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Please help!

Atari's Mommy

Savannah Adult
Hi everyone! I am new to this site and still trying to figure it out so please bear with me :) I have read many forums and learned alot, so thank you all for your info. However, I have some concerns about my 18 week male F3 and my breeder is nowhere to be found!!! He has been on on Royal Canine dry kitten formula which is available at all time and innova evo turkey/chicken wet twice a day since he was born. My breeder said he has enough nutrients in dry that I could wean off of the wet food but since he liked it, I continued it but cut down to once daily. Then I found he was not eating it right away like he always did, so for about three days I did not give him any wet!. He seemed to be sleeping alot for two days in a row and I became concerned so I found this site. After reading some forums, I rushed home and gave him wet food but he will not eat it. I then bought the Natures Instinct raw frozen bites, he wanted nothing to do with it! I tried a different flavor Evo, and he ate. The following day, he did not want it. Nor did he want the raw OR the initial Evo he always ate. A pet store employee gave me a Natural balance plateful packet and he DEVOURED it! He still will not eat the turkey evo.

My question is, Is the royal Canine dry food sufficient enough alone? My breeder stated yes, but I feel he should be eating more. I want him BIG and healthy! Any feedback on the Natural balance packets? I feel they arent the best diet wise and may be ok for a treat. So, suggestions on a good quality canned wet food would be greatly appreciated. And if leaving dry available at all times, how many times and how much daily should I offer him the wet food? He does not drink very much water that I see but I am always trying to remind him.

There are some other concerns as well, but im not sure if its just me over analyzing and being crazy or if there are things I should worry about. Such as change in sleeping pattern, stinky breath, one eye gets sleepys frequently, his ears need to be cleaned often and he gets very vocal at times (mostly when I am eating at the table, in the shower or he is by the glass door).

This is my first savannah, and cat in general, so I just want to make sure I am doing whats good for him. Any and all help or input would be really really helpful
 

Jacq

Savannah Super Cat
I would continue to feed him a good quality no-grain wet food in addition to the dry. In my opinion, dry food is not a very nutritious diet by itself. Make sure you check any Evo you are feeding him as Natura (Innova) has had HUGE recalls recently. Changes in sleeping pattern are normal as he grows. When kittens are going through a growth spurt, sometimes they sleep A LOT. As far as the vocalizations, it sounds like he just wants to be near you at all times. As far as the other stuff you mentioned, if anything seems not quite right with him, I suggest taking him to a vet for a checkup.
 

Atari's Mommy

Savannah Adult
Ok thanks! Do you suggest any high quality wet that contains the essential ingredients he needs without the added carbs and grains? Can I over or under feed him? Ive read kittens should receive twice an adult cat portion, but how long is he still considered a kitten?
 

Brigitte Cowell

Moderator
Staff member
My advice is that if you really have a feeling that something is wrong with Atari then take to your vet. I'd rather be paranoid than ignore warning signs that my kitten is sick...

Do you think he is eating his dry food then? As long as he is eating something then he probably is ok. I think the breeder is correct and just kibble is fine... and some cats seem to have a fetish for kibble over canned or raw. My personal experience though is that kittens grow best with a raw diet....but diet is somewhat a compromise between what you want them to eat and what they WILL eat! LOL! And I've had some that insisted on kibble only, some for canned only and once one of my kittens decided at 6 months of age he would only eat raw chicken drumsticks and nothing else.

I don't think Natural Balance is a bad diet, and probably higher quality than a lot of the ones you see in the store. My cats won't eat the canned EVO. My cats do like the Earthborn Holistics range of canned food. Previously they would only eat the chicken variety and turned their noses up at every fish-flavored cat food I tried but suddenly the fish formulas of Earthborn they love. So something to note is that as your kitten grows his food tastes may change too...

As to water consumption, water fountains are the best way to encourage a cat to drink more water :)

Many of the symptoms are possibly innocent: kittens often sleep more when in a growth spurt, stinky breath can mean he is teething, the dirty ears I would have checked out for mites or yeast infection... the vocalness is him wanting your attention. Especially if he is an only pet he's going to want interaction with you whenever you are home!
 

Marissa

Savannah Super Cat
We feed raw, but I feed canned occasionally, when I do I feed Weruva. They go nuts for it!
 

Atari's Mommy

Savannah Adult
Brigitte, thanks so much! whew, I feel a little better now :) I will def pick up some Earthborn to see if he likes that. He does eat the dry, but I know being the little piggy and begger he is that he is hungry. So I guess I will try the Earthborn and maybe give him the Natural balance packet once or twice a week. I really wanted him to do the raw, I didnt necessarily want to do it lol but I know it would be best. He just wanted nothing to do with it. And no way will I let him drag raw chicken around my house haha. How often and how much should I offer him the wet being he always has access to dry? And fountain.... great idea! Only concern is the power cord...

Sondra
 

Atari's Mommy

Savannah Adult
I only tried giving him the Natures Instinct chicken, maybe I should try another flavor. or mix it with canned initially? Since I know raw would be best
 

Trish Allearz

Moderator
Ears that get dirty often might be mites- in fact, I think if they are really getting dirty often, it probably is mites.

Dry food is more then acceptable as a full diet- although there are better foods and worse foods. If you do a dry food, it is best to have a water fountain for long term use for him to drink from- bette tar for his kidneys and longevity.

Sleepy eye usually means in other terms- eye gunk or weepiness... It's worth having a vet look at- there are meds to treat it. He may have an URI- you may want to add Lysine to his food. You can pick it up at GNC and crush the tablets, sprinkle it on his food.
 

John Popp

Site Supporter
I'm guessing your breeder is the same as mine, and our kitten has no interest in anything with Turkey in it. He loves his kibble and about all I can do to dissuade him from just eating a ton of it is to make him work for it with a puzzle feeder (the eggsercizer).

From there, I can say that there are lots of finicky eaters around. I feed primarily raw and from one week to the next I don't know what they will really eat. This week chicken is OK, next week it's not.

As for the eyes and ears, I would get him into the vet and looked at. Could be a related issue but probably not.
 

admin

Paige
Staff member
Natural balance is a pretty high quality food and if he likes it, why not continue to give it to him? I just started feeding Zuri NAtural Balance Catatouille - comes in 2.5 oz tubes...she absolutely loves it. Natures Variety Instinct Boost is another food they will eat or even Natures variety Instinct raw...
 
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