Feeding a Kitten

 Cats have their own unique nutrient requirement so it is important they are only fed cat food. For example they require a dietary source of Taurine; an amino acid which is often not present in dog food. Kittens don't stay small for long in the first 6 months of their life they grow rapidly, developing 75% of adult body weight. In order to keep up with all that growing your kitten will need high quality, energy dense, highly digestible balanced diet with small kibble size so it can be easily consumed. A good quality kitten food avalible on the petprescription website is Hill Science Plan Kitten.

Feed your kitten three to four meals a day gradually reducing to two as it matures. A kitten's energy demands are high and so small and frequent meals are necessary to allow the quantity of food needed to be consumed. They have relatively short gastro-intestinal transit times and smaller meals will give optimal nutrition digestion by slowing the transit time, if one large meal is fed the food is forced through quickly and so not as many of the nutrients can be absorbed. Their food should be left down for 5 – 10 minutes, if they do not eat it all then take it away and add it to the next meal ration. Free feeding your kitten, where the food is constantly available is not recommended because it can lead to obesity, although cats do like to graze on their food so two meals a day is a minimum.

Do not just be tempted just to feed your kitten the quantity of food recommended on the packaging as this is simply a guide. Feed according to your pet's condition taking into account its size and activity levels.