Cat Food for Kittens and Sensitive Stomachs: Wet vs Dry, Royal Canin and What Goes Home With Our Kittens

Search “cat food brands” and you’ll get hundreds of answers, all of them sure of themselves. What actually matters is more boring and more useful: a complete diet, the right life stage, a texture your cat will eat consistently, and changes made slowly. A Sphynx adds one more factor. With no coat, a hairless cat burns extra energy keeping warm and typically eats noticeably more than a coated cat of the same size. A badly chosen food shows up quickly, in the stool and on bare skin, where you can see a change in condition early.

What our kittens eat, and why it goes home with them

Wrinklebottom kittens are raised on Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition Kitten dry food. Its wet partner is Royal Canin Kitten Thin Slices in Gravy (24 × 3 oz). It’s what they’re weaned onto, what they eat in the house, and what goes home with them. Approved by Diamond.

The reason we send the food home is simple: moving house is stressful, and a sudden food change on top of it is the most common cause of an upset kitten stomach. Keep the kitten on the food it already knows for at least the first couple of weeks. If you want to change later, do it gradually (see below).

Royal Canin options worth knowing about

Royal Canin makes formulas by life stage, breed and specific sensitivity. These are the ones most relevant to our families. Check the label and your vet’s advice for your own cat.

For kittens

• Kitten (dry) and Kitten Thin Slices in Gravy / Kitten Loaf in Sauce (wet, 3 oz × 24). Royal Canin’s growth formulas for kittens up to 12 months, designed to be fed together as a dry-plus-wet routine.
• Mother & Babycat. For pregnant or nursing queens and very young kittens at weaning (Royal Canin specifies kittens 1–4 months). This is mainly a breeder’s food. Most kittens are past this stage by the time they go home.

For adults

• Royal Canin Sphynx Adult (Feline Breed Nutrition). Royal Canin also makes a breed formula for Sphynx cats over 12 months. Availability varies by region, so check with your vet or retailer whether it’s sold near you and suits your cat.

For sensitive stomachs

• Digestive Care (dry, plus wet Thin Slices in Gravy, Loaf in Sauce and Chunks in Gravy). Royal Canin’s adult formulas to help support healthy digestion, made with highly digestible proteins, prebiotics and fiber, designed to be fed as a dry-and-wet program.
• Sensitive Digestion (dry). Another adult formula aimed at cats with digestive sensitivity.
• Veterinary diets (e.g. Gastrointestinal, Hydrolyzed Protein). Prescription-only foods for diagnosed problems. Your vet decides whether your cat needs one, not a website.

Wet vs dry cat food: pros and cons

	Wet food	Dry food
Hydration	High moisture; supports water intake and urinary health	Low moisture; needs good access to water
Palatability	Usually very appealing, useful for fussy or unwell cats	Varies; many cats like the crunch
Calories	Lower energy density, so it’s easier to control portions	Energy-dense; easy to overfeed
Convenience	Spoils once opened; fridge it and use within the day	Easy to store, measure and leave out briefly
Cost	Higher per calorie	Lower per calorie
Dental	No crunch benefit	Some formulas are designed with dental support in mind; brushing still matters

Why we mix wet and dry

Cats have a weak thirst drive and evolved to get most of their water from prey, so wet food earns its place in the routine. Many households, including ours, use both: wet meals with dry available. Royal Canin designs most of the ranges above to be fed this way too.

How to mix: work out your cat’s total daily calories, then split them between wet and dry. Don’t feed a full portion of each. With a Sphynx, split the day’s food across three or four smaller meals rather than one large one. Judge the amount by body condition, not by the packet. You should be able to feel the ribs easily under a thin layer, with a visible waist from above. More detail is in What to feed a Sphynx cat.

How to change cat food without upsetting the stomach

Go slowly, over about 7–10 days. Go slower for a sensitive cat:

1. Days 1–3: about 25% new food, 75% old.
2. Days 4–6: half and half.
3. Days 7–9: about 75% new.
4. Day 10 onwards: all new food.

If the stool softens, go back a step for a few days. Avoid cow’s milk (most adult cats can’t digest it), table scraps and constant brand-hopping. Constant food changes are one of the most common causes of a “sensitive stomach”.

Signs your cat may have a sensitive stomach

• Soft stools, diarrhea or a stool that’s often inconsistent
• Vomiting food (not just the occasional hairball, which is rarer in a hairless cat anyway)
• Excess gas or a gurgling stomach
• A picky or fluctuating appetite
• Weight loss or poor condition despite eating
• Skin flare-ups alongside digestive signs. A food allergy is possible, though less common than people think.

Cat food for allergies

A true food allergy in cats is usually diagnosed with a strict elimination diet under your vet’s supervision, using a prescription hydrolyzed-protein or novel-protein food for several weeks, with nothing else to eat. Over-the-counter “limited ingredient” foods aren’t the same thing. Treats and flavored medicines can undo the trial. If you suspect an allergy, start with your vet.

When to see a vet

Food changes are for mild, ongoing fussiness, not for illness. Contact your vet promptly if:

• your cat stops eating for more than a day (sooner for a kitten)
• vomiting is repeated, or comes with lethargy
• there’s blood in the vomit or stool, or black, tarry stool
• diarrhea lasts more than a day or two. In kittens, see a vet the same day, because small bodies dehydrate fast
• your cat is losing weight despite eating well
• your cat strains in the litter box or passes little urine. In males especially, this can be an emergency

A hairless cat’s condition is visible earlier than a coated cat’s, so act on what you can see.

This article is general information, not veterinary advice. Every cat is different. Speak to your veterinarian before changing the diet of a cat with health problems, and before starting any supplement or prescription food.

Royal Canin and Wrinklebottom kittens

We’re a Royal Canin breeder partner. That lets us send each new family a digital Royal Canin recommendation through Royal Canin’s Recommendation Portal before going-home day, so your kitten stays on the food it was raised on without a gap.

What a Royal Canin recommendation can include for you

Royal Canin’s new-owner benefits vary by country and change from time to time, so treat this as a general guide rather than a promise. Royal Canin confirms the details of your own offer when the recommendation reaches you. Depending on the current program, new-owner benefits may include some of the following (they vary by region and program):

• A welcome box or starter kit before or around collection. Where offered, it may include a food sample and a feeding guide, and sometimes small extras such as a blanket, toy, bowl or tote.
• A free bag of food or a voucher, and in some programs further discounts on later orders.
• Support from Royal Canin, which may be by phone or online, for feeding questions as your kitten grows.
• Continuity of the exact diet through the move, which is the single best thing you can do for a kitten’s stomach in its first weeks.
• Confidence and support. You know what to buy, how much to feed, and who to ask, from both us and Royal Canin.

How it works:

1. You reserve a kitten after a conversation and a signed contract.
2. You fill in the Royal Canin recommendation form below (it takes about two minutes).
3. We enter your details in Royal Canin’s Recommendation Portal, and Royal Canin emails you the recommendation.
4. You place your first Royal Canin order. Under Royal Canin’s program rules, the recommendation and your first purchase need to be completed on or before the take-home date we enter, so don’t leave it until the kitten is home.
5. Your kitten arrives home with the food it knows, plus our written care handover.

Royal Canin recommendation form (for Wrinklebottom families)

Use this once you’ve reserved a kitten. We submit the recommendation to Royal Canin for you. You don’t need an account.

I agree that The Wrinklebottoms may share my name, email, phone number, mailing address and my kitten’s details with Royal Canin so it can send my feeding recommendation and any new-owner offer, and so Royal Canin can contact me about it. Royal Canin handles my information under its own privacy policy. Marketing from Royal Canin is optional and I can unsubscribe at any time. See The Wrinklebottoms’ Privacy Policy.

Bringing a Sphynx kitten home soon? See available kittens and join First Look, and ask about your Royal Canin recommendation when you reserve. Already reserved? Fill in the Royal Canin form above. Already have a Wrinklebottom? Message us and we’ll help with feeding questions.

Also in our bowls

Amazon links are affiliate links; a purchase can earn us a small commission at no extra cost to you. Everything we use for feeding is on Our Favourite Things.

Meet the cats behind the advice

Everything here comes out of running a household of Sphynx and Donskoy cats — meet the queens, studs and kittens, or send us an enquiry if you have a question we have not answered.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best cat food for a sensitive stomach?

Look for a complete, highly digestible food fed on a steady routine. Royal Canin Digestive Care and Sensitive Digestion are formulated for adult cats with digestive sensitivity. Introduce any new food slowly over 7 to 10 days, and see your vet if vomiting or diarrhea continues, because a food change cannot fix an underlying illness.

Is wet or dry food better for cats?

Both can be complete and balanced. Wet food adds moisture and supports hydration, which matters because cats have a weak thirst drive. Dry food is convenient and energy-dense. Many households, including ours, feed both, splitting the daily calories between wet meals and dry food rather than adding full portions of each.

Can I mix wet and dry cat food?

Yes. Mixed feeding is common and Royal Canin designs many of its ranges to be fed this way. Work out the total daily amount, divide it between wet and dry, and split it across several meals. Judge portions by your cat's body condition rather than by the bowl.

What food do Wrinklebottom kittens eat?

Our kittens are raised on Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition Kitten dry food, and it goes home with them. We recommend keeping a new kitten on the food it already knows for at least the first couple of weeks, then changing gradually if you want to switch.

How do I know if my cat has a food allergy?

Food allergies in cats can show up as itchy skin, ear problems, vomiting or diarrhea, but these signs have many other causes. A vet usually confirms a food allergy with a strict elimination diet using a prescription hydrolyzed or novel-protein food for several weeks. Over-the-counter foods are not a substitute for that trial.

When should I take my cat to the vet for stomach problems?

See a vet promptly if your cat stops eating for more than a day, vomits repeatedly, has blood in its vomit or stool, has diarrhea lasting more than a day or two, or is losing weight. Kittens with diarrhea should be seen the same day because they dehydrate quickly.

How does the Royal Canin recommendation work for Wrinklebottom kittens?

As a Royal Canin breeder partner, we send new families a digital Royal Canin recommendation before going-home day. Once you have reserved a kitten, fill in the recommendation form on this page and we submit it to Royal Canin for you. The recommendation and your first purchase need to be completed on or before your kitten's take-home date.