Diets to give your kitten the best start in life

The important kitten years

Good nutrition is always important for health and well-being but never more so than during the kitten period.

Kittens are highly active and grow fast, creating a high demand for proteins and calories.   However they also have small stomachs so foods for kittens need to be concentrated, with small amounts delivering a lot of nutrition. This is why special kitten foods should be given.

When should I feed kitten food?

Kitten foods should be fed from weaning up to neutering or, if not neutered, then up 8 to 12 months, with bigger cats reaching maturity later.

Why does neutering make a difference?

Neutering significantly reduces the energy needs for cats so, once neutered, a kitten food will be giving them more calories than they need, risking weight gain. 

Tips for feeding kittens

• Kittens have small stomachs so can’t really eat much at any one sitting.  At first feed 4 or even 5  meals a day – by 6 months it’s OK to go to 2 meals a day
• You should leave wet food in the bowl for no more than 20-30 minutes then throw away any uneaten food.  Opened trays can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days.  However if you have kept food in the fridge its best to serve it at room temperature, kittens much prefer the taste that way.
• Shallow bowls are best, so their whiskers don’t brush against the bowl – those whiskers are highly sensitive touch receptors.
• Always give you cat access to fresh, clean water from a clean bowl and try and keep it away from the food bowl so bits of food don’t fall into the water.

Our kitten food is different and Omega-3 from fish is the reason

Our kitten food (both the dry food and the wet food pâté) have high levels of Omega-3 from fish. Omega-3- is a superb nutrient and is well known to have a beneficial effect on the development of:

The brain
Vision
Joints
The skin and coat