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Old July 9th, 2008, 11:43 AM
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lm9012 lm9012 is offline
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Kitten 'goes' too much?

hey guys! Well I just adopted a kitten, she's about 7 months old. I know nothing about cat nutrition, although I'm well versed in dog nutrition. I feed my dog a homemade diet because he has kidney disease.
So I put my kitten on Wellness Kitten Formula kibble and add a spoonfull of wellness wet once a day. She loves it but i find that she poops WAY too much! She's only 7 lbs or so and her waste is the same size as my 40 lb dog! AND granted my dog's waste is a lot smaller than it used to now that he's on raw/homefeeding but still.
She's been like this since I got her, when I adopted her they gave me a bag of cheap kitten chow so i blamed it on that. But now she's been on Wellness almost two months and I need to clean out her litter box twice a day.
I know Wellness is a great brand for dog food, is it good for cats? is there something better I can try to help with her 'poop'? How about kibble vs. dry? is it better to go one way over another? she gets mostly kibble now anyway. Thanks..

Last edited by lm9012; July 9th, 2008 at 01:37 PM.
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Old July 9th, 2008, 11:49 AM
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Love4himies Love4himies is offline
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I have my cats on Wellness canned, grain free and their don't have very big poops compared to when they ate Orijen, but if you really want to get them small, then raw is the way to go. My foster kittens are on raw, supplemented with one meal a day of Kitten Wellness, canned, not kibble, and they have almost no poops and no smell. They pee a lot though, lol.
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Old July 9th, 2008, 01:57 PM
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Checked for worms and parasites?


Apparently that can make 'big poops' ..


that go all over the place sometimes.


My foster kitten just needed 2 doses of Nemex to clear it up. Other then that, I have no idea.
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Old July 29th, 2008, 05:58 PM
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she was checked for parasites by the rescue group before I adopted her. I ended up switching her to Nutro Kitten Formula and have seen a dramatic difference in her stools. I can actually skip a day! I don't do it for the most part anyway, but it's good to know that if I get busy she's not out of room in her box! I couldn't believe how much she used to poop!

i noticed her breath improved immensly as well. I have two friends who feed their kittens Nutro, so I went with their advice.

She still gets Wellness wet though, I have to limit the fish though, she seems to get the runs if the formula is all fish, so I try to stick to turkey or chicken better. She's doing just great. It looks like she liked the taste of Wellness more though, she used to clean her plate right up..now she'll leave some kibble behind.

I know Wellness is higher quality than Nutro..although Nutro is still a good brand, so for now I am content with the results.

Maybe after she turns one, I can try Wellness kibble again, this time the adult formula...
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Old July 29th, 2008, 07:03 PM
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sugarcatmom sugarcatmom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lm9012 View Post
How about kibble vs. dry? is it better to go one way over another? she gets mostly kibble now anyway. Thanks..
You mean wet vs dry? Hands down, wet is better.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lm9012 View Post
She still gets Wellness wet though, I have to limit the fish though, she seems to get the runs if the formula is all fish, so I try to stick to turkey or chicken better.
Why not feed her only wet food and eliminate the dry completely? You're right to limit the fish flavours though, as they tend to be a common allergen for cats. Plus, too much fish has other health implications, like the fact that it's higher in phosphorus and environmental toxins, and the strong smell/flavour can be addicting.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lm9012 View Post
I know Wellness is higher quality than Nutro..although Nutro is still a good brand, so for now I am content with the results.
Nutro is mediocre, and their dry foods suck. Here are the main ingredients of Nutro Max Cat Kitten Roasted Chicken, as an example:

Quote:
Ingredients
Chicken Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Wheat Flour, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Ground Rice, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Natural Flavors, Rice Bran, Chicken, Yeast Culture,....
Lots of grains there, and very little actual meat. Carbohydrate content is way too high for a cat that should be getting next to none. And then there's the fact that all kibble is . . . . . . . . DRY! Cat's have evolved getting most of their moisture requirements met through their diet of birds and rodents (60-80% water) and therefore have a naturally low thirst drive.

Since your girl is already eating a good healthy food in the Wellness canned, why spoil it by adding a crappy, over-processed, cereal-like product in the form of kibble? There really is no need.

More info for you, if you haven't already seen this link: http://www.catinfo.org/
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Old July 29th, 2008, 07:45 PM
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I have always fed my cats both dry and canned.My one cat can't eat canned as he has a very sensitive tummy(started about 3 1/2 years ago) and the only thing he keeps down is the holistic dry.Everytime I give him the canned,he pukes up.Sometimes right back in his dish..And I have never had any health issues with any of my cats.And they are at an ideal weight.No fat cats...He's healthy and happy.And that's the main thing

Also the pluses of also feeding dry,I can go away for the weekends from time to time and not have to worry about them starving.I can't always get someone to watch them.And I'm not one for boarding them either.
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