Help a novice with feeding please

[maybesomedayiwill]

Hi everyone! I've never owned cats so totally out of my depth here. I got two 14 week old kittens two days ago but getting worried they are not feeding right. The lady i got them from said they are fed whiskas kitten dried food mixed with cooked ham and a bit of water on. The kittens however do not seem to like it as each time i give them food they just take out the ham pieces and leave most of the dry food untouched. Plus the smell of the dried food makes my house stink really bad. When i leave just ham in their bowls its polished off within minutes but i've read ham should only be given as a treat due to the high sodium content. I've tried Whiskas kitten poultry selection in jelly but they seem to just lick off the juice in it and leave everything else.
Can anyone please advice on what else to try that doesn't smell so bad. They seem to be happy though as playing , weeing and pooing fine.

Whiskas dry kitten food is a crap food. I'd try phasing in a better dry food with more meat and no grains/cereals. Same with wet food - try a higher quality one. Have a look in pets at home if you have one as they should have a whole kitten section of dry/wet food

It's normal for cats to zone in on bits of food they like, and leave the rest untouched. Ham isn't recommended as a regular food because there's a disease that's transmissible from pigs to cats (hence you never see pork flavoured cat food).

Generally, the cheaper the food, the smellier, so get the best you can afford. You could try feeding smaller portions more frequently so it doesn't sit around untouched in the bowl.

You can also get silo style feeders that only release food as it's eaten, if you're prepared to shell out, but you need to make sure your cats are self-regulating before giving them access to unlimited food. Some cats will eat and eat as long as food is available (and they gain too much weight) whereas others seem able to pace themselves (a bit like different humans!)

thanks for the tips. Are there any particular brands you would recommend? I've looked online but there's so many different brands and i don't want to go for brands based on how pricey they are only as might not necessarily be the best.

Lily's kitchen, applaws , arden grange, thrive are all ok I think. Think I used AVA at one point which is a pets at home own make

My cat loves Applaws. It's grain free and stopped her very smelly farts immediately upon use.

Mine like James Wellbeloved - there is a kitten version. The Range is the cheapest place to buy this.

Thank you all. Will check petsathome tomorrow, see which of the suggested brands they have in stock. There is no branch of the range near me unfortunately.

Think they sell it in PAH too