# 10 week old kitten - Eating, but not much. Advice needed!



## NATO (Aug 5, 2010)

Hi all, long time lurker, first post 

I've got a 10 week old kitten which I adopted from the local animal sanctuary when she was 8 weeks old. She's got a fantastic temperament (she's so friendly and curious) and settled into her new house very well. 

Since she's been home she was first zoned into one room of the house, then allowed into another room and now she basically has the run of most of the house. For the first 2 weeks we put her in a animal crate for the night and let her out of it during the day but now we just let her roam around at night (she usually makes her way into our bed by morning). She's very playful and affectionate, her fur is very soft and smooth and otherwise there's nothing to be concerned about.

The only thing I'm worried about is the amount that she eats. I would put wet food down for her and she will show a lot of interest in it, she tends to lick off the jelly/gravy and leave most of the meat behind. I would put 1/3 of a pouch down and by the time I'm feeding her again (feeding 4 times a day), I would always have to throw away some food before refilling the dish. She does seem to eat SOME of the meat but 1/4 of a pouch isn't a lot of food, especially as you tend to hear how much kittens are supposed to need.

When I sometimes put kitten milk down for her she seems to really love it and will go back and forth to drink it. I have tried her with dried food during the day too and she has the same response to it as the wet food (will eat some of it from time to time but not an awful lot, most ends up being thrown away).

I weighed her at 9 weeks old and she was about 1kg. When I got her she was quite a skinny little thing and she does appear to be filling out a bit more, I'm going to weigh her again today to make sure she's putting on weight.

Should I be worried? Is there any way I can encourage her to eat more? I have tried her with Hill's Science Plan and more recently Bozita (well, ASDA's version of it, Toplife). Is it just the case that she isn't requiring as much food as I think she does? I just expected a hungry kitten to clean the bowl, I didn't expect so much food to be left behind after every meal. I think what I'm trying to say is that she doesn't have much enthusiasm for food (except for licking the jelly/gravy from the food, she loves that).

Would it be worth lifting the bowl away once she's done with it so that rather than having a continuous supply of food, she gets food at regular intervals in small portions? Would it make her more eager to eat what's given to her?

She appears to be peeing normally (several per day) and pooing (once a day).

Sorry for all the questions, I'm just trying to do what's best for her.


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

well if she was a kilo at 9 weeks, that's a good weight... just please weigh her again asap to make sure she is gaining. The last time you weighed her was about a week ago, so she now be about 1100gram.

With the pouches, to stop her licking the jelly off and leaving the meat, get a fork and mash it all together as much as possible. You can also chuck it in the blender and let the blender do the work for you (a quick few seconds blast is more than enough). When it's all mixed together they can't leave the meat and just lick the jelly...lol. 

As long as she has gained about 100grams in the last week, you really have nothing to worry about...

Get back to us with her weight and it will be much easier for us to advise.


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## luisa (Jul 14, 2010)

you could also try a pate type food ?

if you cant order online ( the likes of smila / grau / bozita ) then highlife pate in asda is good ( 65% flavour meat content - whiskers felix is lower flavour meat content )

Highlife pate looks kinda jellyish but the meat is broken down more so theres no chance of your cat seperating it.

If you are going to change your cats food tho please do it slow and gradual u dont want a vomiting kitten!

have a good read of hobbs thread 
http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-health-nutrition/112132-z-wet-food-cats.html


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## NATO (Aug 5, 2010)

I got my missus to weigh her this morning, she's around 1080g-1100g (she was squirming about so it was hard to get an exact reading, but it's within that range. Seems as if I don't need to worry, she's weighing around the 1100g which seems to be the weight people have suggested.

Perhaps for a kitten so small half a pouch is an unrealistic amount of food for her to consume in one sitting. It's maybe me who was at fault rather than anything she was doing. I'll definitely try mashing the food up to mix the jelly and meat together, hopefully that'll get her eating more of the meat rather than just licking the jelly off. I'll perhaps cut down on the kitten milk too, try to get her to eat more rather than bulking her up with the milk.

Oh, if I mash up the food, do I need to break it into bits with the fork or is it okay as a lump of mashed up food?


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## NATO (Aug 5, 2010)

luisa said:


> have a good read of hobbs thread
> http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-health-nutrition/112132-z-wet-food-cats.html


That thread is a new cat owner's bible, it really is. I read through it all yesterday and it was that which prompted me to go buy the Toplife/Bozita food at ASDA. I had previously thought Hill's Science Plan was one of the best foods you could feed a kitten but it's clear from Hobbs' analysis that there are far better foods out there.

I'm surprised actually as my friend is a vet and she said she always thought Hill's Science Plan was the best food too as it's what they have as their prescription food and what was taught during her Vet training. When I showed her the comparison between Science Plan and Bozita she was quite surprised. I'm hoping my kitten takes a liking to the Toplife/Bozita food as I always want to buy the best for her, especially at this stage in her life when nutrition is so vital for development.

She's not short of energy though, she went absolutely hyper last night when we were heading to bed, charging about the house like a thing possessed and chasing/mauling any soft toy I dangled near her. Very adorable.


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## NATO (Aug 5, 2010)

Oh, another quick food related question. How do I know if she actually LIKES or dislikes a food? If she immediately starts eating a food (even though she might leave some in the bowl, does that mean she actually likes it, or is just tolerating it as the only available food? I imagine if she won't eat it at all then she doesn't like it, but I'm trying to differentiate between what she actively likes and what she just tolerates


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## luisa (Jul 14, 2010)

NATO said:


> I got my missus to weigh her this morning, she's around 1080g-1100g (she was squirming about so it was hard to get an exact reading, but it's within that range. Seems as if I don't need to worry, she's weighing around the 1100g which seems to be the weight people have suggested.
> 
> Perhaps for a kitten so small half a pouch is an unrealistic amount of food for her to consume in one sitting. It's maybe me who was at fault rather than anything she was doing. I'll definitely try mashing the food up to mix the jelly and meat together, hopefully that'll get her eating more of the meat rather than just licking the jelly off. I'll perhaps cut down on the kitten milk too, try to get her to eat more rather than bulking her up with the milk.
> 
> Oh, if I mash up the food, do I need to break it into bits with the fork or is it okay as a lump of mashed up food?


once its mashed up its like a big mush when i had to do this i sort of seperated it out a bit with a fork. tbh tho i dont think it matters too much my cats try an eat it in a solid straight out the tin LOL!

what milk are you using?
i find whiskers very thick so when i use it i water it down a little.

toplife kitten milks better its runny and from comparing the milks looks better balanced its also vet formulated and cheeper then whiskers - i tend to give mine 45mls of milk each dinner and 2 tsps in the dinner.


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

NATO said:


> I got my missus to weigh her this morning, she's around 1080g-1100g (she was squirming about so it was hard to get an exact reading, but it's within that range. Seems as if I don't need to worry, she's weighing around the 1100g which seems to be the weight people have suggested.


I am always the forum doomsayer when it comes to kitten weights, but that to me is a very respectable weight. And don't worry about the wobbling about on the scale... go for the middle reading of + - 1095grams.



NATO said:


> Perhaps for a kitten so small half a pouch is an unrealistic amount of food for her to consume in one sitting. It's maybe me who was at fault rather than anything she was doing. I'll definitely try mashing the food up to mix the jelly and meat together, hopefully that'll get her eating more of the meat rather than just licking the jelly off. I'll perhaps cut down on the kitten milk too, try to get her to eat more rather than bulking her up with the milk.
> 
> Oh, if I mash up the food, do I need to break it into bits with the fork or is it okay as a lump of mashed up food?


with kittens the key is small portions and often... if you can feed 6 times day then they will probably have better weight gain then 4 feeds. But I know this isnt realistic for everyone with busy working lives... but give a tablespoon as often as you can, as opposed to half a pouch.

When I say mush it up.... if it's like whiskas chunks in jelly.... you're basically aiming to make the chunks smaller by mushing them up with the fork... that way the jelly isn;t as easy to seperate.

but again, whatever you're doing you're doing it right. She is a fine healthy weight so don't worry ... but do keep weighing her... scales are our early warning sign when something is wrong with kittens.

It's so nice to read good posts about kitten weights, lol. :thumbup:


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Well done NATO not only have you got a healthy sounding kitten but you have made Tje a happy bunny.Can we have some pics of kitty please


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## luisa (Jul 14, 2010)

NATO said:


> Oh, another quick food related question. How do I know if she actually LIKES or dislikes a food? If she immediately starts eating a food (even though she might leave some in the bowl, does that mean she actually likes it, or is just tolerating it as the only available food? I imagine if she won't eat it at all then she doesn't like it, but I'm trying to differentiate between what she actively likes and what she just tolerates


you can tell a cat dont like it if they sniff it and walk off and dont touch it with a barge pole all day

another sign is slight lack of inerest will have a sniff .. few mouth fulls but practically leaves the bowl untouched.

when i was feeding my 2 at the start with me even getting the food on my hands and putting it to them like a treat wouldnt work.. yet when i tried with a diff food they took it an then ate the hole bowl.


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## NATO (Aug 5, 2010)

luisa said:


> you can tell a cat dont like it if they sniff it and walk off and dont touch it with a barge pole all day
> 
> another sign is slight lack of inerest will have a sniff .. few mouth fulls but practically leaves the bowl untouched.
> 
> when i was feeding my 2 at the start with me even getting the food on my hands and putting it to them like a treat wouldnt work.. yet when i tried with a diff food they took it an then ate the hole bowl.


This is all great advice, thank you  It's nice to be re-assured about certain things. I think from what you've said that my kitten is quite happy with the food, while she's not eating the whole lot she is eating a good proportion of it and is spending several minutes eating at her bowl. I've tried her with a couple of different wet foods and she does seem to take to them all, there hasn't been one that she won't eat. As you can probably guess, I'm an engineer so I have that slightly obsessive nature to educate myself as much as possible about something and study behaviour, it seems to be working...

I'll try feeding 6 times a day as per your advice Tje, I can see the logic in that since their stomachs are still very small and I'd rather feed her 6 smaller meals which she will eat fully than 4 which results in wasted food.

The one thing that gets me is how complicated it is to identify good quality food for cats, the whole market is a minefield. If it wasn't for my own intuition I wouldn't have checked the difference between Whiskas and Science Plan, but if it wasn't for Hobbs' A-Z guide I wouldn't have found out that there was still better food available. There also seems to be the myth out there (even from newly trained vets!) that dry food is better for cats as it prevents their teeth going bad but from reading here it's clear that as long as you go for good quality wet foods without sugar then there's no logic in that argument at all (plus dry food tends to crack when bitten, so it's hardly cleaning their teeth!). I've definitely put the message out to friends about commercial 'low quality' food vs good quality food and it surprises most of them that Felix/Whiskas etc isn't really that good!

I can't get access to my photos at the moment but I'll post a picture of Pebbles this evening


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## Tje (Jan 16, 2010)

NATO said:


> As you can probably guess, I'm an engineer so I have that slightly obsessive nature to educate myself as much as possible about something and study behaviour, it seems to be working...


Music to my ears, lol. I wish more were like you. And I don't find it all obesessive... just good old healthy common sense. If you read the amount of posts in here with people who don't have the slightest clue what they are taking on with a kitten... it would really make your hair curl! It's not unusual for us to read about a kitten the same age as yours but weighing half (or even less) what yours does!! An try telling them it's not good... they don't listen, lol. Even getting some to pop a kitten on a kitchen scales is like asking them to scale Everest!! (ok, I'll shut up now, lol).



NATO said:


> but if it wasn't for Hobbs' A-Z guide I wouldn't have found out that there was still better food available.


And I know that will be music to Hobbs' ears. She's my cat-food guru too... if Hobbs doesn't rate it, my cats don't get it, lol.



NATO said:


> I can't get access to my photos at the moment but I'll post a picture of Pebbles this evening


Ahhh something to look forward to an a Thursday evening that isn't Eastenders


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## NATO (Aug 5, 2010)

Sorry for the delay in reply, my interwebulator has been on the blink. I haven't managed to get a photo uploaded yet but it's on my to-do list today.

I thought I'd post back to update you on how things have gone. I've started mashing up her food so the jelly/gravy is mixed in with the meat and this seems to work wonders! She's now consistently eating most of the (small) portions I leave out for her (I've been trying to feed her about 6 times a day with small portions), including leaving a small portion of dry food overnight. She doesn't seem too fussy about what she eats, I've been feeding her Toplife/Bozita for the last few days and yesterday she got Science Plan wet food so she doesn't get bored of one flavour.

I'm still getting used to her suddenly going into a hyper phase about twice a day, she goes absolutely nuts! Usually around bedtime and again around noon 

She's going to the vet this weekend to get the second round of immunisations so she'll get weighed and hopefully confirm that her weight is where it should be.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

All sounds great.I know what you mean about the "Hyper "bit Meeko is 6mths in 3 days and still does it .


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