Food type & quantity for kitten-cat please?

[Fire Fox]

 
Tallulah continues to eat the same wet but not reliably enthusiastic about the dry or cat milk, not sure if this is satiety or personal taste. Have ordered six flavours of Bozita pate or sauce plus a small bag of Applaws kitten dry which I have read is stinky! 

[Gillian Harvey]

I'm sure she will let you know if you arent feeding enough.  I feed (approx) 100g in the morning and 100g in the evening (wet/raw) with a small handful of dry for a treat at bedtime, at timed mealtimes. I don't leave food down for them to free feed as I'd never know who was eating what amount 

[Fire Fox]

  once again for the replies. I was told Tallulah loves her grub, but no begging just interest. On top of two pouches yesterday she had 20g of kibble (?Fish4Cats?) and some cat milk overnight. No treats yet because I want to know which foods she likes and which her digestion can tolerate.

1/8 pack Bozita pate (~45g but solid meat) has been wolfed this morning, Lulu would have eaten more but I held off for a couple of hours in case of tummy upsets. She's since had another 1/8 which was started with gusto but eaten over two sittings. There is cat milk down again as I've not seen her drink, tho she does know where the water bowl is.

I would like to try her with raw at some point as she has tried to kidnap and devour Da Mouse, but at the minute I am prioritising settling her. She has such a tiny mouth I am not sure she could eat large pieces of bone so meaty chicken ribs might be better than the thighs I have in the freezer! 

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

I must admit, I've found approx 3 pouches a day or the equivilent to be about the right amount for most cats, regardless of their weight.  If you want to put some weight on her a small amount of grain free dry might be a good idea.  Zooplus have quite a good selection although I usually buy Encore/Applaws for Mosi.

Are you hoping to get her onto raw eventually?

[Jiji]

 
There is a wealth of information on wet foods including fat content etc. along with daily feeding costs on here http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-health-nutrition/112132-z-wet-food-cats.html this is the link to the wet food, there are also a threads for dry foods and raw as well.
 
As to how much, you don't say Lulu as 'asking' for more, so I think I would try leaving some dry down for her to graze on. If she is eating more of it than you would like give her a bit more wet and just see how it goes for a few weeks until she is fully settled and you can see if she is likely to be an 'over eater'. I know the temptation is to think she needs feeding up as she has been a stray but as long as she is eating and has been given a clean bill of health by the vet I am sure you and Lulu will work out her feeding needs over the next few weeks.

[Rosella moggy]

I can't see how 2 pouches a day could be interpreted as over feeding but much will depend on whether that is added to with treats and by how much   As long as you keep an eye out for weight gain, I'm sure she'll be fine 

She's very beautiful btw 

[Fire Fox]

  to both of you for the replies.

The problem is I don't know what I should be feeding as a baseline, as I guess you don't feed a 2.4kg kitten the same as a 2.4kg adult cat, nor an indoor cat the same as an outdoor cat. Apparently she twice turned up to the house of the lady that was feeding her and was skinny so they have tried to fatten her up. I also don't know what they have fed nor how much as the questions were going through several people before I got a response. I was more concerned about finding out if she could be pregnant and that she'd be suited to an indoor life. 

Noah was 6.5kg which I got down to 6kg by measuring food from day one; of course I had to cut back from what the rescue fed to fatten him up. The vet was happy with his weight providing he didn't gain any more, and he commented on the last morning how well muscled my darling boy was. So I *think* it would be OK to let Lulu gain a little providing the diet is high quality and I keep a close eye on her waistline?

Dry food is useful for the occasional long shift at work or overnight stay and I may use it in a ball feeder: I only have an issue with certain companies passing off meat-flavoured corn-flakes as a complete diet for a carnivore. Tallulah has eaten two whole Hi-Life pouches today, not impressed by Asda cat milk unfortunately: is two pouches too much or too little food for an active cat of this size? I guess I am more worried about underfeeding than overfeeding given her history, but maybe I am wrong to think that way?

[Rosella moggy]

Can I just suggest a little warning that might tempt you to wait a while afore increasing her food intake 

In my limited experience, I've found that spayed females have a tendency to put on weight around aged 30 to 40 months................

As long as she seems healthy, I'd hold fire on trying to increase her weight.  I wish I'd been more careful with Noni.....

[Tiggy's Mum]

I couldn't work out from her introduction thread whether you were adopting her - I'm sure Noah would be very proud that you have found room in your heart for another needy little cat 

Will you be feeding her any dry at all FF, I know most dry foods won't fit in with your low grain aim but a little won't harm her? Value-wise I don't think you can go wrong with Bozita (as long as she'll eat it!) and you could supplement that with a decent quality dry, I'm sure kitten dry foods tend to be higher in fat. I feed the boys (6kg males so probabaly eat a bit more than LuLu!) 1/4 a carton of Bozita for breakfast, same for dinner and a bowl of JamesWellbeloved dry down permanently. I buy the JWB when it's on offer at various places so works out to around £10 for a 2kg sack. I get through a 2kg sack per month so around £5 worth per cat.

While you're trying to fatten her up you could try cat milk, the supermarket own will be just as good as Whiskas/Felix.

[Fire Fox]

http://s1222.photobucket.com/albums/dd485/Firefox7275/Tallulah/

The vet apparently said Lulu (ex-stray) is not more than two and he didn't think she would grow much bigger. She really is the size of a kitten at 2.4kg, very slim waist but not bony spine, spayed and indoor only. I have only ever adopted fully grown, healthy weight rescue cats so my diet questions are pretty basic!

I want to give Lulu the chance to grow and would like to feed a high meat low grain diet; ethically I'd prefer to avoid Mars, Nestle and the like and am on a budget (50p per day ideally). So far today she has had three x half pouches of Hi-life and will have the remaining half pouch before bed. My stocks of complete food are low - just chicken Hi-life and Bozita - so need to shop online or locally soon. Bozita is low in fat, so I am wondering whether a food specifically designed for kittens might be better?

I understand kittens eat more than an adult cat of the same weight, not sure which I should treat Lulu as far as quantity given we don't know her age? I portion controlled Noah but wondering if Lulu should free feed?