Expert: KC - 5/8/2008

Question
My baby kitten is now 8 wks old. We have had a great time since we adopted her when her mother died and she was only 2 wks old. My problem is that I can not get her to eat dry kitten food. I weaned her from the bottle with Friskies canned kitten food ; now she will not give it up. I have tried mixing the soft food with the dry food. She will eat it some. She refuses to touch the dry food alone. She scratches the floor beside the bowl like she thinks it is litter. The soft food route is getting expensive; she eats 1 1/2 cans a day. Thank you - Pushover Mom

Answer
Hi Angela,

Sadly, Friskies is one of the worst foods that you can give a kitten/cat.  You'd be better off feeding entirely raw and making sure to supplement it with a premium supplement.  I highly recommend Feline Platinum Performance for this (you can do a web search).  Although a tub of the supplements can be expensive, with one cat it will last a VERY long time!  Cats who are fed raw MUST be fed a high quality supplement to ensure that they receive enough taurine.  You may find that feeding raw with supplements is more affordable for you than even feeding cheap commercial food...and it's much much better for your cat.    

A cat only needs around 1/2 to one can of the 5.5 oz cans of food a day.  Less if you use a higher quality food.  She's trying to cover up the dry because she thinks it's nasty, lol.  The canned food is actually better for them.  However, a canned food such as Friskies will only lead to dental problems...yet even the dry in that brand is bad on their teeth.  Basically, if you go with a raw or premium based food now, you are looking at a longer life and fewer health problems to deal with later in life...from my experiences again and again.

A grain-free, by-product free, and meat based dry, such as Nature's Variey or Wellness would definitely promote better health and the kitty would probably prefer it over the Friskies.  Even in the premium brands I still feed both canned and dry...and a lot of raw.  However if you feed those foods, your cat will eat less and maintain a proper weight.  Please see some of my past articles regarding feeding schedules, amount to feed etc.  

Hope this helps!