Kittens!

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houghtam

houghtam

Member Since 2013
It has been 3 months since my beloved Hardey passed and a day hasn't gone by that I have not thought of him. The house was so empty without a kitty to love that I couldn't stand it anymore and rescued two female kittens (from different litters) about a month ago. Gilly (gray tabby is 4 1/2 months old) and Roxi (orange tabby about 4 months old) have put us through the ringer. It's been awhile since we have had kittens in the house and I had forgotten how crazy they are, but I wouldn't change it for anything. Every day I tell them about their big brother who watches them from the rainbow bridge.

My goal is to put them on all wet food, but both came from their rescues on a combo of friskies wet (I've switched them to special diet turkey/giblets) and Purina 1 kitten (kibble). Since they are kittens, I don't want to mess with their diet too much since I know they need extra nutrition. My question is this: when should I begin the process to switching over to all wet? I have also read a bit about Young Again dry. Would that be something I could use in addition to the wet?

I want to thank all of you for all the support you gave me and Hardey during our last year. I know we made the last year of his life better and I am so glad I had that time with him. I recommend this website and you wonderful people to anyone who will listen. You guys are awesome!
 

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Evo Cat & Kitten dry is < 10% calories from carbohydrates. Maybe phase that in 20-25% per day or two.
 
You don't need to feed kittens any "special" dry food. Just get rid of the dry entirely by phasing it out over a couple of days to a week. Mikey was diagnosed with diabetes at 6 moths old so he got immediately switched to wet food and I never looke back. I got Henry a couple of months later when Henry was only 4 months old. I didn't have any dry food in my house because of Mikey and didn't even think Henry was on dry food so he got switched literally overnight. It took a couple of weeks of smelly poo before his system got used to only wet but they're now 2 and 1 1/2 and have been feed Friskies Special Diet for most of their lives. They do need to eat more, about twice as much as an adult cat for first year or so, but after that, their eating tapers down into normal range.
 
Congrats on the kittens! I hope they help to soothe your heart. The best tribute to your kitty is getting new ones.. Shows how much you really loved having hardey that you wanted more cats in your life.
 
Kay is right - please do not get them hooked on dry food. No matter how many carbs, dry food does a lot of harm to the urinary tract and causes a cat to drink water excessively. they do not need dry food for their teeth for they do not have flat teeth so grinding dry food for dental health is a common misconception. Their teeth are strengthened by and used for tearing. I fostered kittens in December and know exactly what you are going through. I never left their room without blood dripping from my feet and legs. I had to throw away so many blood-soaked socks. They will find nooks and holes and places you didn't know existed.

Because their mother was sick, I had to wean them at four weeks so I used Wellness Core, Turkey, Chicken and Liver grain free foods. There is a kitten formula which may have more carbs but I put a lot of water in it and these kittens took to it right away. Because they are growing so fast, they were very skinny at 4 months old so I told their new owners to feed them several meals a day instead of just two and to keep each meal saturated. To this day, these kittens think the water bowl is for playing only. They don't need it for hydration if you put the water in food. It is really good for their digestion systems.

Congrats on your new babes! They are so precious and it is so exhilarating to be in charge of their health from the beginning so that they hopefully won't have the health problems we have all seen here, in later years.
 
Thanks everyone. Now if I can just get these kittens to let me sleep through the night... Lol
 
Play with them in th evening to tire them out (well ... somewhat!), a couple hours before bedtime. And maybe try a ticking clock (like mom's heartbeat). Or find one of those mom cat toys with the simulated beating heart to snuggle with.
 
Thanks guys. It's so funny, one night it will be one kitten and the next night, it's the other. I think they plan it.... silly little girls. :)

I can catch up on my sleep this weekend. lol
 
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