the dry and already I notice an increased appetite in wet food - i see that as a good thing. we have a neighbor who we looked to for lots of advice, she is the one who recommend us the good litter, however she is all about the dry food lol. I will prepare my evidence from here and try my luck with her.

I am definitely intrigued regarding raw diet and I prefer to go natural with my own food intake of natural foods (apart from the kitkat i am just eating) so wish to pass that into my babies also. so will read all that article and try and convince my partner. again any changes I do make will all be gradual, just like i am with withdrawing them off dry food.

but thank you for your kind comments re 'doing homework' we appreciate the positive comments and its nice to know that we were doing the right things by our babies.

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Merlot - Tortoiseshell and White princess
and her sibling
Shiraz - Short Hair Ginger Prince

Hello Hobbs - I did try posting a message earlier this evening but for some reason its now posted when my other did.

I was wishing to reassure you that we got the kittens at 8 and a half weeks, not 6
thank you for the info regarding the food. I will definitely look at the German food stores. but all the information was taken from your research so thanks again for the time you took with that. I will re-visit it and get the websites that you listed which can sell to the UK. I do not mind paying more paying for good quality food, which I hope will benefit the kittens in the long run.

as for stool samples - will run that by the OH and see what their reaction is. the kittens are not due any more medication for a while so we have time to look into the product ad method you mentioned.

as for the comment about Dry, i think that is me getting things confused. I saw some posts re raw food and teeth, however i misinterpreted what the raw food is. when I saw the kittens chomping though the Tuna I thought it may constitute. I have not read your sickie regarding Raw food but that will be my homework for this weekend. I am very interested in the concept and will definitely give it a thought.

I did write a lot more and that post may eventually appear but I really appreciate you taking the time to comment and provide some excellent feedback on my approach so far. again sorry for getting the wrong end of the stick regarding Raw foods

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Merlot - Tortoiseshell and White princess
and her sibling
Shiraz - Short Hair Ginger Prince

Welcome McP, nice to meet you!

Quite a few of us give a raw chicken wing to aid with dental health. I had trouble getting my kitten to dig in to start with but he eventually took to it. I have to chop the three obvious sections apart and then chop lengthwise between the two long middle bones. The first couple of times I also sprinkled it with dust out of a tube of Thrive treats, but that's no longer necessary. Iccy has a great time with his wings, it's lovely to see him pouncing on them and crunching up the bones. He gets so excited about them!

It absolutely must be raw though, if cooked the bones can splinter.

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Do not meddle in the affairs of cats, for they are subtle and will p*ss on your computer.

The Story So Far:
Spock (2010-2011), who began our love affair with kitties but whose grasp on the green cross code was sadly lacking.
Icarus (2011-...?), who loves noses more than anything else.
Mildred (2010-...?), who sings to the birds.

The twisted brainwrong of a one-off man mental.

Hi McPeedster

Congrats on your babies! I think you already doing very well, much better than lots of people (probably those who don't want to learn), just keep reading this forum and soon you will be an expert

I am very happy myself cos yesterday I brought home my kittens . We were going to buy one, but we got the other one for free, so now we have two little girls. They were on a Royal Canin and JWB dry and Felix wet and raw mince beef so for one week or two I'm going to stick to that food, than I will start to change it.