What do you do if your kitten doesn't eat?

Answer 1

Quite simply: Just feed the kitten wet food! If your lifestyle allows, feed just wet food several times a day, or purchase a food bowl/storer that is on a timer. Most of these can keep the food fresh and cool.

Kittens and cats are strict carnivores. They get all their nutritional needs from meat. Kittens in particular, need a lot of Protein and Fat in order to grow and develop in a healthy manner. The best cat foods are the ones with a very high meat content (labeled as Chicken, Turkey, Tuna, etc.) as the FIRST ingredient with no grains, wheat, or corn. Foods that are free of grains, corns, and wheat gluten are highly recommended as these are cheap "filler" that bulk up foods - but have no nutritional value for your kitten. Wet food with these specifications are much easier to find than in dry food. A lot of dry foods have a very high amount of grains and cereals in.

Dry food contains no moisture, so is quite dehydrating. Cats are notoriously bad drinkers, even when they are thirsty. This is because they have evolved to get all their needed moisture from their prey (their ancestors were cats that lived in very dry and arid environments where water was hard to come by). It is a trait that has been passed down over the thousands of years.

Canned or pouched food has anywhere between 60 to 80% water. Seeing as in the wild a cat's prey is around 70% water, wet food provides a cat with more than enough water each day.

However, if you feel you must get your kitten to eat some dry food, try mixing a little wet food in the dry and decreasing the amount of mix wet food over time.

Answer 2

It must mean that it is to young to be able to eat on its own and you must bottle feed it, make sure you don't over feed it though because just like human baby's, it might get sick and throw up.

Answer 3

Is there a particular reason you want to feed your kitten dry food? Dry kibble is incredibly hard and brittle and young kittens especially may be put off. Your kitten may not even like the taste of the food (this isn't uncommon in cats).

Dry food is more a convenience food for us, as it is easy to put in a bowl and leave for several hours. However, dry food is certainly not a requirement for a cat's diet.

If your lifestyle allows, feed just wet food several times a day, or purchase a food bowl/storer that is on a timer. Most of these can keep the food fresh and cool.

Kittens and cats are strict carnivores. They get all their nutritional needs from meat. Kittens in particular, need a lot of Protein and Fat in order to grow and develop in a healthy manner. The best cat foods are the ones with a very high meat content (labeled as Chicken, Turkey, Tuna, etc.) as the first ingredient with no grains, wheat, or corn. A lot of dry foods contain a high amount of grains and cereals and rather low levels of actual meat in them. The cereals do not give any nutrition to the cat at all; cats have evolved to get their nutrients from meat-based protein, not plant-based protein, and thus many cats have trouble digesting such foods that include grains and other plants.

Dry food also contains no moisture, so is quite dehydrating. Cats are notoriously bad drinkers, even when they are thirsty. This is because they have evolved to get all their needed moisture from their prey (their ancestors were cats that lived in very dry and arid environments where water was hard to come by). It is a trait that has been passed down over the thousands of years.

Canned or pouched food has anywhere between 60 to 80% water. Seeing as in the wild a cat's prey is around 70% water, wet food provides a cat with more than enough water each day. This is especially important if you have a male cat or kitten. Male cats are much more susceptible to urinary tract infections (UTI's) which is often caused by not enough water over a period of time, so feeding a predominately wet diet will ensure his water intake is high.

However, if you feel you must get your kitten to eat some dry food, try mixing a little wet food in the dry and decreasing the amount of mix wet food over time.

Answer 4

Alternate them, variety is better for him anyway.

Answer 5

If this has been happening for a while, go see a vet right away. If its a newborn, feed it kitten formula milk out of a warm bottle, like you'd do for a human baby.