My kittens are PIGS

[Tigremyangel]

I am confused. I had read somewhere that you could just feed kittens freely because they are growing and developing etc. However, my vet doesn't agree. She said to follow the instructions on the bag. I am feeling them Medical Growth Development and goodness!!!! ONLY 1/3rd a cup a DAY for any kitten under 6 lbs. Well, I've still been feeding twice that much to them (over the course of the day/evening they're still starving) I usually give them a portion at night and morning but I am worried they're going to be fat or unhealthy. What do you guys do with feeding?
Also, I am aware that wet food is important. How often do you feed wet and what brands are best. Does this upset their stomachs at all?
thanks

[sugarcatmom]

Originally Posted by Tigremyangel

I am confused. I had read somewhere that you could just feed kittens freely because they are growing and developing etc. However, my vet doesn't agree. She said to follow the instructions on the bag. I am feeling them Medical Growth Development and goodness!!!! ONLY 1/3rd a cup a DAY for any kitten under 6 lbs. Well, I've still been feeding twice that much to them (over the course of the day/evening they're still starving) I usually give them a portion at night and morning but I am worried they're going to be fat or unhealthy. What do you guys do with feeding?
Also, I am aware that wet food is important. How often do you feed wet and what brands are best. Does this upset their stomachs at all?
thanks

I've been feeding my cat wet exclusively for the past year. 2 meals a day (3oz can of either Wellness, Fancy Feast, Innova, or Precise for each meal, raw on weekends), which he nibbles on randomly over the following few hours. I know lots of people do the wet/dry thing and leave a bowl of dry out for snacking, but that does have the potential make some cats overweight. It's much easier to prevent weight gain than it is to reverse it (which is probably why your vet wants you stick with the 1/3 cup).

You might also find that your kittens would be more satiated with canned food, since it has a higher protein content. Cats being obligate carnivores, it's protein that they need, not carbohydrates, which tend to be way to high in dry food (the Med-cal Development contains rice and corn and has 26% of it's calories from carbs, so not that great).

I think cats generally have heartier digestive systems than people give them credit for, so no, wet food in and of itself shouldn't cause an upset stomach. Sometimes a cat that has eaten only one food for many years might have an adjustment period, and kittens tend to have unpredictable reactions to new things anyway, but I still say it's a good idea to introduce a variety of foods so that they get used to trying new things. Do it slowly if that works better.

A good canned food is one that doesn't contain a lot of (or any) grains and vegetables and isn't entirely made up of by-products. Some of the ones I mentioned above would qualify, although it seems even the so-called 'premium' brands tend to have more veggies than is really necessary. At least the quality of their meat is fairly high. Here's a run-down on what to look for: http://www.catinfo.org/commercialcannedfoods.htm

[jessi76]

first, why are your kittens on medical growth food?

second, I personally think Wellness and Merrick are good brands for cat food. Wellness makes a variety of good dry foods (even grain free), and canned. My cats have been on Merrick canned for a while now (just for variety) and they LOVE it. They split a SMALL tin can once a day. Wet food is very important as it helps provide the cats with more water. Cats generally don't drink enough anyways, and a bit of wet food daily does help keep them hydrated.

with kittens, I've always fed both dry and wet daily. kittens can burn ALOT of calories really fast! they are playin' machines!

btw, I never take nutrional advice from the vet - most try to push the foods they sell (science diet, purina, etc...) which, if you read the ingredient list, you'll see are not very good foods at all. there is ALOT of great info here on this forum, I'm sure you'll learn alot about different foods.

[Tigremyangel]

WOW thank you for all the helpful advice. I know this medical growth development was what i thought would be best because it was from the vet but I don't think a small bag costing 20$ is really necessary as well. I had a cat pass away as a very young age (she was fed only dry food as she was extremely fussy and hated almost everything including wet foods) she had chronic kidney failure and now I know how important and vital wet food is to a cats' health. I would love to try these brands you ladies have suggested to me but I haven't heard of them!!! I hope I will have some luck at PEtsmart or another local Pet store!

[ellendar]

My kittens are four weeks old and they are also piggies I feed them all they can eat for twenty minutes then take the remainder up. That keeps them from getting tummy aches I do not leave cat food out indefinitely because it can get bacteria in it, twenty minutes is long enough to satisfy their hunger but I do feed them four times a day and give them water separately. I do not give them dry cat food because it has so much soy which gives cats gas, they don't need that, you can give them a good quality canned cat food like Iams and or Friskies canned adding just a spoon of Brewers yeast so they don't taste yummy to fleas or parasites those B vitamins help prevent anemia

[ellendar]

feed kittens a higfh quality canned food twenty minutes of eating then take it away so they don't bloat

[ellendar]

it has too much sodium in it I also make soup in the winter for my dog and cats with a soup bone or beef ribs in a large stock pot, I add a little olive oil some carrots and a little roast garlic then I let it cool and they lap it up they love it so much. I never add salt to their soup although I have added mushrooms to it mostly the stems. I boil it good so the bones are okay for them to have too but of course I cool their bones, even cats like a beef bone

[marine's girlie]

Originally Posted by ellendar

feed kittens a higfh quality canned food twenty minutes of eating then take it away so they don't bloat

cats don't "bloat" the way that dogs do. they may get full bellies, but this is different from gastric dilation and torsion, which is the condition that affects dogs.
also, garlic shouldn't be given to cats. they are much more sensitive to the potential side effects to their health than dogs are. they can develop heinz body anemia and hemolytic anemia from the body's tendancy to destroy abnormal red blood cells. it is not recommended to give garlic to cats in high doses or over long periods of time.

[rainbow]

Originally Posted by Tigremyangel

WOW thank you for all the helpful advice. I know this medical growth development was what i thought would be best because it was from the vet but I don't think a small bag costing 20$ is really necessary as well. I had a cat pass away as a very young age (she was fed only dry food as she was extremely fussy and hated almost everything including wet foods) she had chronic kidney failure and now I know how important and vital wet food is to a cats' health. I would love to try these brands you ladies have suggested to me but I haven't heard of them!!! I hope I will have some luck at PEtsmart or another local Pet store!

The better quality premium/holistic brands are at the smaller "local" pet stores. I would suggest Orijen (www.championpetfoods.com) as my first choice. Some others are:

Innova and Innova EVO (www.naturapet.com)
Felidae (www.canidae.com)
Go Natural (www.petcurean.com)
Wellness (www.oldmotherhubbard.com/wellness)