2 questions about 1-year-old old kitten

16 years ago

Our kitten has eaten a variety of foods due to the melamine problem, but now she eats Science Diet kitten food. At a year old, is it a good time to switch her to adult food?

The kitten threw up her dinner once this week (first time to throw up and hasn't done it since). Our old cat used to have trouble keeping her food down if she had a hairball. I was wondering if I should give the kitten a bit of the hairball treatment, the one that comes in a tube (Petromalt?).

Thanks.

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Comments (5)

laurief_gw
16 years ago
Yes, at one year old it's time to start mixing some adult food into her kitten food for a gradual switchover.

I wouldn't worry about a single vomit. There's no reason to give her Petromalt at this point.

Laurie
livvysmom
16 years ago
My cat is also 1 -- he ate Nutro dry kitten food. When he turned 1, I switched him to Nutro Adult (did not mix it). He had no problem.

Was your cat's throwing up due to a hairball? Did you actually see the hairball? If he only did it once, I wouldn't worry about it. My cat threw up hairballs at least once a week for about 2 months. The very best thing is frequent brushing to remove loose hair. I really don't trust any hair ball remedies/foods/treats because I hear they can cause loose stools.
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trekaren
16 years ago
Feeding them a dab of vaseline helps when hairballs become a problem. I have not had issues with hairballs with the two kitties I have now. I am not sure if it's the only reason, but one thing I do is ensure they hydrate very well. I have one of those water machines that has the perpetual stream running down, and uses a charcoal filter to keep the water clean. They drink and urinate very well. My cats I had in the 80's were fed with a simple water bowl, and I had lots of hairball and urinary tract issues.

At any rate, the vaseline was something recommended to me by a vet, and it helps get them thru a bad hairball spell. A little bit on your finger and feed it to them about once a day.
socks
Original Author
16 years ago
No, I never saw a hairball. Just couldn't think of any other reason she would throw up. She's a shorthair, and doesn't groom excessively either. And we keep her brushed because she loves it.

She hasn't done it again and seems fine.
munkos
16 years ago
It's entirely possible she ate a little something that didn't agree with her. I have two cats, a 1.5 year old and a 4 year old. The 4 year old has thrown up twice since I got her at 8 weeks and the one year old once. All three times due to something they found on the floor, or wherever, and it didn't sit well. Obviously nothing major as it was only one vomit each time, and they were fine afterwards. The first time my eldest threw up was because she got in the sink and found a tiny bit of chocolate milk in a cup. The other two, I've got no clue what made them sick.

Oh, we've also only had one hairball in the last 4 years.

Nows a good time to switch to adult, but I wouldn't stick with science diet. There are way better foods, dispite vets recommendations of what they sell at the vets office. I use chicken soup for the soul adult cat, and it isn't that expensive and the quality is a lot better.

2 questions about 1-year-old old kitten

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laurief_gw

livvysmom

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socks
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2 questions about 1-year-old old kitten

Comments (5)

laurief_gw

livvysmom

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trekaren

socksOriginal Author

munkos

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socks
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