Thread: Kitten food to Grown Cat food?

Hi, I'm pretty new to this forum business so apologies if I go about this the wrong way! I'm getting my first Maine Coon kitten in less than two weeks (10 days to be precise, not that I'm counting!) and I'm not sure what to do about food. The breeder has advised to use Royal Canin Kitten 36 to begin with but I'm not sure how long for. Having read through some of the posts on feeding, I'm not sure whether I should use RC at all - any thoughts? How much Royal Canin would you usually use in a month for a kitten? When she arrives she'll be three months old.
Thanks!!

Hi FreyjaRoMaine, and welcome to the forum. How exciting for you 10 days to go ! you must give us more info, we love it when a new baby arrives !

As for the food, don't get me wrong, I am relatively new to owning a pedigree cat, but Harry was fed solely on Royal Canin 36, after taking advise on the forum I decided to add a wet food as well. (pouches such as Felix) I keep the dry food down all day and he grazes on it and the wet sachets approx 3 times a day at specific meal times, ie. morning, noon and night. This seems to suit him.

The truth is everyone will have their own opinion on what's best, I think at the end of the day do what you feel your kitty is happy with. Certain cats (like some humans) have trouble eating certain types of food, so sometimes it's just trial and error.

Anyway looking forward to hearing all about your new addition. Alison & Harry

Hi FeyjaRoMaine,as you no doubt have seen from all the replies on this thread what suits one persons idea of feeding their cats doesn't suit others,if this is your first baby it would most probaly pay to stick with what the breeder has been using to begin with & then gradually move over onto other foods if you wish,check to see what wet food she is using as well,as to the amount it will get through in the first month that can vary quiet a lot,for sure the amount that goes in to begin with is quite vast because they are rapid growing babes for the first few months,I always supplement mine with extra vitamins at this stage because of that but not compulsory,any foods that you think you would like to get baby on too I am sure if you post on here again someone would have used it & be able to advice you.Good luck,will look forward to seeing pictures posted of the new arrival & we will all go broody again....

Thanks all for the advice, I can already see it's a minefield! Will follow the advice of the breeder as suggested and once my little girl has settled into the house I'll think about trying some other stuff with her to see what she likes. I can't wait to get her home - I've been looking through the gallery in the forum and the cats are stunning - I'm so pleased I'm getting a Maine Coon, I've wanted one for about 15 years! I've got a couple of photo's of her and can't stop looking at them - can't believe she'll be part of the family a week on Friday! Her mum's got the most amazing emerald eyes - is that any indicator of what colour hers will be? I gather they don't 'settle' on eye colour until the kitten's are about 4 months? Not that it makes any difference, my husband's convinced she'll be the most pampered, spoilt pussy cat in Surrey!!

I don't think the Royal Canin is bad, but neither is it outstanding in terms of protein level or ingredients. If you look at the top few ingredients you see: Chicken meal, brown rice, corn gluten meal, corn, chicken fat, chicken, dried egg product. Not too bad except for the corn several down, but the primary meat is a "meal" rather than pure meat. While this doesn't necessarily mean it is worse for the animal than those that use plain chicken, it definitely is a cheaper ingredient. It is a not a meat "by product" however, which is the cheapest.

3mos old kittens do not consume that much each day. You can find RC's feeding guidelines by weight here: http://products.royalcanin.us/media/...en_36_info.pdf

I think it reasonable to follow your breeder's advice for a while at least, as they should have experience with their lines of cats. One of the problems with getting advice from other people is that what works for one cat may not work well for another. So don't take any advice too seriously, frankly. If you are following the breeder's advice and have any health issues, it will be much easier to discuss them with him/her. And of course you should make any diet changes gradually.

congratulations on your kitten.... can't wait to hear more about him/her....

As far as feeding it can be a minefield... everyone has their own opinions.
The only advice I can give is to feed what the breeder has fed, and gradually change to what you want to feed.
I researched what I feed, and decided on a variety. I have a variety of biscuits because I have 2 kittens (a mc and a tonkinese) and a 2yo cat who loves kitten biscuits. they all eat out of the same biscuit dish, so I mix the biscuits up for all of them.
Then I also feed a variety... they get a wet food in the morning and then raw meat at night. It seems to be the best of all worlds, and the cats are all happy and thriving on it.