Conference misery::feline_v1

the only risk I can see here is that the baby food protein is not balanced
for a cat -- and if you are feeding the baby food, it is replacing the cat
food that she should be eating to get enough of the right kinds of things.
I would be worried about taurine, in particular, as it is the protein a
cat needs to develop and keep a healthy heart.  Taurine deficiency is deadly
to cats and cat foods are formulated to prevent taurine deficiency.  As a
short-term treatment for diarrhea, baby food and rice is an acceptable option,
as a long-term solution, I don't think baby food is a good idea.  It is 
unlikely to have the proteins necessary for a healthy cat.

If your kitten had problems with the moist cat food you were feeding, she
was probably reacting to something in the food.  If you feel it necessary
to feed moist food, try other brands rather than replace the cat food with
baby food.  However, I know you can have a cat that simply cannot eat 
moist foods -- two of my four are just such cats.  We went through all brands
available and none were comfortable for the two girls, so we feed IAMS dry
only.

You might want to also try feeding more often, less per feeding, in order
to see if that will help settle the stomach problem.  Sometimes, a very
hungry kitten will overeat and have problems.

    So, is it ok to skip the wet food at this point and just feed dry
    kitten food? What does everyone else do? Thanks

    Re; urinating more 
    
    I'm not sure how kitten habits differ from adult cat habits.
    For an adult cat, it would depend on what you mean, as folows, is she:
    
    trying to go, but nothing or nothing much comes out -> take to vet
        pronto.
    
    getting in the litter box frequently, say a few times in ten minutes
       -> again, to vet pronto.
    
    just more urine produced -> not to worry, probably moisture content
      of food is higher.
    
    going 3 or 4 times a day instead of twice ->  I think I wouldn't
      worry, but I'd keep an eye on her.
    
    If a cat starts drinking a lot more water when teh type of food
    fed hasn't changed, that's a take-to-the-vet symptom also.
    however, my guys, who normally get CD canned, drink almost no
    noticable amount of water on that diet;  when I give them
    dry food instead, they drink _a lot_.
    
    

    If the cat is eating dry food with no problesm, then just feed her
    dry food.  There is no requirement to feed kittens canned food.
    It is a personal preference.  When I raise my kittens, I wean them
    from nursing to canned food and then to dry.  Once they are eating
    the dry food regularly, they can be weaned off the canned.  I let
    my kitten buyers decide how they want to feed their new kittens,
    the only stipulation being that they must feed a premium dry food.
    
    Jo

    My only concern about dry only is that it is higher in calories and
    ash than canned.  My personal preference is to feed both dry and
    canned.
    
    I would suggest you try some of the better cat foods like Hills,
    Perform, etc  These foods do not contain some of the fillers and
    none of the dyes that are put in supermarket cat foods to make them
    more apealing to humans.   
    
    I also suggest talking to your vet again, even if its just to give
    him/her a progress report and tell him/her that you're going to try
    the premium foods.  My vet was very concerned when Dundee had chronic
    diarrea as a kitten.  Its worth keeping the vet appraised of the 
    situation.  S/he might have further treatment in mind.
      Nancy DC

    It seems that no matter what wet brand I try (Science Diet, Little
    Friskies, Mother Hubbard), she inevitably ends up with terrible gas
    or loose stools.  It seems that the dry works fine, I just want to 
    make sure she won't be missing out on any nutrients.  Thanks,

    suggestion...when you do try wet foods again...do not keep switching
    to the different brands.  Try one brand for about a week and see
    what happens.
    
    Sandy

    Nancy,  just to clarify your statement about dry food having more
    ash and calories than wet food... in order to truly compare the
    ash and calories of wet food to dry, you would have to convert them
    to a dry matter basis.  
    
    Most of us look for an ash level of under 3.0 in canned food, by 
    the same token, an ash level of under 7.0 (I think that is the number) 
    is about the equivalent in dry food.  As far as the calories go, the 
    dry has more calories per ounce, since the dry isn't 78% moisture.  
    But, when you get right down to it, they are probably about equal.
    
    Switching the foods around alot could cause some diarrhea while
    the kitten's system adjusts to the changes.
    
    Jo