# When to introduce dry food to kitten?



## Glacial (Aug 20, 2006)

Hello. I am wondering when and how can I introduce Static to dry food? Currently he is 12 weeks old and has been on canned food since we adopted him at 7 weeks of age. Thank you for the advice. 

--Sara


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## gsc4 (Mar 27, 2005)

You can introduce him to dry kitten food now. Just introduce him to it very solwly, over a few weeks. 

Start by soaking a small amount of drt kitten food in warm water and putting it down next to his normal wet food. Do this until he begins to eat some of the new food. THen gradually add less water and eventually just place the dry food next to his wet food. The idea is to let him get used to the new taste first before he has to try the new texture. 

He is old enough to handle the dry food. When I had the kittens they did not like canned food at all and I had to give them dry from the time they were weaned. My vet suggested the soak dry food in water trick to start. By 8 weeks old they were crunching away fine. Kitten formulated food is softer then adult formulas. 

Then you can just leave some dry food out all the time in between wet food feedings. I would advise keeping him on a mixture of both canned and dry food for most of his life. This way he will not become a finicky eater. Some vets favor all canned diet and some say either is OK. Also there are some medical conditions that could develop later in life that require an all canned diet. You want Static to be used to either if the need arises. So I figure a little of both is good.


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