always hungry?

[SarahK]

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Over Christmas Magpie was very poorly - he had a bacterial infection according to the vet. He lost lots of weight, had puddles instead of poo and was a very sick kitten. He also somehow injured his eye, I reckon and the vet agrees, that it is probably the crappy dusty litter the sheter gave us, so we've changed that. So a dose of fluids and a course of anitbiotics later and he made his comeback.

We were given Hills Prescripiton diet to help firm his stools and now that all is normal again, we're slowly reintroducing his regular food. I can't find any other kitten food than whiskas - I really want to get them off that, but I don't want them to miss out on whatever it is they get from kitten specific food.

Anywho, the thing at the moment is that Magpie is constantly hungry - every time I go into the kitchen he's crying for food. I've been giving him small frequent meals, so that he doesn't gorge and make himself sick again - but I reckon that if I put a whole tin down, he'd scoff the lot. Is this just because he lost weight and is catching up, should I give in to his demands and feed him more? Is it just because the crappy food isn't giving him what he needs?

He is parasite free - he had a fecal test and has been wormed and all that, so its not that. They are both due back in the vets on Monday for vaccinations, but I thought I'd ask the advice of our lovely experts here!

[Twitchin Kitten]

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He's making up for lost time. Don't give in to his demands though! Make a schedule of 4 feedings a day for them. They're small and still need full sized meals often. But stick to the schedule. When he's demanding and you cave in, he's going to continue this into adulthood. You don't want that. Feel free to supplement his diet with KMR (see below) in between feedings. This will help his little hunger pangs.

How old are they now? By the time they are 6 months old they can be dropped to 3 full sized meals a day.

Do you have a pet specialty store to see what kitten food they sell? Try that. Give milk supplements of KMR - they need milk still. If you can find the premixed cans instead of powder, much better. The powder is kind of foul.

You can also consider making their food instead of pet food. Check the useful pet links sticky in the main section http://www.twitchinkitten.com/announcements.php?aid=4 it has some good links about pet food.

Amazon.com has some good books on preparing your own food and it really isnt' much more expensive than buying prepared for pets only. Just make sure you get a good supplement for the necessary vitamins and taruine. Cats will die without taurine.

Get a good clumping litter too. It's much less dusty and will make cleanup for you easier!

I'll dig around for more on food for you.

[SarahK]

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Magpie is 13 weeks and Raven is 14/15 weeks. Do they really still need milk? I didn't know that!

I figured that about his demands and I've not been giving in, just feeding the same amount spread out a bit more. I've been to all the pet stores within a 20k radius. There is a feed store somewhere around here, so I will try to find that today.

I have thought about making my own food for them, but it seems abit scarey and to be honest I find bones and organs gross, but I will do it if I can't find a decent alternitive.

Another thing - when I'm preparing food, theres or mine and Magpie is crying - he'll climb me. What do I do? I've spritzed him with water and he just looked at me!! Little punk! I've been stepping away from the counter and waiting for him to jump off - this works a little better as after a few tries he stops, but it's painful for me!!

[SarahK]

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I've been all over the internet and the only foods I can seem to get here is Optimum, Science Diet, Iams, Purina and Whiskas and stores own brands. There is also a website selling Natural balance, but it is over $3 a can - thats more than I pay for my own food! To get any of them in kitten food is even more difficult.

I found one website claiming to be making all natural pet food - they don't even have an ingredients list and there food is meant for both dogs and cats! That can't be a good sign!

[Twitchin Kitten]

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OK Iams is the best out of all the ones you list.

Let me find the books on Amazon for you - give me till the morning.... we're a day behind you here and are still dealing with the holiday here. Long weekend and all that jazz!

As for making it yourself - there is NO NEED to touch organs or bones! Chicken, beef, turkey - all can be bought cheaply in bulk for your pet with no bones or organs. A good vitamin supplement and you're set. Just let me find the books for you first.

As for that little scooch climbing your leg while cooking - perfectly natural! Painful, but natural and normal. Get used to washing your hands a lot while cooking ..... just pick him off you and put him on the floor. Feel free to give him a little hissssss and a gentle shove once he's on the floor too. That's cat talk for get the fuck off my leg and out of my way little man!

You can mix the milk in with their food, set a small dish along side or feed it in a small saucer in between meals. They need milk for nearly the first year of life. Not as much as kittens but they grow for nearly two full years! The mother would naturally feed them for 16 weeks even though she has them on meat so let them get those vital nutrients that come with milk as long as they can tolerate it internally. Cats are lactose intolerant to cow's milk so please don't substitute that for the KMR! You can make them very sick with cow's milk. They can only have cat's milk or cat milk replacer.

And as far as food that is for dogs OR cats - you're right! That is not good! They have vastly different nutritional needs and cats have a much higher metabolism and need more protein than dogs do.

[LKTraz]

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It sounds to me like Magpie is trying to tell you "Mommy, feed me." when he climbs up your leg. My little fella Wombat did that when he was small and I simply picked him off, put him on the floor and gave him the "finger point" (lean down toward the cat and move your finger from pointing up to pointing between their eyes) while telling him "NO". It took about 2 weeks or so but he got the message.

I've found that "the finger point" works because it resembles the movement a mother cat makes when she will bat at a kitten to correct it.

[SarahK]

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I sent a email to the company claiming to make food for cats and dogs, asking about their ingredients, nutritional information and taurine content, this is what I got back

Hi Sarah,
Thankyou for your enquiry.
Our freshly cooked product contains mostly meat in a kelp based gravy gel along with some bran and kibble and garlic to help deter fleas. It contains approximately 12% Protein, 8% Fat and 0.15% Salt. We have not had our product tested for taurine content. Meat is a good source of taurine and our product is mostly meat.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Regards

What do you think? Seems dodgy to sell cat food thats not tested for such an essential ingredient.

I will try the finger point, thanks!

[Twitchin Kitten]

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Stay away from that food. I never heard of an ingredient called "mostly meat" and taurine comes only from brains or synthetically made last time I checked!

OK here are a couple of books for you to think about getting on making your own food. Remember, when making your own food, no need to think about kitten/cat diets - it's all there in these books.

The Whole Pet Diet: Eight Weeks to Great Health for Dogs and Cats (Paperback)

Lapping it Up: The Quick & Easy Guide to Making Healthy Cat Food At Home (Paperback)

Natural Nutrition for Cats: The Path to Purr-fect Health (Paperback)

Click on each one and you'll see it's Amazon page as well. You can look inside each of these books too. My brother had the first one when he started making his own dog's food in his dog's last years.