cat question?

Question

i brought home a 7wk kitten two days ago from the local humane society. she will only eat can food which leads to question one below and also, i am using tidy cats small spaces kitty litter. that would lead to question two.

1.) is it safe for the kitten to eat only can food? and when and how do i introduce dry food to her

2.) is this type of cat litter flushable? when i scoop out her bathroom mess, is it safe to put the clumps down the toilet?

Answer 1

Canned food with high quality meat protein is the best diet for your cat. Dry food is a convenience for the owner and with a kitten who needs to eat frequently it is good to have some available to eat all during the day. You should NEVER add water or milk to dry cat food - the bacteria content can increase very quickly.

Look into Eagle Pack, Solid Gold, Natural Balance, CA Natural, Nature's Variety, Nature's Logic, Nature's Organic for dry and canned foods for your kitten. You can pull up a bag or can of any of those foods on the website www.petfooddirect.com. You will find those dry foods have the first two ingredients in human-grade meat protein and the third as a filler such as brown rice, millet, oats, pea etc. The canned foods are also mostly high quality meat without a lot of vegetables.

I live in a house that is about sixty years old so I would not flush anything like cat litter down the toilet. Plumbers can cost more than vets! I just put my scoopings into brown paper lunch bags and throw them in the trash can.

Answer 2

Dry food should make up most of her diet. Buy some kitten dry food and offer it to her, you can mix it with some wet food or some water to make it a little mushier. If she refuses, keep trying, and don't offer her wet food alone. She won't let herself starve, but help her out by not making the switch immediate. Today, mix n a few piece of dry food into her wet food, and tomorrow, a little more, etc, until in a week or two, you feed only dry food.

My cats eat 1/4 cup of dry food twice a day, and 1/3 of a small can of catfood 2-3 times a week.

Do not flush cat litter. If your area has a recycling / compost program, this cat litter can likely be composted (ask about it first). Otherwise, discard it. Do not flush it.

Congratulations on your new kitten, by the way!

Answer 3

1) You can introduce dry food to her at any time, but make sure you buy dry food designated for kittens. Mix a little in her regular food for a couple of days, and then gradually mix in a little more. Don't move too fast, because cats don't like changes.

If you mix water with the dry food, make sure you don't leave it out for longer than five-ten minutes tops! Dry food contains spores and bacteria that in combination with air and water very quickly grows into mold that is harmful to your cat (it's not dangerous to eat, since there's no exposure to air in a cat belly ;p ).

2) No, you can't flush the type of litter that clumps. There are types of litter that work the opposite way, that ARE clumps that fall apart when they get wet (usually used together with "self-cleaning" litter boxes). I don't know about those, but clumping litter is not flushable. If you're worried about the smell, there are special containers that you can get. Usually the target customers are new parents, and you're meant to put used diapers in until you can take them out.

Answer 4

If it's getting too much money-wise for canned food, try putting in a little water to the dry food to make it moist. This will also help wean her to eating dry food by itself.

I've been using the same litter for years now ("the world's best cat litter"). It's a little more expensive than normal brands, but it's not as messy, easily clumps, flushable, and a lot more natural since it's made from corn.

Answer 5

Congrats on your new addition! Its safe for them to eat only can food, however it's not recommended by many. The dry food gives them nutrients that the wet food does not carry. There are many options for Kitten food, science diet is expensive, but its VERY eased for a kittens teeth. I would start leaving a small bowl of dry food out by the water. See if she takes to it, maybe skip a few meals of canned food, because its been said- if their hungry, they will eat. Secondly, small spaces litter is not flushable. You can however purchase flushable litter at your local stores.

Answer 6

I can answer question 1. Begin mixing hard kitten food in with the soft food. As the days go by, lessen the amount of soft and increase the amount of hard. Before you know it, it will only be eating the hard food.

I use this mixture to wean kittens from their Mama (I foster litters of kittens for the Humane Society.)

As for the litter, if it doesn't say flushable on the label, it probably isn't.

Answer 7

What we do at the shelter is offer a bit of dry food moistened with a bit of water. This makes it sort of solid and easier for them to chew. After she gets used to eating the dry food, you can offer a bit of dry and wet. My cats are only on dry food all the time and they are ok and porking up just fine and they're healthy.

I don't flush my clumping litter, I bag it and toss it. It should say on the container if it's flushable though.

Good luck to you and your new baby!

Answer 8

I dont know if it is bad for them to only eat can food. But if you want to try dry food slowly mix it in till there is no wet food.

I dont think you should put the litter in the toilet. You can get small trash bags at the store just put it in there and then in the trash.. The bags help with the smell.

Answer 9

Question 1... Its fine for her to eat only wet food, they actually like it better. You can put dry food in her wet food little by little until you put more dry food then wet food. I feed my cats both I leave the dry food for them and feed them wet food once a day.

Question 2...... Not every cat littler is flushable so you might want to buy the special kind, it would say it in the box.

Answer 10

It is perfectly safe for the cat to eat only canned food. Right now, chewing hard food might be a bit of a task, with those tiny teeth. You could put some hard food down, along with a bowl of water. Leave it there, and your cat will "discover" it. She will start to nibble. As long as the can says that it is sufficient nutrition for a kitten, you are fine. They do make cat food just for kittens.

I'm not familiar with that kind of litter, so I can't help you there. It should tell you on the bag or container how to dispose of it.