Mary Allen
Like puppies, kittens have special nutritional requirements for healthy growth. The need depends on race, age and temperament. Bullies need more energy than little sleepyheads. Even if it looks cute, kittens shouldn’t put on baby fat, the ribs should always be clearly felt through the fur and a waist should be visible. Correct kitten nutrition is of great importance to ensure that your kittens are adequately supplied with energy and nutrients during their rapid growth.
Kitten Nutrition: When Do I Have to Start Feeding Kittens?
As soon as the mother cat’s milk production slowly subsides (after about three to four weeks), you should slowly get the kitten used to kitten food.
From the third month of life, kittens only feed on kitten food. To get them used to solid food, you can start with small portions of kitten food.
If the feed is not accepted, you can add some rearing milk to increase acceptance. However, the proportion of rearing milk in the kitten’s food should be reduced quickly so that the kitten does not take in too much energy with the food.
Kitten Food From the 10th to 12th Week
The first few weeks represent the kitten’s phase of imprinting on their food. For this reason, they should get to know different forms of feeding, e.g. wet and dry food as well as self-cooked food, so that they do not get used to just one food.
If at some point a change in feed should be necessary for health reasons, this is then easier to carry out. Note that growing kittens have increased needs for vitamins and minerals. High-quality kitten food covers this perfectly.
Until the 4th Month
The feeding method should be adapted to the anatomy of the kitten during this period: the digestive tract of the kitten is not yet fully developed, but the hunger is great. Therefore, offer many smaller meals regularly throughout the day.
The feeding times should be maintained now. The cat’s natural eating behavior means that it can eat up to 20 small meals throughout the day – including at night. It is, therefore, an advantage if you provide some food shortly before going to bed so that the kitten can also eat a meal at night if necessary.
Kitten Food From the 4th to 6th Month
From the fourth month onwards, you can adapt the kitten diet to the typical eating behavior of cats: Cuddlers prefer to eat numerous (10-20) small meals throughout the day.
As crepuscular and nocturnal animals, they also eat at night. The trick is to make the food available to them as often as possible without overfeeding them. At least three main meals should be guaranteed, one of them late in the evening.
If you provide dry food in between, you should ensure that the kitten’s daily energy requirement is not exceeded. Because dry food is significantly richer in calories compared to wet food.
Diet From the 7th Month
From this age onwards, with mixed feeding, the wet food can be divided into two main meals. These should be done once in the morning and once in the evening. In order to meet the requirement for many small meals spread over the day, dry food can be offered as a snack. However, the total energy consumption by the kitten food per day must be kept in view.
How Important are Fluids in the Kitten’s Diet?
If the cat is given moist food, it will already be given liquid. Nevertheless, there should always be an unlimited supply of clean drinking water.
Milk, on the other hand, is usually still tolerated by kittens at the beginning, but later many cats react to the high lactose content with diarrhea. Special lactose-reduced cat milk can be offered as a dietary supplement.