Should we give milk

[pip895]

Hi we have a new kitten Mittens - 9weeks - been with us 2 days - eating well + seems to be putting on weight - chicken & white fish fillet and cheese- wont touch cat food (kitten wet/biscuits etc). Should we be supplementing with milk at this stage? We were told she diddnt like cat milk.

Apparently she was still getting occasional feeds from her mum prior to us picking her up. :?

[angieh]

Generally, cow's milk is advised against as some cats are intolerant to lactose. Shame she doesn't like cat milk but ordinary water is absolutely great to give her.

[dandysmom]

No, as Angie said, most cats are lactose intolerant to cows milk. Diarrhea! Milk made especially for cats is available, sorry, don't know the brand name in the UK. 've heard goats milk is tolerated;never tried it.

[Hreow]

Are you sure that "chicken & white fish fillet and cheese" is nutritious enough for your kitten? Enough taurine and all the little other niggly things that they need to grow strong, healthy and longlasting?

[pip895]

Are you sure that "chicken & white fish fillet and cheese" is nutritious enough for your kitten? Enough taurine and all the little other niggly things that they need to grow strong, healthy and longlasting?

This is what I was wondering - not sure if milk would fill the gap or not - I would like to get her on to a kitten/cat complete food but she wont touch any we have tried so far.:roll:

[Hreow]

The odds of milk making anything better are really not good...

What brands of wet/dry kitten food have you tried? Hoping that there is one out there that meets with Mittens' approval. :D (Rover-the-cat was a right pain to get off his mum and onto kitten-food. He never did consider dry to be real food.)

[angieh]

Hreow is right ... have you tried mixing your chicken or fish with a complete kitten food? Just adding a little bit of kitten food at a time to get her used to it. It is important that she gets a complete and balanced diet.

Not all cats are lactose intolerant, but many are.

[pip895]

Thanks for that

Tried so far
Wiskers Kitten food
James Wellbeloved Fish & rice (dry)
PAH Advanced Nutrition with Fresh Chicken (dry)
HiLife - potty about gravy (not a kitten variety)

Apparently she was the last to be weened and was still getting some from mum a few days back. Is it worth trying some of these foods again later as her pallet hardens a bit - she won't even eat tuna at the moment.

[angieh]

I would try and stick with the wet food for the time being. Worth just going and buying single trays or pouches until you find something she'll eat. You could try mashing it up with some lukewarm water and finger feeding her to start. Otherwise you may have to get some dried cat milk substitute (might be called Lactol, can't remember) to get enough nourishment into her.

Just looked on the net - there's one called Cimicat. I would treat her as if she was still in the weaning stage, even though she's old enough to eat kitten food. It's just important to get her to eat. And there is one called Lactol too.

[dandysmom]

The cat is an obligate carnivore and has special needs such as taurine (blindness can ultimately result from alack of it), so it's important to get her on kitten food ... preferably wet. Adding the water and hand feeding's an excellent idea. She needs to start eating a proper kitten diet. Good luck, let us know how it goes, please! :D

[Elaine]

I would definately try getting her to eat a proper diet, maybe even call round a few companies such as applaws, explain about your kitten and ask if they could send you some samples. Might be a cheeper way of finding a food that she will eat without putting you to a lot of expense.
Not all cats are lactose intolerant but at your kittens young age a serious bout of diarrhoea could turn into a disasterous situation.
Maybe even a dry food soaked in some cooled boiled water and mushed up.

[lynz85]

when we first got pip he was a bit fussy, was just licking the gravy/jelly off the foods we gave him. we gave him some chicken and he wolfed it down so i mixed it half and half with kitten food and he ate it all, i gave less chicken in his next feed and he munched that aswell. worth a try?

[Howldaloom]

Cows milk is a big no no. Never tried the cats milk in the shops though.

If they are under weight a good way to give them a boost is full fat goats milk. sparingly though.

[pip895]

We are off to the vets this morning for her first jab - probably pick up some sample packs there. We have tried another couple of foods without success all dried food is ceremonially buried :roll:

The one thing she did eat a little of, was minced beef - not a complete food but more variety helps - cats survived before complete foods existed I guess :)

[Howldaloom]

Hmmm yes and no. Cats eat whole prey in the wild which contains everything they need.

Meat, bones, offal and TAURINE!

Taurine is a must with cats and minces or anything ground dont have alot of taurine if any.

My advice is if you must feed anything raw. Go to your local butchers or pet shop or even super market and buy some heart.

This is rich in taurine. But you shouldnt feed too much as it can give them the runs.

Will you consider putting your kittens on a raw diet? This are complete and if your kits are fussy with comercial food it will probably be the better option for them. And now would be the time to do it as they are young.

If you need info on raw feeding im sureplenty of people are willing to advize you :D

[Hreow]

Did you try mixing in a little of the food you want her to eat with the food that she does eat? You might be able to get her used to eating the complete foods if she gets a gradual introduction.

Have a good time at the vets; Kittens are not usually that worried about being vetted but can still be fairly wriggly. ^_^
Toffee doesn't have the patience to stand still when there are so many interesting things to investigate. He usually ends up scaling up the vet to get a better view. :D

[Howldaloom]

Toffee doesn't have the patience to stand still when there are so many interesting things to investigate. He usually ends up scaling up the vet to get a better view. :D

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[pip895]

We tried mixing and she very carefully separated the cat food out and left it :?

She was fine at the vets - climbed all over the vets computer but didn’t climb the vet :cat10

The vet said we should give her kitten food and be hard and not supplement with fish & chicken - once she gets really hungry she will eat it. OH is too soft though - Mittens has him wrapped round her paw - she has been eating raw prawns - very high in taurine apparently :roll:

I would prefer her on cat food so we try again tomorrow - if I can get OH under control ;)

[dandysmom]

LOL, so you don't have a kitten eating problem as much as an OH softy problem! Good luck!

[Hreow]

I would prefer her on cat food so we try again tomorrow - if I can get OH under control ;)

Prawns are good - Toffee approves of them as well. :)

I seem to have the same type of partner... I can train a cat to do perfect recall but I can't train him to not give treats to the poor, starving, cute kitten. :roll: :-D Tough exterior, caring nature - can't really complain. :D

[dandysmom]

All cats are good at the small starving cat routine, but some of them are superb at it .... sigh