What happens if a kitten eats too much wet food
What Happens if Kitten Eats Cat Food and How to Deal It?
Kittens are curious creatures. They love to explore and play, but sometimes this leads them into trouble. For example, what happens if a kitten eats cat food?
The answer is that it can be hazardous for the little one!
Kittens should never eat cat food, and how to help a kitten who has eaten too much of their feline friends food.
If your kitten eats cat food, it may cause severe health complications. In addition, cats and kittens have different nutritional needs than humans. Therefore, its essential to take care of your pets by feeding them the correct type of food. Lets find out what happens if kitten eats cat food?
If youre unsure about what types of foods are appropriate for kittens, please speak with a veterinarian for more information.
You can use a cat food dispenser with an automatic tag so the right pet gets its food, not the wrong counterpart.
Why Should Kittens Not Eat Cat Food?
Kittens who eat cat food may become seriously ill. This is because cats are carnivores, which means their bodies are not equipped to digest plant matter well. The digestive system of kittens is also still developing.
Thats why it is vital to keep your pets away from one anothers food! For example, if your kitten overeats cat food, it may cause severe health complications.
Kittens are small creatures with weak stomachs, which means that they cant digest large amounts of food at once. So when too much cat food enters your kittens body, the little ones stomach can become overwhelmed by the sudden surge of nutrients.
This leaves the kitty feeling bloated and uncomfortable and may even cause vomiting and diarrhea. In some cases, kittens who eat cat food can develop serious health problems like liver disease, pancreatitis, and urinary tract infections.
Different Dietary Requirements of Kittens and Cats
Cats and kittens have different dietary requirements than humans. For example, kittens need a high in protein and fat and low in carbohydrates. Kitten food is designed to meet these needs.
Human food is not as nutrient-rich as cat food, and it can be harmful to kittens. For example, foods like bread, pasta, and rice are not suitable for kittens, as they are high in carbohydrates and can cause digestion problems.
Know The Difference Between Kitten And Cat Food?
There are many different types of cat food. For example, adult cats need specific cat food, while kittens need an entirely different blend.
Check the ingredients list on any kitten food you purchase. You should see high protein levels and low levels of carbohydrates in the kitten food, with no grains or fillers.
Adult cat food tends to be higher in carbohydrates and grains and may lead to some health problems for kittens.
If you want your kitten to grow up healthy and strong, its essential to keep them away from adult cat food and feed them kitten food instead.
How to Help a Kitten Who Has Eaten Too Much Cat Food?
If your kitten has eaten cat food, it is essential to take action immediately. First, contact a veterinarian for advice, and follow their instructions.
The veterinarian may ask you to bring the kitten in for a check-up, so they can assess the damage that has been done. Depending on the severity of the kittens condition, the vet may prescribe medication or recommend dietary changes.
It may be necessary to hospitalize the kitten for treatment in some cases.
Preventing Kittens from Eating Cat Food
The best way to deal with this problem is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Keep your kitten away from cat food, and make sure that all of your pets food is stored in a safe place where the little one cant reach it.
If you have an adult cat, make sure that the kitten cant get into the cat food bin.
Its also a good idea to keep your kitten away from other animals, as they may try to steal the kittens food.
By taking these precautions, you can help ensure that your kitten stays healthy and doesnt end up eating cat food.
You might also like to read about what to do whenleaving the cat alone! Especially how much time the four-paws friend can survive when left with food and water. We also recently published a guide onhow to get a cat to eat wet food? It serves especially to those who are addicted to kibble.
Veterinary Consultation Is a Must
If you are ever in doubt about what is safe for your kitten to eat, dont hesitate to contact a veterinarian for advice. They will help you ensure that your kitten is getting the correct type of food and the appropriate amount of nutrients.
The kittens who eat cat food may become seriously ill and even die in some cases. So please take good care of your beautiful kitty to avoid such consequences!
My Cat's Vet Says I Could Be Giving Too Much Protein To My Cats
Yes, that's right: basically, you want to feed a cat a high-protein diet, though cats handle fat well, so it's fine to feed them a fair bit of fat. (Dr. Pierson, author of catinfo.org, says "an optimal weight loss diet should have" over 40% of calories from protein, under 50% from fat, and under 10% in carbohydrates. And lots of water.) It's the carbohydrates you want to keep especially low, particularly if a cat has a tendency to gain wait. And yes, wet food alone is a great diet, particularly if it's low in carbohydrates and doesn't have cereals. Just be sure that the food you're feeding is "complete and balanced" with all the nutrients Maggie needs. Some foods are sold as "supplemental feeding only" and intended only as occasional snacks. I looked at a couple of Criadores listings on Tiendanimal (only in English, unfortunately I don't read Spanish well enough to be sure of anything!) and they said they're complete, though the lists of added nutrients were very short and didn't include taurine, which is essential for cats. "Minerals" are listed but it's hard to say what's in there. (Those have to be listed individually on U.S. labels. Labels can be very difficult to compare from country to country so I may be concerned over nothing!) Beyond that, there's probably far more information in Spanish! (And I also may well have been looking at the wrong food since I don't know exactly what you're feeding.) In any case, if you have any doubts about the food being balanced/complete, this is something I would look into very carefully, perhaps even contacting the company, since unbalanced/incomplete food can be very dangerous for cats. (Maybe this was part of your vet's concern about wet food and she just didn't express it well?) I should add that there are a few canned foods that don't have added taurine. We feed one to our cats but it has lamb heart, which is naturally rich in taurine so taurine doesn't need to be added as an individual ingredient. And thank you for the pictures of Maggie, she's a very sweet cat!
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
