# ok to give an 11 week old kitten chicken?



## Elise.x (Jun 23, 2009)

Hi, well Hank has settled in great, but still was only eating the dry food (royal canin) and wouldnt touch the whiskers both of which is what he was on when at the breeders, i was starting to get a bit worried because he wasnt eating much at all and hes been with us since Friday, so today i gave him a tiny amount of chicken and he wolfed it down 

Feel quite bad now trying to get him to eat whiskers when its obvious he hates the stuff, but its what the breeder said he ate and not to change his diet, well we cant get out to get him some decent kitten wet food till tomorrow evening, we dont drive and have the vets tonight for his first injection, so would it be ok to feed him a small amount of chicken tomorrow, or is he to young really?

Its obvious that hes hungry and he wants better quality food so not sure what else to do untill we can get out tomorrow evening?


----------



## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

chicken is fine just plain boiled or even raw. If you give it to him cooked make sure there are no bones (raw bones are fine)


----------



## Elise.x (Jun 23, 2009)

Definetly no bones, its cooked chicken that ive shredded, thanks for the replie


----------



## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

no problem. I hope you get his diet sorted - it can be a nightmare finding something they like. When I got my Siamese last year she would love something one minute and then refuse to it eat the next  little madam Now she has raw meat and James Wellbeloved biscuits


----------



## Kiskasiberians (Oct 2, 2008)

Hi,

Cooked chicken is ok as a complementary food, as long as your kitten is eating other types of food you will be ok.

Chicken has does not have enough vitamins and essential minerals to sustain a cat in the long term


----------



## Midnight (Jan 17, 2009)

Cooked Chicken thighs and boiled rice here as a treat, sweep loves it !! :thumbup:


----------



## Elise.x (Jun 23, 2009)

Hi, thanks again for all your replies, just an update, back from the vets and have been told that he dosnt need to have a wet food as long as he drinks lots of water which he does, so im gonna just stick with giving him royal canin, or another high quality complete dry food and small amounts of chicken, tuna,etc, once a day, i would rather give him proper meat anyway, so glad that the vet recomended this, thanks again


----------



## spid (Nov 4, 2008)

If you want to give him proper meat why don't you go for a raw diet - it's cheap, healthy and better for him than a dry diet.


----------



## Kiskasiberians (Oct 2, 2008)

Elise.x said:


> Hi, thanks again for all your replies, just an update, back from the vets and have been told that he dosnt need to have a wet food as long as he drinks lots of water which he does, so im gonna just stick with giving him royal canin, or another high quality complete dry food and small amounts of chicken, tuna,etc, once a day, i would rather give him proper meat anyway, so glad that the vet recomended this, thanks again


Cats have not evolved to drink lots of water. They should get most of their water from their food. Dinking lots of water can lead to urinary issues in later life


----------



## Elise.x (Jun 23, 2009)

Kiskasiberians said:


> Cats have not evolved to drink lots of water. They should get most of their water from their food. Dinking lots of water can lead to urinary issues in later life


Ok, are you saying that dry food is bad because it makes my cat drink more water??? And if thats what your saying, then why is the vet reccomending that an only complete dry food diet is good for my cat????

Sorry, im now totally confused


----------



## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

Elise.x said:


> Ok, are you saying that dry food is bad because it makes my cat drink more water??? And if thats what your saying, then why is the vet reccomending that an only complete dry food diet is good for my cat????
> 
> Sorry, im now totally confused


I think vets must get some sort of pay back from dry food manufacturers. your cat may not drink more on dry food and therefore get problems later. but the fact is that many cats do have a mainly dry food diet and seem to do well on it.
I wouldn't recomend just dry - apart from the water issue they contain vegetable matter (e.g wheat or rice) that cats do not need. There are several good canned wet foods on the market (e.g applaws, natures menu, hi-life)
It is confusing and I'm sure other people will give you different advice. Go through it and decide what you think is best for you and your cat.


----------



## Kiskasiberians (Oct 2, 2008)

Maybe you should be asking your vet why he recommends dry food given a couple of key points 
1. Cats are not biologically designed to drink water in large quantities. They mostly orginate from desert anmials and whilst they have been domesticated for many hundreds of years it takes more than 50 years for their digestive system to change to accept a predominatly dry food. 
2. Cats are carnivoires and their digestive system is not designed to process veg and grains. Yes they can process it but it is harder for a cats system to convert these grains into usable energy sources placing more strains on cats internal organs especially kidneys and liver.

Remember a cats staple diet for hundreds of years was rats and other vermin, that is why they were tolerated and partly domesticated.

Yes cats have lived long and happy lives on foods that have little meat and mostly grains but most of these cats also had the freedom to roam outside and suppliment their meagre diet with birds, rats, mice etc.

Have a read of the following book. It is written by an American Vet who used to work for the pet food industry.

Your Cat: A Revolutionary Approach to Feline Health and Happiness (Hardcover)
Your Cat: A Revolutionary Approach to Feline Health and Happiness: Amazon.co.uk: Elizabeth M. Hodgkins: Books


----------



## Kiskasiberians (Oct 2, 2008)

One further thought, vets make between 30% and 40% profit on the brands that they stock in their surgeries and as they majority of their cats and dog nutritional training is directly given by the same companies or sponsored by these companies.


----------



## Elise.x (Jun 23, 2009)

Kiskasiberians said:


> One further thought, vets make between 30% and 40% profit on the brands that they stock in their surgeries and as they majority of their cats and dog nutritional training is directly given by the same companies or sponsored by these companies.


ok, but on this note, there was only one very well known brand at the vets when i went last night (hills science plan) and the vet didnt try to push this brand on me, She didnt even ask if i wanted to buy any, all she said was that any of the well known complete dry brands Royal Canin, Iams, hills science plan, were all good, In fact, what i am currently, feeding my kitten is Royal Canin and she agreed this was good so she wasnt giving me this advice about feeding my kitten dry food only because she wanted to make a sale, they also selled hills science plan wet kitten food and she still recomended dry

Im not saying that your wrong, and i respect all opinions  but i just cant get my head around why a vet would say that an all dry diet is good if its gonna make my kitty ill in the long run???

Alot of opinions on here semm to think that an all dry food diet is bad, and i was wondering, is there anybody on here that is feeding there cat or kitten all dry and is happy that it wont make them ill 

I dont mean to go on, its just i need to order my kitten food today, and i want to get it right, i cant afford to buy all different brands of high quality wet food and hope that my kitten likes one of them, i have a son to feed as well  and i know that my kitten likes dry.

So anymore opinions are more than welcome, its just i am a first time cat owner who has been told by my vet that all dry is good, then to come on here and be told its bad, you can see why im confused, i just want to do whats best for my kitten


----------



## Milly22 (Sep 15, 2008)

Elise.x said:


> Hi, thanks again for all your replies, just an update, back from the vets and have been told that he dosnt need to have a wet food as long as he drinks lots of water which he does, so im gonna just stick with giving him royal canin, or another high quality complete dry food and small amounts of chicken, tuna,etc, once a day, i would rather give him proper meat anyway, so glad that the vet recomended this, thanks again


Hi Elise,

I was told the same from my vet but it's not true. Read threads on here, google feeding a cat dry food only etc and you will find that the vets advice is not always correct, although it should be.

As I said I was told the same but my cat was liertally fading away in front of me as she didn't like dried food all the time. She now has 2 packets of wet food (high meat quantity) (more if I would give it) and her biscuits there all the time. She also gets treats and she is now (3 weeks later) looking great.

It is very confusing.


----------



## Elise.x (Jun 23, 2009)

ok, I am gonna order so wet food and try him on it, i am undecided between 2, these are the ones within my budget 

its either Purely Complete Kitten Food Pouches with Chicken or Pets at Home Kitten Complete Food Chicken Selection Pouches, both have 50% meat, so which is best, or should i get both and see which one my kitten likes?


----------



## kittykat (Nov 2, 2007)

I would love to feed my cats on dry only but they seem to want to eat meat! If they were on a dry diet I would treat them to some chicken, prawns or tuna once a while also.

At present they eat 3 pouches a day each and dry down all the time and at night so they eat both but prefer wet.


----------



## spid (Nov 4, 2008)

Get both - then he will have a variety. I have purely in at the mo as it was on offer and all 4 (2 adults nd 2 kittens) like it.


----------



## lymorelynn (Oct 4, 2008)

Are you getting them from Pets at Home? The Purely ones sound good and a good price too. There's also Natures Menu on the [email protected] website for around the same price as their own brand. 
Do you have a pet shop near by where you might be able to buy single pouches to try? I know it is expensive if you buy a whole box and they don't like it


----------



## Elise.x (Jun 23, 2009)

ok, i have gone with the purely for now, if he likes this i will give him a mixture of this and dry, i will let you know in a few days if my kitten likes it or not


----------



## Kiskasiberians (Oct 2, 2008)

Elise.x said:


> ok, I am gonna order so wet food and try him on it, i am undecided between 2, these are the ones within my budget
> 
> its either Purely Complete Kitten Food Pouches with Chicken or Pets at Home Kitten Complete Food Chicken Selection Pouches, both have 50% meat, so which is best, or should i get both and see which one my kitten likes?


You should also try Supermarkets they sometimes have good deals on hi-meat wet foods.

Feeding hi quality wet foods doesn't have to break the bank. It may seem more expensive at first but you will probably feed less, they will poo less and it normally smells a lot better. Longer down the line you will probably be saving on vet bills. I'd also give your kitten the odd chicken wing, this will help to keep its teeth clean.


----------

