Best wet kitten food

[ancientgeordiegirl]

Hello
We have a very sweet 12 week old cat (therapy pet for D14) - the bonding with D and C going really well. When we her C was on whiskas wet food we have mixed in royal cabin dry and tries her on Canacan which she seems to prefer but is very expensive- 2 questions - first is it ok to feed whiskers in the morning and canacan at night? 2. Are there other good cat food brands you would recommend which are less pricy? My 2 dogs are on barking heads so wondered about trying her on their cat food but it’s hard to find Instore as would want to try her on a couple of sachets before buying lots.

Feeding pet threads tends to bring out some strong opinions, so brace yourself

Firstly, I am a firm believer that (almost) any wet food is better than (almost) any dry food, because cats don't have a strong thirst drive and its natural for them to get most of their liquid from their prey. Start acclimatising her to the toothbrush now though. I know, it sounds crazy. But I swear, its possible. Both of mine allow me to brush their teeth every day, and are fed solely wet food. They don't exactly like it but they tolerate it fine. I can write a separate post on how to do this if you want but I learned it from Googling.

Okay, so what wet food? Put simply, I think you should buy, within your budget, the closest complete food to their natural diet. So fewer ingredients, and it shouldn't really have things like grains and wheat in there (peas etc are harmless but pointless in my opinion. They are carnivores. They just poop them out). Brands I like that aren't the most expensive include Nature's Menu, Butcher's Classic, Bozita, and James Wellbeloved. Everything is cheaper in bulk. In the opinion of the best vet we ever had, btw, kitten food is fine but not strictly necessary if the kitten is thriving and growing well. As he put it 'there are no kitten mice. In the wild they go from drinking milk to eating what hte mother eats'. I don't know if Bozita do kitten food, for example, but would have no qualms about cutting it up small and giving it to a kitten.

Finally - and I may be opening myself up for a flaming here - I wouldn't actually worry about it too much. My older cat is 12 this year. She's had spells of being on top-quality food and spells on lesser quality (which she prefers, because is a cat) but the consistent think is that she has always had 'complete cat food' in wet. She still sprints, zooms and grabs like a kitten, healed completely from an ankle fusion in record time, and according to her recent checkup is in perfect health. Someone guessed her age at '1' the other day (she is small and has big eyes). My other cat is younger, but a rescue and the first year of her life was bad. Her health is not perfect and probably never will be. The fact you have a healthy happy 12 week old getting all the right nutrients now gives her the best chance of longterm health.

Thanks @iloveeverykindofcat sound advice - we will keep doing what she seems to like and to keep her bright eyed and lively. I’ll read the ingredients as I feed my dogs grain free food so will ensure I do the same for her

@iloveeverykindofcat
I would love to hear any advice on tooth brushing, I’m getting a kitten next month and have no clue.

The kitten I’m getting is fed a raw diet so I will continue this for as long as I can but agree, it is interesting to know what’s brands are best.

I’m not sure if it’s good to mix morning and evening, could it lead to an upset tummy?

I would be interested to know if they need to have access to dry food if they are having a complete wet meal morning and evening, should there always be food out?

I think raw done properly is great - e.g. a pre-prepared commercial diet like Nature's Menu. Some vets are down on it because people try to wing it and make it up, which leads to all sorts of disasters. Hmm, food down all the time? I'm probably not the best person to advise, I haven't had a kitten for a long time, but I learnt most of what I know from an absolutley brilliant old-school vet we had all the time I was growing up (long passed now), not great with people, but a certified genius with animals and diagnostics. According to him dry food is not the best thing for cats period. Its for the owners' benefit. Don't get me wrong, it won't harm them - but it will cause them to eat less wet, and if their thirst drive isn't strong enough they end up with urinary tract disorders (more dangerous in males as the urinary tract is very thin, but still painful and nasty for femailes). Granted, some cats will drink enough. It depends on the cat. So...I'm not sure. Maybe ask someone who's raised a kitten recently?

Okay toothbrushing. Well first you need a pet-specific toothpaste because obviously they don't spit it out. I use Beaphar but there are loads available online. And a tiny cat toothbrush. Put the toothpaste aside for now. For the first few days you are just going to introduce the kitten to the brush. Show them the brush. Let them touch the brush. Tap and stroke the brush gently on their face. You can do this over a few days. Gradually inch the brush closer to their mouth. They like to have their cheeks stroked, so do this with the dry brush, slowly slowly getting closer to their mouth. Then after a few days try touching it to the outside of their teeth. Don't be tempted to rush. Just a little more at a time.

Then introduce the toothpaste. Not on the brush at first, just put a tiny bit on your finger, like half a pea size. Let them taste and smell it. Its safe for them to swallow a bit if they want. Gradually work up to putting the toothpaste close to their mouth. Then on the mouth. Keep working with the toothbrush 'play' at a sepearate time of day.

Finally put the toothpaste on the brush. The first day, just try to apply to to the front outside teeth, then leave it. When your cat accepts this, start working your way to the back outside teeth with a tiny bit of pressure. Then work on getting them to open their mouth, which they will probably do instinctively. Just a little bit every day, until you can do as many teeth as possible.

I did this over several weeks and the upshot is that one cat accepts a complete brush happily. She seems to like the taste of the toothpaste. This is my rescue so her teeth still aren't great but they're a lot better than they would have been. My other cat doesn't enjoy the brush and will seek to avoid if she thinks I'm going to do it, but if I approach her whilst relaxed and do it quickly she does accept it without a fuss. I put one hand gently on the back of her head while I do it. She is 11 and her teeth are perfect. Btw you don't need to brush for long 15-30 seconds is ample.

I dont' have firm opinions. Local CPL gives adult food to foster kittens in its care. I got Felix kitten food for a good(ish) price from somewhere online, Zooplus? so used that for age 14-26 weeks.

My kittens kept eating the adult dry food that my old cat was on.

I'm not someone who can get overly worked up about brands of pet food, really.

Yes, some are better than others but millions of cats live perfectly healthy lives on supermarket brand biscuits with the odd pouch of Felix thrown in.

Unless your cat needs a specific diet for health or allergy reasons, I really wouldn't worth about it too much. The most important thing is that the food agrees with them and that they eat enough of it

My two 8 month old kittens are now on Butchers Classic which is decent meat content and is nice and cheap (it's only about £10 for 24 cans in The Range or £12,50 ish at Pets at Home - I haven't really seen it in my enormous supermarket - Asda - but I'm sure some will stock it). It says on the cans it's suitable for cats of all ages and my two are loving it.

I would try and stick to one brand as I think cats stomachs are pretty sensitive and advice I've seen is to gradually switch them. But sounds like you've been using two brands already and perhaps consistency with that means your kitty is quite happy so feel free to ignore me!

@iloveeverykindofcat thanks for the tooth brushing advice, very helpful.

My kittens liked Nature's menu. Plus some cooked fish/chicken and biscuits.