Kitten food help please

UKTigerlily

Hi everybody,

I am thinking that the food the kittens are currently on (JWB Grain free/Pouches Kitten food) is going to be too much, as it's 1 box every 3 days.

I'd like them to have wet (& if I leave dry down to try to have it available all the time, the female kitten doesn't stop eating, even after the male is done . . she could have worms I guess but will be getting wormed next Thursday for the first time)

I am looking for wet, maybe canned (does that save money) & as high meat content as possible. They currently get 2 pouches per day each, with a bit of dry mixed in, but idk if that's enough or not (4 meals) . . how much is ok if just wet? How do I get the female to not scoff everything in front of her? Will that be sorted once she is wormed maybe? Could it just be excitement at unlimited food that will regulate itself?

Any ideas of a good & cheaper way would be welcome please?! They are 12 weeks old this Sunday x

GwylimT

Kittens should be free fed, there isn't a limit on what they should eat. I've never had kittens that young, but when ours first come to us at 14 weeks they tend to eat around 500g a day if wet fed and around 300g a day if raw fed. Kitten food is a marketing gimmic, some good wet foods are.

Bozita tins
Catz fine food
Grau
Granatapet
Macs
Om nom nom
Smilla
Natures menu
Animonda carny and the vom feinstein
Feringa
Lilys kitchen

They need worming now, not next Thursday, kittens are particularly vulnerable when they have worms, it also means you are just paying to feed worms.

UKTigerlily

GwylimT wrote: »

Kittens should be free fed, there isn't a limit on what they should eat. I've never had kittens that young, but when ours first come to us at 14 weeks they tend to eat around 500g a day if wet fed and around 300g a day if raw fed. Kitten food is a marketing gimmic, some good wet foods are.

Bozita tins
Catz fine food
Grau
Granatapet
Macs
Om nom nom
Smilla
Natures menu
Animonda carny and the vom feinstein
Feringa
Lilys kitchen

They need worming now, not next Thursday, kittens are particularly vulnerable when they have worms, it also means you are just paying to feed worms.

They have seen a vet who didn't worm them, so i'm sure they will live until Thursday, especially given the fact that i've never had a kitten get dangerously sick in a few days from lack of worming (years ago, before knowing better etc none were wormed until neutered)

They had some dry last night & did stop once full, even the female! I weighed how much they ate & they had exactly the same before stopping so I think she just takes longer to eat it.

Would the vet not have wormed them before they get vaccinated if they definitely have worms? I haven't seen any but realise that you don't always see them

I looked at those & the Animonda Carny looks great, and has different can sizes (had used Bozita with the 18 year old once too but as they don't do kitten food hadn't looked again)

Will have a look at the rest, thanks! No way I can worm them alone though & i'm not using anything that isn't from a vet for that, as I know that like fleas the store stuff is rubbish plus they will get it from the vet. Don't know that a £30 ish consultation each is worth it to just get a wormer when the vet didn't give them one last time & they go within a week anyway (and it's Tues not Thurs lol so much on I get lost)

Do you/anyone know of store wormers that are good? Not the stuff i'm thinking like Bob Martin? My old cat was always wormed by the Vet until she no longer needed it, so never had to buy her any x

GwylimT

Drontal is identical to milbemax from the vets, availabe for around £1.40 per tablet online. Panacur is also fantastic.

Advantage is a fantastic flea treatment and far more effective than frontline from the vet.

I think most of those come in both 400 and 800g tins. If you use zooplus don't forget cashback.

scaredy_cat

how about letting them free eat dry food - my Giz has James Wellbeloved dry down all the as it's a complete food and he has 1 pouch split into morning and evening .

store wormers are rubbish , when the vet sees them , buy extra to take home .

UKTigerlily

Thanks, I never thought of getting more at the time, it's been so long since I wormed my own cats! Advantage was something my cat had I think, but it might've been Advocate, so will look into that to see!

UKTigerlily

scaredy_cat wrote: »

how about letting them free eat dry food - my Giz has James Wellbeloved dry down all the as it's a complete food and he has 1 pouch split into morning and evening .

store wormers are rubbish , when the vet sees them , buy extra to take home .

I thought of letting them free feed, but at first the female seemed to gorge with no off button (like myself) and I worried she'd have too much. I tried them last night, split up with the exact same amount of food, and he stopped eating first & had eaten half . . when she finally stopped she too had had half, so she's just taking longer.

I have dry down now & both are sleeping, so it might work! I do worry about feeding dry, but it's hardly going to hurt for a while (I have Applaws Kitten down) and would save hugely on the cost of wet! I could give them some wet per day, but a box every 3 days would be a bit much! ty

Smodlet

Kittens, like all babies need frequent, unlimited food and tons of sleep; growing takes a great deal of energy and they do it at a phenomenal rate. They need worming NOW, as has been said. I do not think tiny kittens should have to eat dry food only. They should always have access to wet food and ALWAYS to water, especially if you are feeding dry food.

You cannot restrict how much they eat. When we first got our kittens, I took two weeks off work (I don't care if anyone out there thinks that is sad; I saw it as responsible) The instructions on the packs of two well-known brands of kitten food, beginning with F and W advised they needed up to five meals a day... try ten. When tiny, they can eat only a teaspoon or two of food at a time but an hour or two later they are hungry again. They are tiny cats! An adult cat's metabolism is far higher than a human's and a human baby's is far higher than an adult's. Kittens need food, a lot of it, whenever they want it.

If I have misinterpreted your situation, I truly apologise but, if you cannot afford to look after them properly then you should put their welfare first.

scaredy_cat

have you thought of going over to tin kitten food as you get more for your money ?

room512

We have two kittens the same age as yours. We feed them three times a day now with wet food. Once when we get up, when we get home from work (around 4pm) and then about 10pm when we go to bed. They have dry food available too (unlimited, we top the bowl up). They seem happy with the feeding and are lively and happy. They share a pouch each time so are having one and a half pouches a day (Felix kitten food as that is what the fosterer fed them). They have a sprinkle of Iams kitten food on the wet food and a bowl of Whiskas dry kitten food.

UKTigerlily

scaredy_cat wrote: »

have you thought of going over to tin kitten food as you get more for your money ?

Hi, I have no idea how to multi quote! I have enquired here about if cans are cheaper, so am looking into that for sure & Animonda Carny looks good x