Suggestions on kitten food?

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RobZip - 10 Jul 2004 05:58 GMT

Does anyone have any suggestion on kitten food that might be particularly
appealing to kittens? Sammy's brood is coming up on 4 weeks old this Sunday.
All seem to have a complete set of baby teeth formed at this time. Four of
the six babies will drink milk mix from a flat bowl although all of them
will still breastfeed, and in fact seem to still prefer it. A few of them
have even nibbled several small bites of cheese, cottage cheese, etc.

It's still to early to wean them and I'm not in a hurry to make the rush to
solid foods but the babies don't seem at all interested in the Purina Kitten
chow that Sammy has been getting. I've let some soak in the milk they drink
but they just ignore it. Since they were drawn to the cheese pretty readily,
it must be some sort of appeal factor.

Sammy is becoming more vocal in her 'instructions' to the mob - especially
when a few of the more rowdy ones gang up on her. She was nursing a few of
them earlier and one kept pouncing on and over her head, biting her ears,
etc. After a few minutes of verbal warnings and gently moving the hellion
off her head, she scooped a paw under him and body slammed him. He got the
hint then.

The personalities are starting to come out now. One we call Angel is usually
the first to come running out with a greeting and will follow me for the
greatest distance from home base. The little black one is probably the most
endearing of the bunch - exceptional eye contact and vocalizing with us.

The one I call Big Red is the little guy who had to have eye drops and
seemed to be a bit wary of me. He has shown a preference to nest in away
from the other five most of the time. He still gets quite vocal when handled
yet Sammy seems to pay little mind to his loud squeals. It's almost like
she's got him figured for a big whiner and ignores a lot of his complaints
at being handled. The others can make much smaller sounds and she will come
running to check up on them. Red seems to play well with any of the others
and has one favorite cuddle buddy he will sleep with if he isn't by himself.
I wouldn't say he's anti-social, just seems to have a preference for a
larger space.

Of course with the herd starting to expand their range we have to be a lot
more careful walking into the room.

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MadHatter - 11 Jul 2004 19:04 GMT

>Does anyone have any suggestion on kitten food that might be particularly
>appealing to kittens? Sammy's brood is coming up on 4 weeks old this Sunday.
>All seem to have a complete set of baby teeth formed at this time. Four of
>the six babies will drink milk mix from a flat bowl although all of them
>will still breastfeed, and in fact seem to still prefer it. A few of them
>have even nibbled several small bites of cheese, cottage cheese, etc.

oh yes! little babies do love cottage cheese, but don't give them too
much because cow milk is much to heavy for small kittens. the food i
get for Shaina i buy from PETsMart and it's soooo cheap for brand name
food! you can get nice food, like Sophisticat for .27 cents a can and
Authority kitten food for .33 cents per can! you can also get
NutroMax and Iams there and Silence diet. that site is great!

>It's still to early to wean them and I'm not in a hurry to make the rush to
>solid foods but the babies don't seem at all interested in the Purina Kitten
>chow that Sammy has been getting. I've let some soak in the milk they drink
>but they just ignore it. Since they were drawn to the cheese pretty readily,
>it must be some sort of appeal factor.

i'm not sure if it's too early to feed them solid food, but wet canned
food they should be fine with. just give them small quantities.

>Sammy is becoming more vocal in her 'instructions' to the mob - especially
>when a few of the more rowdy ones gang up on her. She was nursing a few of
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>hint then.
>{...}

i'm glad you are having so much fun with your crowd of little furries!
i remember i would sit and watch them for hours at play. kittens are
the best!

let us know how the transition to new food turns out. you'll probably
need a couple of bowls for them to eliminate competition. the bowls i
have are stainless steel, with wider base to prevent tipping over and
fairly low, so that Shaina is comfortable reaching her food and water.

-L

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RobZip - 12 Jul 2004 00:57 GMT

> let us know how the transition to new food turns out. you'll probably
> need a couple of bowls for them to eliminate competition. the bowls i
> have are stainless steel, with wider base to prevent tipping over and
> fairly low, so that Shaina is comfortable reaching her food and water.

The cottage cheese is given in tablespoon amounts. Thats about all the whole
tribe has any interest in at one sitting for now anyway. For 'bowls' I find
that small margarine tub lids work great. If they spill any it isn't a big
deal because we're going to replace the carpet soon. All of the babies have
shown some interest in one thing or another that I've offered but the only
real consistent hit is the milk/KMR mix. They all seem to love that. Problem
is keeping Sammy out of the kitten's bowl. She gets hers separately then
comes running to hog down what I put out for the babies.

One of the comical things that happens is when the one we call Angel runs
out to greet me. She comes flying out and stops so quick that her back feet
come off the floor like she's about ready to flip over frontward. I'm hoping
to see these little ones start peeing on their own soon. I think they can
but mom keeps after them so frequently that they haven't really had the need
to do it on their own yet.

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