[SteveB]

Hi there Cat Lovers
Finally got a new cat after our twenty year-old died a while back.

Nina's a 9-month old Tabby / Tortie, very affectionate and very funny.

To the point now, it's been a LONG time since we've had a young cat and I'm concerned we may be over-feeding her. We keep her dry food bowl stocked all the time and have been feeding her one of the 85g Whiska's kitten food sachets each morning and night. Should we cut back the Whiska's to half a sachet morning and night at that age?

Thanks!

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[Trifon]

No! At 9 months old she is still a kitten and I personally believe you cannot overfeed kittens, their bodies are growing. So keep going as you are and when she is not needing as much food she will tell you by leaving some. When this happens day after day you will know she doesn't need as much food.

Any pics of your girl to share?

[Avignon Burmese]

Hi!
Probably best to cut out the wet food except for special occasions - this only leads to fussy eaters and dental problems. Stick to a good quality dry food diet and go by the feeding guides - you can usually feed up to 25% less than the manufacturer reccomends if she's looking a bit porky. What brand are you feeding now?
Merissa


PS - congrats on your new fluffy baby...

This post has been edited by Avignon Burmese: 27 July 2008 - 11:45 AM

[CatsRU]

I think if you read the back of the Whiskas kitten sachets you will find that you should be feeding her at least three a day plus dry.

I fed my kittens three wet meals - canned and raw meat and Royal Canin dry biscuits 24/7.

[Trifon]

Forgot to say before, raw meat is better for them to reduce the risk of dental problems. Most biscuits, even the dental ones, do not clean their teeth adequately. The best option here is raw chicken necks or raw chicken wings otherwise human grade beef strips cut into chunks so kitty has to chew it (thus cleaning her teeth).

Be very careful offering a premium quality dry only diet as it can lead to kidney disease, feline diabetes and FLUTD/FUS. Here is a link that you may find useful; Feline illnesses related to diet

ETA: I feed mine a varied diet of raw chicken necks, tinned food and Royal Canin biscuits (usually mixed with another such as Prism or Advance). I find a varied diet is the only way to stop them being fussy, most cats who are fed a dry only diet become very fussy and often refuse to eat anything else. Just find something that works for you and your kitty.

This post has been edited by Mordred: 27 July 2008 - 11:54 AM

[Avignon Burmese]

Most veterinary brand dry foods contain a formulation to protect the urinary tract. Raw meat is definitely a much better option than canned food...

[metaltiger]

Most posts will reflect what we personally feed our cats.
There is a theory that you can't over feed a kitten (up to 1yo) and as such there is nothing wrong with what and how much you are feeding Nina.
Does she eats all the wet food? And if she doesn't look continually round in the middle then she's not overweight. I say continually, because one of mine would look podgy as a kitten and than have a growth spurt and slim down again.
I feed my boys a mix of everything. They have high end mixed dry food (RC and Hills) 24/7, they have wet food in the morning and then raw lamb or beef of a night.
I feed RC and Hills dry food because my previous cat (who lived to almost 20yo) developed kidney problems from low end supermarket dry food. With the high end dry foods, they supposedly have less fillers, so your cat doesn't need as much, so they shouldn't work out much more expensive.
With wet food my boys eat Purr (Coles own brand), Fancy Feast and Dine Domes.
Raw meat is good for their teeth, so you could try a chicken neck or wing every now and again or some diced beef or lamb.
Congratulations on your new girl, I hope she bring you much joy.

[oriental cats]

the others have given you excellent advise
i feed my 4 a mix of quality dry, fresh raw meat and chicken necks
i use canned as a treat only
they need to chew to keep those teeth and gums in good health
you cant overfed at this age i personally leave the dry out 24/7 for grazing
she is still a kitten
congatulations on the new baby
yes it is a shock to have little ones again
my Tara was 18 when we lost her to a tumor, and i adopted a pair on 12 mth old OLH
have lots of fun and enjoy her

[Trifon]

Most veterinary brand dry foods contain a formulation to protect the urinary tract.

Premium dry foods are suppose to encourage cats to drink more, it is part of the formulation but as the VET told me, many cats still do not drink enough water to combat the associated problems. The only way around this according to him is to add water to the dry biscuits, which is a good option but you would need to feed raw chicken necks or wings to be cleaning their teeth. I have lost 2 cats because of feeding premium quality dry so I had to learn the hard way and it cost me the life of another much loved kitty to FUS. I just wish I had listened to him after I lost my first to kidney failure.

[Avignon Burmese]

Be very careful offering a premium quality dry only diet as it can lead to kidney disease, feline diabetes and FLUTD/FUS. Here is a link that you may find useful; Feline illnesses related to diet

I've put in a bit of time reading this site, obviously it's very extensive though. Unfortunately there's so much conradicting information available, especially on the internet. One site will say one thing giving you all the reasons why, then the next will say another also backing up it's own claims. I've seen this especially with dog breeders and the BARF (bones and raw food) diet compared with commercial or home-cooked diets. Everyone seems to be passionate about the diet they believe, understandably because we all want to be doing what's best for our pets.

I'm going to investigate that information further, but there are some things I know as facts because I see it from a veterinary prospective:
1. Nearly all cats with UTIs, blockages, crystals and stones are fed a poor quality supermarket diet.
2. The majority of cats with dental disease have either been fed a wet-based diet or a poor quality supermarket dry/wet diet.
3. Kittens over 6 months of age can become overweight if they are little piggies.
4. All diabetic cats I've seen have been obese - regardless of their breed and/or diets.
5. I have 4 dogs and 7 cats on super-premium dry only diets of different breeds, sizes and lifestages that have never had any health problems to date (touch wood!)

[SteveB]

Thanks so much everyone! She's finishing her wet food every time, so will keep the current regime up. I don't think I could go dry food only - certainly doesn't appeal to me, haha!

I have learned something new as I hadn't understood the importance of fresh meat and bones. My old cats used to get the meat only occasionally as a special treat. It'll be easy to add to her diet as I just need to cut off a piece of our dinner before we cook it. Mmmm - looks like Nina's in for some nice lamb tonight.

Thanks again!

[Avignon Burmese]

I'm sorry to hear that you lost your loved ones due to kidney failure, it's never a nice thing. I suppose we can only go by experiences...

[Trifon]

1. Nearly all cats with UTIs, blockages, crystals and stones are fed a poor quality supermarket diet.

My vet disagrees with this. And both my cats were fed premium quality biscuits - Eukanuba was one.

2. The majority of cats with dental disease have either been fed a wet-based diet or a poor quality supermarket dry/wet diet.

This is true of many cats who only eat tinned cats, but obviously is not true of all. As a kid I grew up with cats who were fed this type of diet and supermarket quality biscuits (mum didn't know any better then) and they never had any problems with their teeth and lived to a ripe old age. There can also be underlying reasons for dental disease, besides diet.

3. Kittens over 6 months of age can become overweight if they are little piggies.

Kittens are still growing and whilst they may appear overweight at one point, they tend to have growth spurts and then the weight disperses evenly and they are in proportion. Growing bodies need lots of good quality food and their activity level also has to be taken into account. Kittens are generally quite active so burn off much of what they eat, same as for 2 legged children. My 7yo son should be enormous given the amount he eats, but he isn't - because he burns it off.

4. All diabetic cats I've seen have been obese - regardless of their breed and/or diets.

I personally have never had a cat with diabetes. But the research that I have read warns of it as being associated with a dry only diet.

5. I have 4 dogs and 7 cats on super-premium dry only diets of different breeds, sizes and lifestages that have never had any health problems to date (touch wood!)

The sad thing is you don't generally so any health issues until it is too late to save them.

At the end of the day we will each do what we feel is the best thing for our pets. But I think we will have to agree to disagree Avignon Burmese so as to not de-rail this thread.

As you can see SteveB, we all have very different opinions on nutrition so best to do lots of research for yourself and see what works for you.

This post has been edited by Mordred: 27 July 2008 - 12:50 PM

[Avignon Burmese]

I agree. SteveB, you must've been doing something right the first time if your cat lived to 20!

[SteveB]

Nina loved chewing on her lamb bone last night. Only problem was that she chased it all over the house leaving grime marks all over the polished floorboards - Mrs B was not very happy . Might become an outdoors treat from now on.