How To Feed Kittens: 7 Main Rules Many People Tend To Forget
So, there is a tiny lump of happiness in your house with huge eyes and stomach no more than a thimble. Probably a fluffy miracle has already made you realize that now it is the principal member of the family, continually meowing and asking to eat. But how to feed kittens at home and choose a balanced diet?
Table Of Contents
· The importance of good nutrition
· Basic feeding rules
· How often should I feed a kitten?
· What to feed?
· How to feed kittens
· How much to feed?
· Bottle Kitten Feeding
· Features of rationing by month
· 2–4 months
· 4–6 months
· 6–10 months
· Dry food or natural food: what is best for your pet?
The importance of good nutrition
If you have a small pet, you need to know how to feed your kitten correctly and efficiently to grow a healthy and happy animal.
Lack of balanced nutrition affects the development and growth of crumbs, leading to physical deficiencies, internal problems, and even death.
If the food is illiterate, it may lead to an allergic reaction of the young body, affecting the animal’s growth.
In turn, we should not forget about the mode of feeding your baby, which is different from adult cats’ diet.
Did you know? Not all cats can boast of the ability to hunt rodents. But those who eat mice regularly replenish their bodies with a large number of trace elements, such as sulfur, which contributes to the health and beauty of little hunters’ hair.
Basic feeding rules
Gradually start feeding your baby is recommended 3–4 weeks after birth. The first thing is to figure out how often, how much, and how to feed the kittens.
How often should I feed a kitten?
At the moment, the little cat reaches four weeks. In addition to the mother’s milk, he is given additional feeding from 4 to 7 times a day. But if the kitten is not breastfed, then it is necessary to feed him according to the schedule:
- At the age of up to 2 weeks — 10 meals per day, together with night feeding.
- in 1 month — 8 meals per day, together with night feeding
- 1–2 months — 7 meals a day (night feeding is excluded)
- 2–3 months — meals 6 times a day
- 4–5 months — feeding 5 times a day
- 5–9 months — 4 times/day
- 9–12 months — up to 3 times a day
- kittens from 1 year old are fed twice a day (after about 12 hours)
What to feed?
Before you feed your kitten at 1–2 months, which is switched to home feeding or later, when he has already entirely changed to food, you must make sure that food is at room temperature (too hot or, conversely, cold food should not be given to them).
The consistency of cat food should be mushy without hard pieces.
How to feed kittens
The diet may include:
- non-fat meat — raw, boiled, scalded or frozen should be between 60 and 80% of the daily diet
- liver — must be present in the menu once every 2 weeks
- porridge — as an additive to meat, mixed in a ratio of 1:2
- egg yolk — in raw form, it is recommended to give kitten once in 7 days. Quail eggs are preferable in terms of the composition of trace elements. Also, they can be given as a whole, without separating them from the protein.
- Non-fat sour milk products — sour cream, kefir, yogurt or cottage cheese
- fresh or boiled vegetables
- vaseline oil
- beer yeast
Did you know? Cats can’t stand the smell of citrus fruits and are indifferent to the taste of sweets. Also, do not feed kittens food for dogs, where the protein level is much higher.
How much to feed?
In different periods a kitten should receive a food volume corresponding to its weight:
- 1 week of life — 30 ml/100 g animal weight
- 2 weeks of life — 38 ml/100 g weight
- 3 weeks — 48 ml/100 g weight
- from 4 weeks — 48–53 ml/100 g weight
Thus, the daily norm of young cats should be:
- 1.5 months of life -120 g food per day
- 2 months — up to 180 g of food per day
- 3–6 months, active growth period — 180–240 g (amount of meat product should be at least 40 g)
- 6–9 months — 180 g of food per day
- 10–12 months — 150–200 g food
Bottle Kitten Feeding
It happens that kittens are left without breast milk too early. In such cases, besides providing a warm cozy incubator place, you need to know how to feed a kitten up to 1 month which was left without a mother.
The first and most important thing is to replace the mother’s milk:
- it would be ideal for the baby to find a nursing cat.
- cat milk substitute, purchased at any pet store
- Diluted baby dry mixes
- goat milk
Important: Vets categorically do not recommend giving kittens whole cow’s milk, which is not absorbed by the young body and can lead to death.
Necessary feeding requirements:
- the mixture must be heated to a temperature of 36°C (96°F)
- feeding is more convenient with a pipette or syringe. A little later, when the pet is a little older, you can use a bottle with a silicone nipple for newborns.
- the baby should be in a natural position with his tummy down, with his hind legs pressed under him
- the head should not be thrown back during the feeding process. To do this, the container with the mixture should be kept at an angle
- there is no need to apply pressure when feeding on the food bottle — this may affect the sucking reflex, and fluid may enter the respiratory tract.
- Improving intestinal motor will be facilitated by gentle stroking the tummy after feeding
- it is possible to store food no more than 24 hours in the fridge
- feed the kitten for at least five minutes, until she shows signs of saturation, such as dull sucking, calm, and falling asleep
- if the fluffer refuses to eat the dose necessary for his age, you do not need to force him. You can just increase the amount of feeding
Features of rationing by month
As the little cat grows, he needs to gradually introduce a lumpy solid food into his diet, which they begin to show interest in after a month.
2–4 months
For two months, when they have a teething, it will be useful to give meat and vegetables. During bone tissue and gastrointestinal tract formation, kittens should be given food rich in vitamins and proteins during the rapid growth and formation.
All new foods must gradually be introduced into the kitten’s diet, first in small portions, bringing it to one week’s required level. It is essential to monitor the reaction of the body of the kitten and his behavior.
4–6 months
During this period, your little friend begins to gain weight actively, so you need to add products to the diet to increase muscle mass.
The kitten’s jaw can manage meat sliced into slices, formed by this age.
As for fermented milk products rich in lacto- and bifidobacteria, as well as calcium, you can include them in the yogurt menu.
6–10 months
The daily amount of feeding during this period is markedly reduced. Growth activity slightly stops, but the pet clearly formed taste preferences.
The main thing is not to spoil your pet, who persistently asks for sausage from the table. It is better to treat him with sea fish of non-fat varieties from time to time.
Dry food or natural food: what is best for your pet?
Natural foods contain many vitamins and micronutrients that are beneficial for cats, but such feeding involves particular hassle, time, financial costs, accurate menu balance, and the need for constant fresh food.
Unsafe food, which has been in the bowl for over half an hour, begins to spoil and can lead to intestinal disorders.
In allergic reactions, excluding the dangerous product from the baby’s diet is necessary. Dry foods are available on the market in huge quantities and solve many cat breeders’ problems regarding their feeding.
However, it would help if you always considered the fact that high-quality, perfectly balanced food will not cost cheap.
Inexpensive “lunches” usually contain a considerable amount of salts, which are harmful to animals' health.
Choosing dry food, be sure to pay attention to their classification. Premium-class food can be purchased only in pet stores. They are packed in small packages and large ones, 10 or 15 kg each.
It is essential to determine the difference between premium and economy class feeds due to the price difference. Cheap meals usually include poor-quality, poorly digestible protein, bones, feathers, and addictive attractions.
Professional dry elite feeds include: Nutro Choice, Royal Canin, Yams, Purina Pro Plan, Innova, Chicken Soup, Hill’s
Kittens who eat dry food must be provided with a sufficient amount of clean and fresh water.
The introduction of new bait should be gradual. It is necessary to consider the fact that the animal’s food may not like it.
Given that pets are not as active as street pets, they are often subject to castration and sterilization, such pets must be supplemented with vitamins and nutrients.
And how the owners will solve this issue, with the help of natural products or dry food, is each breeder’s choice.
