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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

Kitten not eating much

34 replies

Nowmum43 · 03/12/2021 17:35

Hi, we have had our gorgeous girls 2 weeks and she is 13 weeks today.
When we got her she was on adult whiskers and I foolishly swapped her to whiskers kitten thinking she would be ok as it was the same brand.
She ended up with an upset stomach and the vet gave her probiotics powder which she finished a couple of days ago.
She hasn't been eating much and just really eats the jelly of her kitten food and some kitten biscuits.
She's only little and not really sure how much she should be eating. She doesn't seem like she hasn't got enough energy and has her crazy dashed around the house but sleeps a lot too.
I'm thinking about changing her meat but feel nervous as don't want to upset her tummy again!
Will speak to the vet if she's not eating more in a couple of days but wondered if kitten experts had any advice?
Thanks

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 03/12/2021 17:38

If you give different food then introduce it gradually rather than swapping straight over. Do you leave dry food out for her?

HappyPie82 · 03/12/2021 17:38

Have you had her checked for parasites?
My kitten was like this when he first came home. Dose of panacur and he was much more interested in his food!

Original poster
Nowmum43 · 03/12/2021 17:54

She's been to the vets twice for de fleeing and working and then vaccination so would presume they would have spotted if she had parasites?
I think I may try a different food, any suggestions? She does have the whiskers kitten biscuits and she eats about the recommended 20g per day of that.

OP posts:
HappyPie82 · 03/12/2021 18:05

To be honest we raw feed our cat and it’s been a massive improvement in his demeanour and his fur looks incredible!
But before the panacur he’d been wormed and it still didn’t sort the parasite out!

Fluffycloudland77 · 03/12/2021 18:06

I’d swap her back, it got her this far.

icedcoffees · 04/12/2021 08:20

She probably just doesn't like the food.

Try another kitten brand and swap over slowly.

Original poster
Nowmum43 · 04/12/2021 09:18

Thanks everyone I'll try switching her food to felix if she doesn't start eating more.
Also is kitten milk with giving or is she best just having water?

OP posts:
Original poster
Nowmum43 · 04/12/2021 09:18

Worth!

OP posts:
icedcoffees · 04/12/2021 09:25

I really wouldn't bother with kitten milk m.

Chemenger · 04/12/2021 09:27

I would recommend talking to the vet, but my go to for fosters that aren’t eating or having tummy trouble is a couple of days on poached chicken breast. They generally love it and it’s very bland. When I had tiny kittens that had been very cold and were refusing all food warm tuna got them eating (they just had it once because it’s not great cat food, but better than nothing, which is what they were eating). I would just give water usually but you could try kitten milk to get some calories in. Are you weighing her to see if she’s growing? It might be that the dry food is enough. I would leave dry down all the time rather than weighing it out.

Chemenger · 04/12/2021 09:29

My last lot of kittens wouldn’t eat Felix kitten food or any of the better quality foods I bought them but loved Whiskas, so they can have preferences. They really loved Iam’s dry.

Original poster
Nowmum43 · 04/12/2021 09:37

She's eating some of the meat, I've tried cutting it down smaller as I noticed yesterday that she's putting the meat in her mouth and then dropping some out. I'm probably over thinking it Hmm I'll keep more dry food out so she has the option.
When she eats she's eating heartily but it's just seems to be lots of jelly sucked off meat left!

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 04/12/2021 09:41

You get pate style foods. Maybe that would be a better option

Catfox1 · 04/12/2021 09:41

Chicken chicken and more chicken! If mine goes on hunger strike because he doesn’t like a particular flavour of the box of food he has 🙄 we soon know if he’s poorly or pretending by getting the chicken out 😅

Ours likes to lick the food instead of eating it too, no idea why 🤦‍♀️

Original poster
Nowmum43 · 04/12/2021 09:45

I wondered about the pate styled one but I'm pretty much limited to my local coop and online Tesco and they don't have that is kitten!
I might try the chicken but few like I'm setting myself up for a lifetime of cooking cat chicken 🤣

OP posts:
Catfox1 · 04/12/2021 09:57

Ha ha yeah there is that trap to be wary of! We buy him the chunks of crappy cooked chicken that you can get in the sandwich aisle in a supermarket, that goes down well too 😅

Original poster
Nowmum43 · 04/12/2021 10:34

And just so you can appreciate how cute she is 😻

Kitten not eating much
Kitten not eating much
OP posts:
Essexmummy88 · 04/12/2021 10:38

Oh she is gorgeous

Original poster
Nowmum43 · 04/12/2021 10:41

She's an absolute beauty and the perfect mix of crazy and cuddly 😻

OP posts:
icedcoffees · 04/12/2021 11:19

Can you not order online?

ZooPlus has a great variety of food.

Shmithecat2 · 04/12/2021 11:25

It's totally normal for some cats to eat all the jelly and not the meat - one of my cats is nearly 15yo and has done this since he was a kitten, and I think there's a massive market being missed out on there, jelly only pouches Grin. All my cats only get wet food as a treat, but their main food is dry. They're (all 7 of them) adult cats now and happily eat Arden Grange, but I've never met a kitten that didn't like Royal Canin dry kitten kibble. For reference, I did rescue and TNR in the ME for 7 years from my home, that was a LOT of kittens.

IsEveryUserNameBloodyTaken · 04/12/2021 11:31

I would avoid Felix
See the Facebook page Cats recently affected by Felix Food

Original poster
Nowmum43 · 04/12/2021 11:36

If you changed dry food do you have to do that over time too?
Jelly only cat food, now that's an idea Grin I'll look out for you on dragons den Xmas Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
Nowmum43 · 04/12/2021 11:36

And will avoid felix

OP posts:
Shmithecat2 · 04/12/2021 11:41

@Nowmum43

If you changed dry food do you have to do that over time too? Jelly only cat food, now that's an idea Grin I'll look out for you on dragons den Xmas Grin
Lol, I did consider it 🤣