Gooshy food for Tessie?

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Karen AKA Kajikit - 26 Jun 2006 15:33 GMT

We ran out of kitten kibble for Tessie and she's happy eating the
regular stuff so John said we should leave her on it and just let her
eat as much as she liked... only she was eating like a HORSE! I don't
think that diet hairball kibble has enough energy in it for an
energetic growing kitten and she needs an extra food source of her
own. We bought some tins of gooshy kittenfood because Scouty and
Silver don't like it and she wouldn't have to fight them for posession
of the bowl... so guess what happened? As soon as I opened the first
can, all three cats came RUNNING and demanded some. Scouty took a
sniff and buried the bowl, Silver sniffed and decided 'hey, it's food,
I can go for this!' and Tessie sat there for about five minutes hoeing
into it like she hadn't been fed in a month... which leads me to the
question - how MUCH gooshyfood should we be giving her? I want to feed
it to her once a day and let her eat kibble the rest of the time... I
put down 2/3 of a baby-sized tin and she only ate half of it, so I put
the rest away and offered it to her again next day, but then she
didn't even eat half of what was left and I had to throw it out. I
opened the second can (friskies turkey) today and put HALF of it out
for her, and again she ate about half of what was in the bowl and
ignored the rest. Is 1/4 or 1/3 of a small can going to be enough food
for her? I don't think she's used to the idea that the bowl will be
taken away - she seems to be trying to save some for 'later'. How can
we make this work? (I know I'm a 'cat slave' but that doesn't mean I'm
going to be offering her gooshy food every three hours for the rest of
her life!)

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Victor Martinez - 26 Jun 2006 15:47 GMT

> I can go for this!' and Tessie sat there for about five minutes hoeing
> into it like she hadn't been fed in a month... which leads me to the
> question - how MUCH gooshyfood should we be giving her? I want to feed

I'd say give her as much as she'll eat. She's a growing kitten and
probably won't have weight issues being so young.

> ignored the rest. Is 1/4 or 1/3 of a small can going to be enough food
> for her? I don't think she's used to the idea that the bowl will be

Our cats sometimes devour their gooshy food, sometimes they let it sit
for hours. They get fed on average 4 small cans in the morning and 4 in
the afternoon. Sometimes there's a big can instead of one of the small
ones, and often at night they get an extra pouch if they finish all
their food. They also get kibble for snacking between meals. So, it
comes out to little more than half a small can per meal per cat, on
average. Although Luna probably eats a whole can's worth and Fez barely
nibbles on the gooshy food.

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Christine K. - 26 Jun 2006 16:31 GMT

You didn't mention what brand of kitten gooshy food you're feeding
Tessie, but I just checked Whiskas's web site and they have various
articles on food amounts for kittens vs. adult cats:

- In proportion to weight, kittens need three to four times more food
than adult cats.
- Make food available to your kitten at all times. Unlike puppies,
kittens are not likely to overeat.
- After six months of age, your kitten can begin eating an adult diet.
- Contrary to popular wisdom, kittens do not need milk with their food -
but make sure to provide plenty of water. If you want to give milk, try
a lactose-reduced cat milk product.

Other cat food manufacturers' (for example Iams) sites also have
articles on feeding kittens. Also the tin you have may have some info on
recommended portion sizes according to weight and age of the kitty.

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Karen AKA Kajikit - 27 Jun 2006 00:11 GMT

>You didn't mention what brand of kitten gooshy food you're feeding
>Tessie, but I just checked Whiskas's web site and they have various
>articles on food amounts for kittens vs. adult cats:

I didn't know which kind/s she'd like best so I got one can of several
- Science Diet Kitten and Whiskas kitten and another brand that I
can't remember. She doesn't seem to care - it all looks the same so
far coming out of the can!

>- In proportion to weight, kittens need three to four times more food
>than adult cats.
>- Make food available to your kitten at all times. Unlike puppies,
>kittens are not likely to overeat.

She has free access to Indoor/Hairball Lite kibble (mixed together)
the same as the other cats. She seems to like it but I'm worried about
her getting enough energy from it without gorging herself...

>- After six months of age, your kitten can begin eating an adult diet.
>- Contrary to popular wisdom, kittens do not need milk with their food -
>but make sure to provide plenty of water. If you want to give milk, try
>a lactose-reduced cat milk product.

They just get water, but whenever they want... all three of them go
nuts over dairy products when they get to lick out a cereal bowl or
yoghurt cup, and it doesn't seem to have any adverse affect on their
digestion in such small amounts.

>Other cat food manufacturers' (for example Iams) sites also have
>articles on feeding kittens. Also the tin you have may have some info on
>recommended portion sizes according to weight and age of the kitty.

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Takayuki - 27 Jun 2006 03:20 GMT

>I don't think she's used to the idea that the bowl will be
>taken away - she seems to be trying to save some for 'later'. How can
>we make this work? (I know I'm a 'cat slave' but that doesn't mean I'm
>going to be offering her gooshy food every three hours for the rest of
>her life!)

She's so cute. From this post, I can hazard to guess that Tessie's
body shape and metabolism are just a little different from her older
sisfurs? ;)

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