Do kittens need special kitten wet food
Feeding Kittens 101: What to Feed, How Much, and How Often
What to Feed Kittens
Your kittens dietary requirements are going to be different from an adult cats dietary requirements. To help a kitten grow healthy and strong, their food typically requires:
Margie Scherk, DVM, DABVP of the Cats Only Veterinary Clinic in Ottawa, ON, Canada, described this in detail at the Central Veterinary Conference 2013 in Kansas City: Young cats have growth requirements, which include an increased proportion of animal-based protein and more calcium and phosphorus.1
Your new kitten will likely have tons of energy and engage in rowdy play, so their food needs to support their body as they burn calories exercising as well as expend energy for growth.
Feeding Kittens Wet Versus Dry Food
Wet and dry cat food are commonly available in kitten formulations, and there are pros and cons to feeding each. To decide which option best suits your kittens needs, talk with your veterinarian and get their recommendation. Here are some pros and cons of each:
Wet cat food is higher in moisture, so it can be beneficial in keeping kittens hydrated, flushing out the urinary tract, and helping kidneys stay healthy. However, wet food tends to stick to the teeth more, which can be associated with dental disease and painful cavity-type problems for cats.
Dry cat food is easier to feed in mutli-cat homes and can help scrape tartar from the teeth. However, some cats can overeat with dry food and gain excessive weight, which can be associated with arthritis, heart problems, blood pressure problems, respiratory problems, or diabetes mellitusjust to name a few.
How to Select a High-Quality Kitten Food
It may take some initial time and energy in determining which food is right for your kitten, but your efforts will be rewarded in a healthy, happy, beautiful kitten.
The best way to find the healthiest kitten food is to compare foods, choose a few possible options, and then talk with your veterinarian about which of those is best for your kitten. Consider the protein source in the food and pick a diet that does not contain a lot of filler ingredients.
How Much to Feed a Kitten
Kittens are growing rapidly at this young age and eat a lot of food compared to adult cats. We want to provide their bodies with everything necessary for growth, but we also want to develop healthy long-term eating habits.
Feeding guidelines are variable by kitten. However, most often, using the feeding directions on the bag or can of food is a good starting place, and then you can adjust as needed for your kitten. Your veterinarian can use metabolic formulas to calculate the number of calories required per day based on your kittens current weight.
We want kittens to come hungry for their meal, but we also dont want them to be feeling so hungry that they devour the entire meal in a few seconds. Often, young kittens may eat to cup of food at a time.
If your kitten is thin, we may need to increase the caloric requirement per day. If your kitten is gaining too much weight too quickly, we may need to cut back. Your veterinarian will use a tool called a body condition score to assess your kittens weight.
Healthy Kitten Growth Rate
A general rule of thumb in kittens is that they typically gain about 1 pound per month.
Often, a kittens weight is about 1 pound at 1 month (4 weeks), 2 pounds at 2 months (8 weeks), and so on until about 4-5 months.
Kittens do most of their growing (both height and weight) within the first year and then stabilize from there. Many of the growth plates of the bones in the kitten skeleton close by about one year old.
At this time, after much of the growth is finished, your vet will typically switch your kitten to an adult diet.
Feeding Methods for Kittens
There are two main ways to feed kittens. Each of these ways have pros and cons, so consider the details and talk with your veterinarian about free-feeding versus portioned meal feeding.
Free-Feeding Method
Free-feeding kittens is usually done with dry food, leaving a bowl out all the time so the food is readily available. This is convenient for pet parents, especially if they have busy schedules.
The benefit to this type of feeding is that your kitten can eat when they want and ideally self-regulate how much they need.
One disadvantage to this is that some kittens will overeat and gain excessive weight. Another disadvantage is that in a multiple-cat household, the older cats have access to and may be eating the kitten food.
This is not always healthy for the older cats needs, and more dominant cats may control the kittens access to the food bowl. In these cases, the kitten may not be getting enough to eat. It can be hard to track an individual cats eating habits when they share a free-feeding bowl.
One way to deal with this is by using a microchip-activated feeder that only opens when it scans your kittens microchip. Just make sure another cat is not guarding this feeder and keeping the kitten from eating.
Meal-Feeding Method
Meal-feeding kittens is the second option for feeding. This works well with wet food that cant be left out all day. Feeding specific portions at certain times is also helpful for monitoring exactly how much and what kind of food each cat is eating in a multiple-cat home.
Meal-feeding is more time-intensive for pet parents and tends to require a more routine schedule. You need to make sure you are able to feed your kitten often enough with this type of feeding. There are some cat food bowls that work on timers to automatically release a measured amount of dry food at specified times.
Kittens can also learn to use their instinctual hunting behavior to work for part of their daily food. This helps keep your kitten healthy mentally and physically.
There are many interactive bowls, balls that disperse dry food slowly, and other options available to keep your kitten occupied so his/her meal is not gone in a few seconds.
How Often to Feed Kittens
Younger kittens (6-16 weeks) need to be fed several meals per day, if you are not free-feeding.
As they are growing and burning calories, we want to keep their bodies supplied with energy. Feed meals every 6-8 hours.
Your veterinarian will figure out the total daily calories that your kitten needs, and you can divide that between the number of meals per day. Typically, by the time kittens get to 4-5 months, they can be transitioned to two meals per day, still feeding the total number of daily calories, but in less frequent, larger meals.
Reasons Your Kitten May Not Be Eating
If your new kitten is not eating well or has diarrhea, call your vet and schedule another checkup.
Sometimes intestinal parasites can cause gastrointestinal upset in kittens. It is common for kittens to come home already infected with parasites. They can get some parasites through the placenta before birth as well as in the milk from the mother cat.
Some of these parasites can also be transmitted to people, so good hygiene and preventive care are important.
Bottle Feeding/Orphaned Kittens
Sometimes a mama cat is no longer able to care for her kittens, and we need to help them. This is a big but rewarding task to take on.
These kittens are often days to a week old (they may still even have their eyes closed). They must be bottle fed, every few hours, initially, with kitten milk replacer formulas.
You also need to use a washcloth to gently wipe their genitals after eating to stimulate urination and defecation, as they are unable to do this themselves in the first few weeks.
These bottle-fed kittens are very loyal and loving, but they do require extra attention regarding socialization since the mother cat is unavailable to teach them acceptable play and biting behaviors.
A good reminder comes from Ed Carlson, CVT, VTS (Nutrition). Kittens that are abandoned by their mothers should be carefully examined for visible birth defects such as a cleft palate and medical attention provided by a veterinarian if necessary. Supplementation with a milk replacement formula or a surrogate mother will be necessary to raise abandoned or orphaned kittens. 2
To learn more about cat pregnancy and kitten care, check out PetMDs complete cat pregnancy and kitten guide.
References
References:
Margie Scherk, DVM, DABVP: Feeding Cats with Different Nutritional Needs: A Dilemma in the Multicat Household, Central Veterinary Conference 2013 - Kansas City.
Ed Carlson, CVT, VTS (Nutrition): Neonatal Nutrition: Feeding Puppies and Kittens from Birth to Weaning, 41st Annual OAVT Conference & Trade Show.
Featured Image: iStock.com/chendongshan
Do Kittens Really Need Kitten Food Feeding Tips
Being a loving cat mom, I try to provide my kitten with the best food with all the required nutrients. There are many options for kitten food, and it often leaves me thinking:Do Kittens Really Need Kitten Food?
Kittens do need kitten food. Kitten food satisfies the nutritional requirements that your kitten needs. Feeding kitten adult cat food may cause dietary problems and should be avoided.
So lets dive right in to know how long should kittens eat kitten food, can kittens eat adult feline food, and other such related frequently asked questions.
How Long Should Kittens Eat Kitten Food
Kittens reach their maturity when they are 12 months old. Before that age, your kitten should eat the kitten food only. After your kitten turns one year old, gradually switch your kittens food to adult cats food.
Large cats like the Maine Coon cats take more time to mature. They tend to mature from 18 to 24 months of age. They weigh 25 pounds as opposed to an average cat whose weight is 10 pounds. Therefore, they need to eat kitten food for a bit longer.
Can Kittens Eat Adult Cat Food
It is not advised for a kitten to eat adult pet cat food until it becomes mature. It is not recommended to feed any food when it is a newborn kitten.
A newborn kitten needs to have its mothers milk until its dietary needs change. The newborn kittens are ready to eat kitten food after one month of age.
If you have adopted a newborn kitten, make sure that you get kitten milk formula for your pet. Adult pet cat food is not an option for your little kitten.
The nutrients required by a small kitten are very different from the nutritional requirements of a fully grown adult cat. Kittens require more protein to build their energy.
Food designed for adult cats does not have the appropriate amount of proteins, so it is not helpful to feed your kitten adult food.
When there are various kitten formulas available in the market, there is no need to buy adult pet cat food for your little kitten. It would help if you got good quality food to support your cats rapid growth.
When Can Kittens Eat Adult Food
Kittens can eat adult food when their dietary needs change to enhance their growth after one year. After one year, a kitten is old enough to eat balanced adult food. Adult feline food is tailor-made to suit the energy requirements of an adult cat who likes to play outdoors.
You need to transition your kitten from kitten food to adult food gradually. You need to provide your kitten at least a week to adjust to the new food. This is to avoid any digestive upset to your cats stomach.
On the very first day of transition, replace 1/6th of the kitten food with adult food. Increase the quantity of adult food slowly over seven days until the kitten is ready to eat an entire bowl of adult food. You can try giving other brands cat food if your kitten does not like what you are giving it now.
Should Kittens Eat Wet Or Dry Food
Even though kittens are not advised to eat adult pet food until they are a year old, they can eat dry or wet kibble. It is preferable to give wet food to help your kitten swallow it easily.
When the kitten is 3 to 4 weeks old, it can eat wet kibble. If you want to serve your kitten dry kibble, then make sure that you moisten it before you place it in your pets bowl. Completely dry kibble can be challenging for a kitten to swallow.
However, if you have a newborn kitten, it is advisable to feed your pet kitten milk formula if its mothers milk is not available to it.
Have a look at the advantages of feeding dry food and wet food to your pet kitten.
Dry Food
Dry food items tend to have a longer shelf life as compared to wet food that goes bad shortly after opening it
Dry food-based diets aid in keeping your kittens mouth healthy since it will have to chew the dry food more, which will remove any plaque from its teeth
Dry kibble pieces are easy for kittens to eat and gulp down
Wet Food
The smell of wet food is stronger, and kittens find that appealing
Wet food is softer and easy to chew than dry food
Even though dry food has a longer shelf life, wet food comes in small sachets that are one-time use so that your kitten gets fresh food every time
Consuming wet food will decrease the water intake of your cat, so make sure that you keep offering water to your pet kitten frequently
What Do You Do If Your Kitten Wont Eat Kitten Food
Cats are curious creatures who are open to trying different food items. It might like the food you gave it one day and refuse to eat it the next day. If your kitten wont eat kitten food, it means that theres something wrong with your kittens feeding behavior.
It might be that your kitten does not like the kitten food because you changed it to a new brand. Cats dont respond well to change. You can try some of these tricks to make your cat eat its food.
Change Their Bowls Location
Try to change the location of your cats bowl. Your cat might be scared of something in the original location, or it just does not like that corner anymore. You might have to try placing the bowl in different places until your cat is ready to eat again. Your cat needs to enjoy eating its meal.
You can try placing the bowl in a corner that has a view of your entire house or that overlooks a window so that your cat has some entertainment while eating. If your cat enjoys its meals, it will happily eat anything you put in front of your cat.
Get A Different Type Of Bowl
There are a lot of different types of bowls available in the market. Your cat may find it tiresome to eat out of a deep bowl. You can try getting your cat a large bowl with a shallow depth, making it easy for your kitten to eat in.
You should get a stainless steel bowl if possible because it is easy to clean and lasts longer. Avoid buying plastic bowls as they give off a smell and can break easily.
Engage Their Natural Hunting Instinct
Dont use a bowl to feed your cat. You can try hiding the kibble around your house and let your kitten hunt for it. Cats are natural hunters who like to earn their meal by hunting it.
You can also make food puzzles for your cat, which will solve the problem of your kitten not eating the kitten food and keep it from becoming lazy.
Things To Consider
Below are some considerations when it comes to feeding your cat kitten food.
Should You Cook For Your Kitten Instead Of Buying Kitten Food
You can cook for your kitten, but it is better to buy kitten food because it has all the nutrients that your kitty needs. Additionally, cooking food for your cat takes more time, and you cant use the ingredients you use to cook your food.
However, if you wish to cook for your kitten, talk to your vet to ensure that you are doing it right.
Why Do Kittens Like Their Food One Day and Then Wont Eat It the Next
Cats in the wild eat 10 to 20 meals in a day and like to try new foods. They hunt small creatures who dont fulfill their hunger, and they need to hunt often. If your kitten is picky about what to eat, its natural feeding behavior is not being satisfied.
You can try giving your kitten different types of kibble and then find the one that your kitten is happy to eat more often.
What Happens When Kittens Dont Eat Kitten Food
When kittens dont eat kitten food, they dont meet their nutritional requirements, which may result in malnourishment of your kitten with stunted growth. A kitten requires 30-35% protein daily, which is not present in adult food.
The proper amount of nutrition forms the basis of your kittens health and growth into a fully nourished cat. You must give the right kitten food to your pet for its good health.
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