Best kitten food?

[2sphynxgirl]

So it's been a while since I've had little ones in the house! The first sphynx I had ate Purina Kitten Chow because that's what the breeder said to get. The new breeder said to get Royal Canin & Kitten Chow and mix them. Everyone at work has an opinion too....so what worked well for you?

 

[Brooke]

So it's been a while since I've had little ones in the house! The first sphynx I had ate Purina Kitten Chow because that's what the breeder said to get. The new breeder said to get Royal Canin & Kitten Chow and mix them. Everyone at work has an opinion too....so what worked well for you?

Hi 2sphynxgirl! Welcome to the forum, and congrats on your new sphynx!! SO CUTE!!

You'll find that many of us on the forum will have different opinions on what food to get, too! There's not really one perfect answer. There are so many options (dry, canned, home cooked, raw, a mixture of all of the above...) it's a matter of finding what you're most comfortable with and what fits your lifestyle and budget. I personally feed mine Science Diet dry food. You can do a search on this forum and find several threads where the topic of food has come up.

For what it's worth, here's my advice: If your new breeder was feeding Royal Canin & Kitten Chow mixed, you should definitely start with that (or at least one of them - Royal Canin is a better food than Kitten Chow in my opinion) and gradually switch over to whatever you decide to feed, to avoid upsetting his/her stomach. If you have an adult cat food that you've had success with or that you plan to use when kitty is grown up, I'd check first to see if they make a kitten formula of that food, that should make the transition to adult food easier.

Good luck! I hope you'll post some more photos!

 

[ElGatoLoco]

I agree with Brooke. Many opinions on food. It took me several types of food before I found something that agreed with Butterball. He gets the runs really easily. But the food I use is called Purina Pro Plan for sensitive skin and stomachs. It's for adult cats but it's the only thing I found that keeps Ball's poop issues to a minimum. Anyway, I'm sure there are others out there that would agree with him but it's like finding a needle in a hay stack with him. PitRottMommy makes her own food using raw ingredients. I considered that but decided against it when Purina Pro Plan worked out. Others I tried were very generic cat food all the way up to Science Diet. I can definitely say the cheaper the food, the worse his poops were. I think you'll find the only way you'll find a good food is through trial and error. Good luck and welcome!

 

[PitRottMommy]

So it's been a while since I've had little ones in the house! The first sphynx I had ate Purina Kitten Chow because that's what the breeder said to get. The new breeder said to get Royal Canin & Kitten Chow and mix them. Everyone at work has an opinion too....so what worked well for you?

Very simply put, if you want THE BEST food--you need to be examining ingredients. Corn, soy, wheat, gluten, protein "meals", animal by-products, poor quality (read that to mean that it has caused death in animals) preservatives reside in alot of "name brand foods".

We feed raw to both our cats and dogs. It's not for everyone, but I love it the most because you know what goes in to the food. Canned/kibbled brands such as Felidae, Merrick, Evo, Innova, California Natural, Orijin, Nature's Variety and many others are top quality with nothing that is going to harm your cat. Make sure to do alot of research before settling...and most importantly...if its getting recalled, IT'S NOT WORTHY OF YOUR PET!

ETA: We should all be trying to feed our cats a good amount of canned food, when possible. Cats are subject to chronic dehydration (even when they appear to be drinking enough water). Consistent dry kibble can lead to early age kidney/liver problems, megacolon, chronic constipiation or obstipation, etc. This is most important for the adult cat, not so much for very young babies. Finding the right food is the major thing for the moment.

I'd also like to add that while it was mentioned above that we use our own ingredients for our raw diet, this is ONLY on our dogs. We feed a manufactured diet for our cats (Nature's Variety raw rabbit) because I am far too leary about DCM in cats with a taurine deficiency. I feed a food that already measures out the taurine, so I don't have to worry about it. This is not something that is a problem in dogs, therefore a homemade raw diet is fine for them.

 

[Mews2much]

I have been feeding Royal Canin because that is what Cleos breeder told me to use.
I need to change now because she will be 1 next month.
Your kittens are cute!!!!

 

[Brooke]

ETA: We should all be trying to feed our cats a good amount of canned food, when possible. Cats are subject to chronic dehydration (even when they appear to be drinking enough water). Consistent dry kibble can lead to early age kidney/liver problems, megacolon, chronic constipiation or obstipation, etc. This is most important for the adult cat, not so much for very young babies. Finding the right food is the major thing for the moment.

PitRottMommy, Walter thanks you for this advice. He will be very pleased!

 

[PitRottMommy]

PitRottMommy, Walter thanks you for this advice. He will be very pleased!

Glad to help...and who wouldn't be happy? Cats LOVE canned food. Any reason to eat it makes it a day closer to Caturday

Kinda like me and sushi!!

 

[Maximus]

I feed Otie Science diet kitten formula and someone told me that I should just continue feeding him that into his adult years?

 

[PitRottMommy]

I feed Otie Science diet kitten formula and someone told me that I should just continue feeding him that into his adult years?

That depends on what food you plan to feed. If you choose an AAFCO approved food that fits all life stages, there's no purpose. If you choose to stick with SD, 1 year of age is the best time to switch to an adult food.