New Kitten to the family! Need advice!

Hi
We have just welcomed a 14 week kitten to our family. At first he was very nervous as to be expected but in the last 48hrs he has relaxed and follows me everywhere! He is drinking and purrs alot, especially at 5am! I am a little worried about his eating though. We have had him since Sunday and last night was the first time he ate but then it was less than a handful. The breeder told us to ONLY feed him Royal Canin 36 until he is a year old and then go up to the adult. Looking at comments on other forums it seems that this is not the choice or way for most other owners. Is dry food best or should we be giving our silver boy some wet food in the morning? Any other advice or helpful tips will be much appreciated
Thanks
Holly

Hi Holly, welcome to the forum and congratulations on getting your new kitty!

BTW, what's your kitty's name? And we love pictures. :)

It is of utmost importance for young kittens to eat and eat like there's no tomorrow. Have you talked to the vet about his poor eating? If not, please do so.

Of course, it could be the stress of the move that put him off his food. But if I were you I'd get some high-quality wet food in him asap. I am sure other forum members will be able to tell you names of good brands. (I myself am clueless about these brands because I feed raw.)

And yes, you are right in supposing that feeding only dry is not what most owners prefer. And with good reason. In fact, a 100% dry diet will probably cause lots of health issues in your kitty sooner than later, as I have sadly found out myself.:sad2:

So, don't persist in feeding the RC if that is not what he wants. Consult with your vet, try different wet foods on him, and read through the nutrition section of this forum for tips about good brands.

Good luck, I hope your kitty will get his appetite back soon.

Congratulations on your new arrival. :winkwink:

My three in no way were thriving on RC 36. Now they have a mixture of Hills (I/D) to graze on. 2 have Vet Essentials Kitten Healthy Development wet and the other has RC Gastrointestinal wet. Meanwhile, the old boy has Royal Canin Renal wet and dry.

I think they think I am Gordon Ramsay :rofl:

When Oscar came home in June I tried to keep him on kitten-sized biscuits but he had other ideas. He started eating the RC-Maine Coon and hasn't looked back. Despite trying to get them all to eat "decent" wet food - i.e. Bozita - they've turned their noses up at that and prefer Felix AGAIL. They have half a pouch in the morning each and the same in the evening. My four are aged from 5years to 11 months and Oscar has been eating more-or-less the same as the others from 14 weeks. He always wanted to be the same as the Big Boys :smile: Good luck with your new arrival. He wont be the last... you've been warned :rofl:

Welcome! When we brought Dakota home at 12 weeks, he would not touch was given to him by the breeder. Not sure if it was stress or he was just being contrary, but we changed food several times. As a matter of fact, recently he's changed his mind again, but always returns to Hill's, with an RC "Coonie Puff" dessert. We supplement with wet feed. Would love to transition him to a raw diet, but as of yet, he will have nothing to do with it!

Hi & welcome to you,I back up the request of some pictures of your babe please.....
I have never had a kitten that didn't eat as soon as it walked through the door until Ruby arrived & she went the 48hrs without but once she started boy did she make up for it,still is,she also decided that she didn't want baby food when there was big cat things about so I just mixed a little of the baby food in with adult really only to use it up, I am a great believer in wet food & like Wendy mine are on Felix the tinned variety as I have so many of them & a few good biscuits plus I give her some extra vitamins at the moment as well,go for feeding him the way you want but hopefully it will not be all dried,I did try raw food with Ruby & she did manage to get half way through a chicken wing the two bruvs had a bit of a go but had to watch her & then copied & the other three just said " don't feed us that cook it first please"so I think I am far too late to change them all but will certainly keep throwing Ruby the odd raw tit bit to chew on....x

our little boy is 15 weeks old and he came home from the breader easting felix pouches wet, hills natures best dry and james well beloved dry and diced boiled chicken. he started on free feeding dry and 1pouch in the evening but is now on 1in the morning as well. I think he may be having a growth spurt. we may well look atalternative wet food but he seems to be doing well on it

I have my two kittens on Royal Canin Instinctive Kitten (wet), it is the only kind they will eat and believe me I have tried a lot of brands! I supplement with Maine Coon 31 mixed with Royal Canin Kitten (dry). Because I have to keep a rather large supply in the house (we live in the boonies), I order it in bulk from Wag.com. Free shipping over 49 bucks. Add to that a couple of 40 lb. bags of cat litter and you have got yourself a deal!! LOL

What Antonia said. Let him eat until he explodes - well, not literally.

You don't say where you are, so food advice is going to be based on what people have around them. Mine eat most foods but seem to have moods like all cats. They have always had dry food down at all time and don't gorge themselves and between the three - now 15 months old - eat about 800g total of wet food (two tins) in two servings in a day.

Hello and welcome,

Congratulations on your new kitty... As you have read on here there are many kinds of food, normally I would suggest people feed what they are given by the breeder, gradually introducing their own choice of food, a little at a time.

There are many ways to feed, buiscuits, Holistic, raw and half and half, each is a persons preference... but there are many posts on here to help you.

Sucess with your new baby....

Would love to see your photos too.. x

Hi and welcome :) my demon (who is about 10 days younger than Peter's rascals) has dry RC Maine Coon down all the time (he had the kitten one when he was younger) and gets 2 sachets of Whiskas in the morning and 1/2 a tin of Bozita in the afternoon. He just eats what he wants, when he wants and he's not at all podgy.

And show us some pics :D XxX