Just a quick question, Im a lil confused on what to feed lil gracie & Missy,
I have been told that you cant feed them meat as it gives them upset tummy, my brother was told this, at first he ignored it and only gave arthur meat but when his poos got to bad he stopped and has kept him on biscuit since and his tummy is fine,
I looked into it and have read differing views!
the breeder we are gettin our 2 from gives them meat, she left me this wall post earlier...
Quote:wrote on your Wall.
And..... sorry, the girls are fine. Gracie is a little monkey, & Mishka Moo is now known as Mishka Moo Cow as she has a liking for steak!!!!!! Say no m ore!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Im confused, my hubby is refusing to buy meat and wants to demand the breeder stops givin our 2 meat, even though they are still with her for nother 2 ish weeks, I said dont be silly, she has 5 adult raggies, serveral moggies & a few kittens, she cant do that! but hes getttni angry sayin its our cats and she can stop now!
Oh help before ww3 kicks off!!!!!!
There is meat protein in kibble. Not sure what you mean. In general, the best approach is to continue to feed the same thing they were raised on until the kittens are well adjusted and then slowly change to what you want to feed. A kitten is better off on a kitten blend food. If you mean just feeding meat from the market, the risk of that is that all of the needed nutrients may not be present in the required amounts. That is a bad idea.
I would think that you could tell your breeder that you do not plan on feeding any meat and would she feed your two just the biscuits so that their digestive systems will be settled to that when they come home. I'm sure a breeder would be quite understanding.
That may go over very poorly. Only a bit better than telling the breeder the kitten is yours. ; ) We breeders feel the kittens are ours forever and we entrust them into the care of others when they are old enough. Adding a food into a cattery or changing foods is much less simple than doing it with one or two - or more - cats in your home.
I was under the assumption they were feeding biscuits in addition to meat. As a breeder would you really take umbrage if one of the purchasers of your kittens informed you that they hoped to feed their kittens biscuits only and could you assist in the transition to their home by not feeding the kitten they planned to purchase meat? I would think that a breeder would want to make the transition as easy as possible for the kitten and be willing to do their best to limit the kitten to just the biscuits they were already feeding.
If the breeder is feeding meat only -- then they have more concern and I think should discuss with the breeder that they don't plan to feed their kitten meat and could the breeder help them in the transition before the kitten comes home to transition to kitten biscuits. Approached properly and with the kittens health as the foremost concern, I can't understand why a breeder would be upset. To me it shows the potential adopters are thinking ahead and are concerned and understand the problems with a quick transition on food for a kitten.
If the kitten is eating some kibble, and they confirm the kitten is in fact eating it, then there is no need for a transition - just feed the kibble on arrival and monitor weight to assure the kitten was not reliant on the other food. If the breeder is not feeding a kibble, then there is no reason to start since any stress of a food transition should be AFTER the stress of the move and a chance to adjust - and THEN focus on the food transition. Otherwise, you can create the stress of the new food change at the breeder's and then have to delay or abort the move if the transition turns out to be too stressful.
To tell a breeder you will not feed the food the breeder has selected as best is aggressive enough. To ask the breeder to CHANGE what is being fed to the choice you want to make before you even get the kitten is going even beyond that. If the breeder feels the food you have selected is inadequate, then the kitten may be withheld. We certainly would not place a kitten in a household that we felt planned to feed an inadequate diet - which is not to say this breeder would be right in feeling the diet being fed is superior.
A breeder is not going to feed six foods to six kittens in a litter because the buyers want to make transitions after they leave the breeder.
You might request this, it would be easy and the breeder would be happy to start a transition. However, it might also cause everything to come unglued and speaking of the issue as starting WW3 points toward what seems expected.
There is no need for a quick transition. A slow transition can take place after the kittens have arrived and are well settled.
Hi just wanted to add my opinion to this thread..... Jan firstly let me say that I think you are an outstanding breeder and member of this forum however I do not agree with your views on ownership vs rights of owner
I can on one level understand the concerns and values of the breeder and there belief that they have ownership/breeding rights to the kitten ( by ownership I mean if the new owner can no longer care for the cat ) ... I also understand the difficulty in trying to provide different food types, I also understand their need to find the right forever homes for the kittens
However I feel that new owners should be able to approach the breeder with questions, requests and assistance for easy transition to their forever homes without prejudice , without it being aggressive or feeling like the breeder is being told the kitten is no longer there's .... after all they are making money for the transaction and in effective by selling the kitten they are giving up the right to say what specific food/litter is used.
before everyone gets riled up I am completely aware that it is in the kitten's best interest to go home on the diet/litter the breeder uses but in the real world let's face it most times this will be changed once the kitten is home due to the new owners circumstance and financial situation.
I think that breeders need to be a bit more flexible in their attitude toward pet owners, for the most part anyone who has taken the effort to source a breeder,do research, and who are paying top dollar for their pet deserve a little more respect after all without us you wouldnt be a breeder... it makes me wonder sometimes if this attitude of well I've taken your money but hey the kitten is still mine contributes to the backyard breeders doing so well.
We lose thousands every year breeding our kittens. We subsidize the cost of the kittens and would not be impressed with a potential owner who thinks paying "top dollar" matters in how we raise and place the kittens. Our only interest is finding good homes where they will be loved and cared for. Telling a breeder what she feeds is not good for the kitten and therefore you want her to stop now and feed something else to "your" kitten before he leaves is not designed to get a good response, as seems to be expected in this case - and should be obvious.
As for feeding different food than the breeder, we recommend our kittens be kept on the same food indefinitely. If the new home wants to try something else or has a need to change, then they need to do so slowly and after the transition to the new home - and it should be a food appropriate for a kitten. That is the logical time to switch from the breeder's food to the owner's food. There is no good reason to do it earlier. We are not going to feed multiple foods that new owners think are better than what we feed. If what we feed is inadequate, then get the kitten from a breeder that agrees with what you think is a good diet. Why do you want a kitten raised on a food you think is inappropriate? We are quite happy to discuss all of these issues, why we do what we do and how the new family can make reasonable transitions. That does not include changing what we do to raise the kittens. Families come to us because we know better than they how to raise the kittens.
You are right. BYBs do not care at all what happens to the kittens after they leave them. Responsible breeders feel their kittens are always a part of them and care very much about them and the care they receive. The good news is that the BYBs very, very, very rarely have Ragdolls to provide. They have moggies they call Ragdolls.
Perhaps I have misread the issue here, but I understand it to be that there is no way to suggest a premature transition in food without at the same time criticizing what the breeder is feeding based on its healthiness and the unwillingness to feed it even for a matter of weeks after the kittens are picked up. Those are the only reasons an early transition make sense and I do not understand how that can be raised with the breeder without the likelihood of hard feelings - even if the attitude about the food is right. Since cats are obligate carnivores, not only is "meat" not bad for them, they require meat in the diet. Thus the question about what is meant by "meat" and what is the nature of the concern about it.
Hi again
I think you have missed the point... firstly I am sure you run a successful cattery however to state that you run your business at a loss is not good business practice? Whilst I am sure you do have losses from time to time I am equally sure you would not continue to be in business if you do not make equal profit.. however wether you sell at a loss/profit I understand that the kitten welfare is your priority
I dont believe asking about alternative food sources should be taken as a criticisim , there must be flexible options and attitudes on both sides... some people travel considerable distances to obtain their cats and may not be able to source the exact same product their breeder uses. Also the new owners financial capabilites may limit their options and or their location to good pet supply stores.
I can't speak for others but I did not buy from my breeder based on the assumption that she knows better than me how to raise my cat ... I purchased from her for the following reasons
She was a proven reliable breeder with good history,reputation, good blood lines etc
The correct paper work and registration was provided
A written contract and health guarantee was given
The neccessary vacinations and vet tests were done
She treated me with a level of respect and was approachable in her values , many breeders only use certain types of food/ and or litter some receive discounts for these items from the manufactuer however this does not make them the only source of food/litter suitable for a purebred cat.
I truly find it hard to understand that if you were approached about an alternative type of food or litter you would take it as a personal critisim and prehaps turn down a prospective owner who could and would provide a loving home . There are many people who are breeders that does not neccessarily make them better owners. Every person has beliefs about life things from what to feed their animals to what oil they use in their cars wether it's a ferrai or mini there are always options.
I suppose all this discussion does not answer squiglets original post .... prehaps ask more questions as to what type of meat she is feeding and why ,most breeders feed some form of kitten food for at least the first twelve months ( sometimes longer)as the larger breed cats such as ragdoll do require extra calcium etc for good bone density as opposed to raw cuts of meat if you have cause for concern take your question to your vet and seek his medical advise on what is approriate food for your kitten and base your choice then on hopefully unbaised information and hopefully he will offer you a choice of appropriate food sources.
Well to add my two cents as a happy mom to two cats, I will say that never would I have asked my breeders to change my kitten's diet while he was at her place.
With Cyrano I was too unsure as I had not properly searched the matter so I followed her advice blindly. With Diwan I didn't agree with the kibble only diet the breeder had put him on and I told her I was planning to add canned food and meat to his diet once he was at home (the kibble stayed the same). She was okay with that.
When Diwan had his diarrhea problems and none of the advice giving by either breeder worked, I started researching by myself. I now found a diet that works well on both cats and they are both in perfect shape.
Now I toy with the idea of getting a third kitten (still not sure though). I know that I will put her on the same diet as her brothers and I will tell her breeder so to start with. I will explain why I plan to do so and if the breeder has a problem with my choice of food (what I can understand), he or she is free to tell me so and refuse to sell me a kitten. But by no means would I want the food transition to start at the cattery. I totally agree with Jan on that point. It's our choice, so we have to make it.
I know that the breeder of my birman hasn't always been happy with my choice of a diet (she is a friend and we talked at length about it), but she understands why I did it and as Cyrano is doing very well and is happy, she doesn't have any reservations about the food. Now she even asks me what I think about the food she uses at her cattery.
As for Diwan's breeder I know she changed the food fed to her cats and uses now some of the brands I advised her too.