What am I looking for ?

[Mymblesdaughter]

Sorry I didn't realise your kitten was so young. Some of the applaws food is complimentary so doesn't contain all that a cat needs so you will need to give some biscuits or other food as well. I see they now do a kitten food wet and dry.

Good luck

[chrisnjulie]

She was having the odd slurp of kitten milk . I went and got her some milk formula powder which she was lapping up .
I then started mixing Felix kitten pouches with kitten milk and made it into a soupy mix and she ate some of that . She came with Royal Canin kitten food and would not touch it all . I got her the first thing that came to hand to try her with and gocat was 'it' ...she ate it with much gusto , I put water on it first to soften it . She has now been eating for 2 days,  she drinks water with no problems.  I have left kitten milk out which is replaced frequently and things are looking up . I'm not going to change the gocat until I know feeding is well underway and then I will swap it to applaws which I can buy locally .

[Rosella moggy]

Hi there and  to Purrs.  Love the pic of your newbie and the canines too 

Sorry don't think I caught the name of your newbie?  She is as cute as anything though 

To recap, I think you mean Go Cat? rather than goat    Your vet suspects newbie to be 6 rather than 8 weeks.  She did not eat throughout Thursday or Friday    You have 3 dogs and, from the pics, you are obviously a devoted mum to them so will be a devoted mum to newbie too 

Well, with 3 dogs, leaving food down for newbie is not an option unless she is locked away and kittens of such a young age really need company.  6 weeks is basically too young for them to leave their mom.  A lot of the time they are separated at 8 weeks but I much prefer leaving it till 12 weeks if possible as mom cat teaches discipline between 8 to 12 weeks. 

It would really worry me if I had a kitten that young that had not eaten for 2 whole days.  They need feeding 4 times a day at such a  young age and lots of attention.  Getting her to eat anything is far better than nothing for such a long time and I would have been feeding her finely chopped up chicken and/or fish if she wouldn't eat cat food.

Yes I'm afraid GoCat is not good stuff although you are right to be concerned that any change of food should be gradual to avoid newbie getting the runs which can be dangerous for young uns.  If that was the food she was on, I assume your use of the word "breeder" to describe where newbie came from was with tongue in cheek 

Avoid normal milk as many cats are intolerant of lactose.  You can get lactose free kitten milk but we usually stick with water.

I am also inclined to think wet food is better than dry especially for young kittens.  Our lot survived OK on Felix As Good As It Looks Kitten Food with a little Royal Canin Kitten dry food sprinkled on top.  Our lot used to go crazy for RC dry kitten food.  http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/cats/dry_cat_food/royal_canin/kitten/13562 

Best of luck.  I hope she is OK. 

I don't know what it's like leaving a kitten on their own.  I've never been able to do it and our lot have the run of the house except one room in which only one of them is allowed.  We often share the bed with 3 cats.  May sound crazy but hey ho 

Hope you hang around and let us know how things progress   

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

At the end of the day a cat chooses what they eat!

I think we all  have supermaket shelves of food they ate until we bought a lot!

Mine eat felix fish in jelly pouches, sheba small trays chicken skices in gravy and chicken pieces in jelly and salmon pieces in jelly, gourmet fish pate with water added for Misas metacam. Also they have Proplan fish biscuits and Lupin has the same but the cheaper version that that company make and sold in supermarkets............forgot name!

Your kitten should be on kitten food as she is only 8 weeks and PAH also do kitten biscuits which are smaller.

You will have to decide whether she free feeds or has meal times. Kittens need small  meals often.

My cats all free feed and if you have meal times biscuits can be left down all the time even in the summer.

[Mymblesdaughter]

All the most recent advice is that the best type of food for your cat is wet. Dry should be avoided if possible. Saying that I have one cat that will only eat dry food! High meat content is important I feed applaws and almo nature but there are many others around. Supermarkets tend to stock the same food and most aren't great. Try somewhere like zooplus they have a good range. If you are feeding dry go for high high meat content without soya and grains.

This is all very well but most cats have their own opinion on what they like. So usually it's a compromise for me. One has all dry the other mainly wet with some dry.   

[chrisnjulie]

So you can do wet and dry together ??
So would you do wet morning and night and dry in between ?

[hollycat]

You're right it is a minefield.
As kittens I fed my two Felix kitten and whiskas kitten wet food, James wellbeloved and royal canin dry kitten.
They now eat Felix AGAIL and James Wellbeloved adult.

I know some feed only raw food

[chrisnjulie]

What food should I be aiming for ? What contents should I be looking at ? Wet or dry food ? I've read that dry isn't good for kittens as they font drink enough water etc ...
Our cat is on dry food at the moment and has only just started eating today since we picked her up on Wednesday . She is on Goat which I bet is rubbish . It's a mine field out there,  I went through all this with my dogs but it was much easier decision with them with recommendations off friends/breeders/trainers