The real deal about kitten food...

[tygris]

Okay all, a friend of mine just adopted two kittens, I'm not positive of their age but I'd guess 6-8 weeks old, maybe a little older.
I'm trying to make suggestions for her as to what to feed them.

I've told her so far to avoid grocery store/walmart foods, and suggested Science Diet. Apparently the cats were on Fancy Feast canned food, and my initial thought was canned food = bad. Upon doing some reading, apparently some think that canned food for kittens is preferable over hard food. I know nothing of Fancy Feast or canned food in general for cats, I'm not a domestic cat person! All I know is kittens need ~2x the calories and fat of adult cats, and that taurine is a must.

So anyway, I wanted to get some opinions on what you'd feed a kitten. Hard food? Canned food? Hard and canned food? And how many times per day/how much food? Any specific brands that you'd recommend?

I'm hoping to give her some answers so she can start moving in the right direction before her first vet appointment.

Thanks!

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[Boxsterluv]

I have two cats. I don't know what is recommended, but I leave some hard food out all the time, then split one can of wet food between them (different plates) at 9:00 every night. I feel like it gives them some routine but it's not too many calories since they are just splitting a can.

 

[HorseyVet]

I have two cats. I don't know what is recommended, but I leave some hard food out all the time, then split one can of wet food between them (different plates) at 9:00 every night. I feel like it gives them some routine but it's not too many calories since they are just splitting a can.

I do virtually the exactly same thing ...lol.

When my one was a kitten, and it was just him, I did the same thing but adjusted the wet food portions as he got bigger. I fed him SD kitten dry and wet and despite being a very malnourished half-dead runt when I got him he grew to be a good 13 lbs (not overwieght, just huge) by about a year. He primary ate a/d and antibiotics for the first month, but after he got over the hump it's been all SD.

Also, something I did, and actually recommend to people with kittens, is to feed them in the cat carrier. They're almost gareenteed to not be a nusiance about carriers after that. Also, it keeps the dog out of the cat food.

 

[traxomatic]

sometimes it's preferable to feed wet over dry since some kittens end up not being able to chew up the dry and end up just swallowing it whole. once they're big enough i think a mix of canned and dry works, canned food at least will give them some hydration. i give my adult cats both canned and dry twice a day.

 

[aphistis]

Please don't use SDN for soliciting professional advice. Closing.