Will it harm my 1 yr old to be on Kitten food a while longer?

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FelineGood
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Will it harm my 1 yr old to be on Kitten food a while longer?

Post by FelineGood »

Elijah turned a year old this month and is still on Feringa wet food and Purizon dry food. We have adopted a 3 month old kitten so they are both on the same food but Elijah has a pouch of Sainsbury's Delicious recipes adult for supper as a little treat to help him get through the upheaval of having the new kitten in the home.

I have read on the Whiskas website that it's harmful for adult cats to eat kitten food for a long period but other websites say there's nothing wrong with it. Elijah doesn't overeat, he comes in during the day for meals then is out until we fetch him in for the night.

I'm not even sure when cats stop growing, we have seen some huge cats in the adoption centre!
alanc
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Re: Will it harm my 1 yr old to be on Kitten food a while longer?

Post by alanc »

I think the main concern is that kitten food contains more nutrients and protein than adult cat food and adult cats fed on it tend to get fat!
I believe normal cats stop growing at 1-2 years age - Maine Coons carry on until they are 5. (I found a curious discrepancy in feeding ages on packets of Maine Coon cat food - kitten food is only supposed to be fed until they are 12 months, but the adult food said don't feed them with adult food until they are 15 months old!)
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Re: Will it harm my 1 yr old to be on Kitten food a while longer?

Post by FelineGood »

Thanks for replying, we'll get Elijah weighed at vets and ask if he's at risk of obesity. The only problem we have is little Stanley eats Elijah's food as well as his own!
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Lilith
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Re: Will it harm my 1 yr old to be on Kitten food a while longer?

Post by Lilith »

For years catfood was catfood ... I bred Siamese in the 80s and, though I say it myself, reared some grand kittens on just, ordinary, catfood ... errm, often the dreaded Whiskas, not much choice in those days ... :oops:

Well, no, I ought to say my queens reared some etc etc :lol:

I did cook a good bit of chicken and mince and rabbit as well, to keep the queenly strength up.

I do feel that it's a bit of a marketing ploy, this kitten, adult and senior business, though I appreciate that kitten food's richer and when I was nursing a cat with kidney disease I did try to keep her on senior food as my vet said it was lower in potassium (there was no way she would accept bland low-protein diets.)

It's my personal view but I reckon that any decent quality complete food is ok, augmented with the kind of high-protein treats cats wheedle out of us, such as salmon, tuna, chicken etc - a raw chicken wing can be a wonderful source of calcium and grrrrowwwl if the cat likes it. A cooked chicken thigh, boned of course, is a good source of protein and fat.

I have a 7 year old and a 16 year old and they never got kitten food; now they get mainly pouch and the odd treat, and they look very fat and fine ... well, not THAT fat, should I say 'sleek'? :)
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Re: Will it harm my 1 yr old to be on Kitten food a while longer?

Post by FelineGood »

Thanks Lilith,
We do have a dilemma about the dry food they are on. There is version for sterilized adult cats which is a lot less fat compared to the kitten and adult variety, I'm thinking if I keep them both on that I don't need to worry so much if the kitten gets some adult food. But then will Elijah get too many calories but then he must be a fairly active cat because he's outdoors all day until we lock him in for the night.

I need to reorder the dry food and I'm dithering about it so much that it might not arrive in time for the bank holiday!
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Lilith
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Re: Will it harm my 1 yr old to be on Kitten food a while longer?

Post by Lilith »

I should order it if I were you :)

At that age they've got hollow legs anyway and they'll take what they need.

Sorry - entirely personal view but I've always fed on demand/left enough down for grazing and my guys have never had problems with their figures.

Just my personal view of course, but I reckon an active young cat, with an observant owner, isn't going to turn into a dumpling overnight :)
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Re: Will it harm my 1 yr old to be on Kitten food a while longer?

Post by alanc »

I agree with Lilith. I left dry food down for Badger and Tilly as kittens and neither of them got in the least bit fat (burnt up too much energy chasing things). Food intake does not always correlate with fatness, either. I used to have two moggies, Misty and Honey. Honey was distinctly tubby, whilst Misty was as thin as a rake even though he ate 3/4 of the food (he would have grabbed more if he could).
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Re: Will it harm my 1 yr old to be on Kitten food a while longer?

Post by FelineGood »

We do leave the dry food out but during the intense heat they have had wet food in smaller portions I am at home most of the day to top them up. I ordered the dry food for kittens, I've just seen Elijah up in the Apple tree so he gets plenty of exercise.
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