hi there

sorry to ask another food question but i have a 9 week old kitten coming home this weekend and was wondering at what age they can eat dryed food as my 7 month old has it down to snack on, also the breeder has warned me that the 9 week old kitten is very fussy and will only eat chicken and turkey i am hoping that he will take to hills kitten pouches which is what louie eats can anyone recomend another good quality kitten food i can try if he wont eat the hills

many thank and sorry for the long post

Hello there

Is there any reason for why you want your kitten to start eating dry food? You may not know, but dry food is the worst food you can give to your cats.

Pros:

It's convenient to feed.

Cons:

• Dry food is one of the main causes of water infections. Because dry food contains so little water, the cat normally can't drink enough to make up for the deficit, which then leads to a very concentrated urine, which again leads to infections. Dry food 'for urinary tract health' leads to another type of UTI, but still it's an infection.
• The carbohydrates in cat food can lead to poor dental health.
• Dry food is the worst possible food you can feed your cat.
• Dry food does not clean teeth!
• Dry food taxes the kidneys and increases the risk of kidney failure.
• Dry food can cause IBD.
• Dry food contains grains, additives, fillers, questionable meat sources etc - and is not something a cat would naturally eat.

Keep in mind that cats are carnivores, which means they are designed to get everything they need nutrition wise from they prey they catch (mice, birds etc). A mouse for example contains mostly meat, some organ meat, bones and fur. You want to find a cat food that is as similar as possible to that. That means, for most people, a high quality wet food. By high quality I mean over 60% meat content, and no fillers, grains, etc. Some good ones are HiLife pouches, Bozita, Porta21, Tesco's finest. Your kitten will do great on any of these foods.

I would really recommend that you keep your kitten on wet food, and stop feeding the dry. And perhaps try to move your older cat over to wet food only, it will be good for them both

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thanks for that i have been reading up on the dry foods and would like to wean my older cat off of it. Also i think i would like to introduce them both to raw feeding and is it ok to feed half raw and half wet and help would be much appricated.

a) yes it's okay to have 1/2 and 1/2
b) kittens can eat dry straight away - try to change him over to better food slowly as too quickly especially on top of the move may make him a bit runny poo wise.
c) Kitten food is really a marketing ploy - if you are feeding good quality wet food (60% meat) then they can eat the adult stuff no bother. Try Natures Menu, Bozita, Portia 21, Hi-life, Tesco's Finest, and Applaws (through the adult isn't complete so only as a treat - but the kitten variety is complete for some reason.)

Good luck and well done on wanting a better diet or your cats.

P.S. If you still want to feed a little bit of dry there are som better ones out there (Applaws dry and Orijen - I believe)

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Fantastic!

Half and half is absolutely fine. For the wet food half, the brands Spid and I have listed are the best to feed as they don't contain grains. For the raw food, this is what you do:

Buy some meat - I've found some nice packs of turkey legs, ready chopped at Tescos that are under £3 each.
Buy some liver - chicken livers are cheap and great to use
Buy some chicken wings or any other meat with small bones in

Chop up the meat into small pieces, chop up a little amount of liver (should be approx. 5% of the total meal). Mix together and feed to the cat. Simple, right? Feed the chicken wings separately - it will probably take some time before they'll be able to chew and eat them. If it takes more than a few weeks, you have to supplement the meat with a little ground eggshells for calcium.

Don't be discouraged if your cats won't eat it straight away... like all kids they'd rather have McDonalds (dry food) than food that's good for them - give it some time and don't give up, you'll get there in the end!

This link is also helpful, and that website in general has a lot of good information about raw feeding: Practical Guide

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Fit for the sunshine so it followed her, a happy tempered bringer of the best, out of the worst.

thank you all for you help i have order a sample pack from the raw cat food site so we can see what they prefer with the chicken wings am i right im thinking i give them one a week and they can eat the meat and bones raw sorry for sounding a bit silly but i just want the best for my boys

Great idea with the sample pack

A wing a week is fine, once they've started actually eating the bone. They'll probably just sniff and lick on it at first, so offer it to them every day until they get the idea and start eating

Yes, all is fed raw, both meat and bones. Cooked bones can be dangerous for cats, so never cook them.

I'm not sure what the sample pack you've ordered contains, but do remember that they will need organ meat (i.e. liver) in addition to just meat and bones.

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Fit for the sunshine so it followed her, a happy tempered bringer of the best, out of the worst.

the sample pack is from food for cats i found it on this forums thanks again all for your help louie and coookiw im sure will be thankong you to lol

All the food from there is healthily balanced with all the right stuff in it - it's what i'm using as I don't have to worry about getting all the proportions right - I just feed them! Presto loves the chunks of raw rabbit with all the ribs in it!

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Hi,

Nice to hear your cats are enjoying the food. Rabbit ribs are great toothpicks for cats!!

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Karen

www.kiskasiberians.co.uk - The home of Hypoallergenic Siberian Cats


www.rawfed.com - Information on Raw Feeding