[mimie]

I have a 14-week-old kitten, Oliver, who is small and underweight due to a rough start in life. He's doing great now, though, and is making lots of mischief. He particularly likes to eat my adult cat's food. He started eating so much of it that he is not eating his own food.

He's currently eating Iams kitten dry food and Science Diet kitten wet food. My adult cat, Neenah, eats Purina One. She's overweight, but I don't want to switch her to a low-calorie food if he insists on eating her food.

They are both free-fed dry food. They get wet food twice a day.

Is it okay for my kitten to eat adult cat food? The vet suggested we keep him on kitten food for at least six months, and up to a year if he is still skinny. Would it help for me to switch my adult cat to a higher quality food so that if the kitten eats it, at least it will be good for him?

Thanks!

 

[comiskey]

That's what I do. I give mine kitten chow once a day because of the higher protein content. Kittens need it. My cats are both adults and very active.

They can come and go at will and I've noticed that sometimes they'll come in, grab a couple of bites, then head back out. So, I always try to keep

their bowls full. I give them wet (tuna or salmon) in the morning and late at night and the rest of the time there is Felidae and P-1 kitten in seperate

bowls. They haven't shown a preferance for either and both foods disappear at the same rate. I have read in the forums where some people aren't

too thrilled with the Purrrina and with Iams even less. I don't know about the iAMS but my cats like the Purina and are very healthy...I guess I'd make

your sure cat gets enough wet to supplement his diet. The formative months are very important.



p.s. I'd also like to welcome you to Cat Frum -the greatest site on the web- I hope you like here as much as I.

Warmest Regards and a very Merry Christmas,
Commie

 

[kitkat]

I dont think it will be that horrible if your kitten eats more of the adult cat food but for higher quality food that have better ingredients for your cat, you can try Felidae and its for both kittens and cats and most cats love it! :wink:

 

[Lilly]

hmmmm I have this problem only in reverse. My older cats want to eat all the kitten chow and none of their own adult food. I remedied the situation by getting a large bucket with a lid and pouring half cat and half kitten chow into the bucket. I shook it up really good and they are all eating the same food this way. I also wet the kittens food with warm water and the older cats eat the wetted food as well as all are eating the dry food.
They all have a seperate bowl for dry food and I put all the wetted food on a large platter.

 

[Jeanie]

It would be better if you could keep the cats separate so that the kitten would eat the kitten food. I free feed too, but wh3n I was breeding Siamese, I gave the kittens their kitten food, mixed with meat, moistened and warmed. I had to keep it near me, because Mommy and Daddy cat wanted what the kittens had.

When the little ones got a bit older they found their parents' adult food in the kitchen. I didnt worry about that, because I knew that was just a nibble between meals. It didn't seem to affect their digestion, and made me realize that they were quite capable of crunching their food. I babied them a bit too long, I guess!