Transfer from Kitten to Adult Food

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

I know this has probably been done to death before but am feeling overly anxious about it because of what happened with Dexter my Bengal.

He had terrible issues with food intolerances and parasitic infections etc which eventually he did not recover from :sad:

Always in the back of my mind is that something similar could happen to my kittens if I don't do it right although I know that sounds a bit paranoid! I want to avoid at all costs upsetting their tummies.

I need to transfer my kittens from awful Kitten Felix in jelly (the only food they will touch!) to adult food. I have a small amount of income which groceries including cat food caters for so I can't afford anything very expensive but I can afford good quality supermarket type brands.

Has anyone got any suggestions? I will gradually transfer over mixing it in a bit at a time.

I also wanted to know when should I transfer from kitten to adult food? They are 6 months old now and was only thinking of doing it now as they are starting to grow bored of their kitten food although only want what is best for THEM.

Many thanks for any advice.

Sherry · **Joined:** Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm **Posts:** 9217

Grocery stores are starting to carry high-quality cat food. I thought a kitten was a kitten until it was a year old. But, I'm guessing the kitten food is super important in the very beginning. Transition means mixing the two and then lessening the amount of kitten food until they are completely on the adult food.

I don't know that paying more money actually means you are getting a higher quality cat food. Read the ingredients (which is impossible on smaller cans) so you can usually find them on the manufacturer's website. Aren't you in the UK? I think you have totally different foods over there.

Kyenta1 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 29, 2016 5:32 pm

My breeder never fed "kitten" food. Quasar was weaned onto a homemade raw chicken diet. The breeder also had some kind of free fed hairball formula dry food. She gave us some when we got Quasar. In the beginning, I fed raw and left the dry available for him to graze on but he never ate any of it. I ended up giving the dry to the dog and going strictly raw.

I would think that as long as your kits are eating well, the adult formula cat food is adequate. They will eat what they need.

As Sherry said, check the ingredient list on the foods. Stay away from grains, if possible. Buy small quantities to try with One Ear and Two Ears until you know what they like. The most important thing is finding a food they will eat. Make the switch gradual, leaving some of the old formula for them to eat while introducing the new. This should alleviate tummy upset potential.

Good luck!

brianj12 · **Posted:** Mon Feb 29, 2016 8:26 pm

I honestly think that you are obsessing over it a bit too much, and over-thinking it. Ok, I'll confess, when it was time to make the transition for mine, my only concern was finding something that I found acceptable nutritionally, and that they would eat with gusto. I know, I know, the advice always is to transition slowly, and mix the two, and all that. But here's the thing... if you do that, you could easily end up in a situation where you've "transitioned" them to a food that they don't like, and only tolerated because it was mixed with something they did like. Then what have you accomplished? A cat that will only eat a certain adult food when it was mixed with a certain kitten food? :lol:

I advocate going to a store, getting a small quantity of a half dozen different foods that you think meet your nutritional standards, and then see what they like. If you find 2 or 3 different ones that they love, that's awesome. If only 1 or 2, oh well, that's a start. Then if you want to do a slow transition to them, go for it. Or throw caution to the wind, and deal with problems when/if they arise. Once you've established that you have a cat with a delicate stomach, ok, you can treat them differently, but most cats are pretty hardy imo. How would they even survive in the wild if their stomachs couldn't handle eating more than a single thing?

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

Thanks everyone and thanks Brian, I openly admit I am absolutely definitely overthinking it but that's because I went through such trauma with Dexter. I know if that hadn't happened it probably wouldn't even enter my head to be so paranoid about it all.

I think I have got through the kitten phase when any gastro problems would I imagine have reared their ugly heads. I hope that their digestive system now is more robust and able to cope with any changes to their diet. I am feeling less anxious about it in a way because I know at some point I have to make the transition from kitten to adult food so that helps.

When I did that with Dexter that's when all the issues started. May have been a complete coincidence but it plays heavily on my mind and I feel guilty that I may have caused his issues and eventual downfall :sad:

. What if I hadn't changed his diet? Maybe he would still be here. It goes round and round in my head but of course makes little sense and there were other issues going on the main one TF.

I may wait until they are a year old before I transition if they are still happy eating the same food. They went off it for a while but seem to be happy again with it. I think the worse thing to do is have a knee jerk reaction and chop and change food without giving a little time for mother nature to sort things out.

Thanks for all the advice really appreciate it.

Clare&magic · **Joined:** Sat Oct 31, 2015 9:44 pm **Posts:** 707

Mine came to me already on adult food, I don't know whether the breeder ever gave kitten food or not.
Only problem being for me is they were started on Felix as good as it looks, now they won't eat anything else, Magic is 4 and Pearl 5 months.
I have bought food after food only to throw it away because they won't eat it.
I give them some cooked turkey and tuna for cats as well as their food and they have purina dry.

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

Clare&magic · **Joined:** Sat Oct 31, 2015 9:44 pm **Posts:** 707

Exactly the same here, I always end up with the same flavours left behind so I give them to someone else's cat.

Someone told me that they put something addictive in Felix so the cats get hooked on it and won't eat anything else, personally I don't believe that.

The was I look if that's all they will eat then so be it, nearly every cat I've ever had has eaten it and been fine.

I know it's not the best quality food but it doesn't upset them and they love it, as I said they do have some fresh cooked meat aswell.

You cannot force a cat to eat what you think it should eat.

Sherry · **Joined:** Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm **Posts:** 9217

I STILL want to get Raiden on a better quality of food, especially dry food! But, I do not want to buy a 3 pound bag of something that he will not touch! I have a friend with 10 cats, so I'm sure there wouldn't be an issue giving the bag away, but I hate to spend the $$$ on something expensive and then Raiden turn his nose up at it! I've Googled the best dry cat foods, so I know what I'm supposed to buy. If only they would have sample sizes to just try, it would be a great help. The only samples sizes I get are from Friskies! And Raiden loves them! I'd love to try Orijen or Acana, but need much smaller bag sizes than what I'm seeing at Chewy.com.

Tabitha · **Joined:** Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:11 pm **Posts:** 1196

I googled the ingredients for Felix as good as it looks, and it has sugar in it - that can be addictive! I know I'm addicted to it and have to go cold turkey to reset my blood sugar levels to stop myself craving it!!

But a cat isn't going to understand that so you are probably stuck as they won't want to change their food!

brianj12 · **Posted:** Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:18 pm

Clare&magic · **Joined:** Sat Oct 31, 2015 9:44 pm **Posts:** 707

I bought some of these dried foods in smaller bags from Amazon, noses were turned up at every single dried food.

I stick with purina dry as they both eat it.

You can take a horse to water but you cannot make it drink...........

Sherry · **Joined:** Thu May 23, 2013 2:21 pm **Posts:** 9217

Brian, I will have to check into that. I don't get to the pet store very often, but I know the last time I was there, I tried to find smaller bags. Guess I'll have to ask an employee if they sell any. Would be easier to see if these are something Raiden would eat. The b/w cat I take care of and feed will eat just about anything, but not sure I want to feed him the expensive stuff.

Eggman · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2014 11:22 pm **Posts:** 730

I need to find another dry food now as they will only eat it if I withdraw all other food and they are sort of forced to eat it.

I too want to try a good quality dry so will have to have a look for some trial bags. May give some pet stores a ring to see if they do it.

brianj12 · **Posted:** Thu Mar 03, 2016 9:15 pm

I did some google'ing and found this:

http://spoiledcatreviews.com/2013/07/wh ... es-online/

It might be out-of-date, but it's a start.

Amazon does actually have some orijen trial bags, but their prices are ridiculous.

I also did find this:
https://www.rocketpetz.com/products/ori ... e-376.html

But that's the only flavor they have I guess??

Transfer from Kitten to Adult Food

Who is online