The optimal age at which the kitten can be separated from the cat’s mother is from 12 weeks. A kitten can start feeding on cat food. In the first days of the complete abolition of mother’s milk, the kitten may have digestive disorders within 2-3 days.
Sometimes kittens do not tolerate ordinary store milk. Here, it is better to cancel it and dispense with cottage cheese, sour-milk products. Feeding the kitten cat food needs to be several times a day. Little by little, remembering that “the kitten’s stomach has less thimble. Typically, kittens leave the bowl themselves or begin to “dig in” food when they are full. However, there are also kitten gluttons. You need to watch them carefully when feeding.
Contrary to popular stereotypes and fairy tales, cats cannot eat one fish. In nature, wild cats feed on small rodents and birds. They eat them together with the skin and contents of the stomach — grains, and herbs. Sometimes small birds come across, they hardly get fish. Here is a sample list of products that you should include in the cat’s diet and diversity them.
Meat products: beef/veal or ground beef, chicken, minced meat, chicken offal: heads, necks, hearts, liver, stomachs. Daily, little by little, or alternating daily. Stuffing should not contain salt and spices.
Egg: once or twice a week, raw or soft-boiled, as the cat will like it more.
Porridge: all cereals, except for Hercules, peas, and beans, crushed or whole, cooked in milk or, in case of milk intolerance, in water. You can give soaked bread with bran. Cats can have them together with meat products or on their own.
Vegetables: boiled or raw, mashed, everything that a cat likes. Give them together with meat instead of cereals.
Sour-milk products: cottage cheese, sour cream (low-fat), some cheese, kefir, yogurt, IFID products, etc.
Water: it must be boiled and fresh. Put the water in a place familiar to the cat.
Vitamins: as prophylaxis, it is necessary to give along with food.
Dry food: if it is not possible to cook a cat a variety of food, it can be transferred to dry food. You can’t feed a cat with feed and natural food at the same time, in high-quality feeds of leading manufacturers (namely, such should be given to a cat), the ratios of all substances are balanced, when combined with natural products you can get a lack of some substances and an excess of others, and, as a result, metabolic disturbance.
What is not recommended feeding to a cat: fish in any form, pork, oat-flakes, any food from our table — fried, boiled, with salt and spices, canned food, widely advertised low-quality feeds (Whiskas, Kitiket).
Why it is impossible to feed a cat to the above:
Fish — is not nutritious and unnatural for cats. In natural conditions, they have practically no opportunity to fish; In many cats and more often cats, constant or frequent feeding of fish, especially Pollock, sprats, sprats, capelin, upsets the metabolism and causes urolithiasis (ICD), the consequences of which can be very sad. If you want to treat a cat with fish, it is better to take a marine, noble species, do not cook and treat it only once a week.
Pork- very fatty meat, difficult to digest, gives a large load on the liver and with frequent feeding (sometimes even once if the liver is weak) can cause liver disease. Besides, in raw pork more often than in other types of meat, worm eggs can be found.
Hercules — can cause disturbances in carbohydrate metabolism, while overfeeding — fatty degeneration of the liver. Disturbances of carbohydrate metabolism lead to skin diseases, allergic phenomena.
Food from our table, canned food, sweets, etc.- Cats can have various strange addictions, but they don’t need to indulge, the principle “if it means, it should be” applies to animals exactly as much as applies to people. Excess salt, spices, preservatives, etc. can lead to diseases of the stomach, liver, kidneys, digestive disorders. Think about whether a minute cat joy from a piece of smoked sausage is worth a long health problem. Some cats with good health will digest everything with little harm to health, and for some, one piece of cervelat will cause an attack of renal colic. Is it worth experimenting with? Cheap and widely advertised feeds (Whiskas, Kiteket, etc.)
These feeds are popular in the West and many cats eat them calmly without harm to their health, but in our stores, they sell mostly feeds produced in Russia under a license and with quality. Bad feeds contain little useful and a lot of attractive cats are ready to eat them in any quantities, and good owners do not skimp — the good feed is cheap and affordable. As a result, a bouquet of diseases, ranging from ICD to severe gastritis, dermatitis.
Low-quality feeds are sold in small packages, because they are not designed for professionals who are more convenient to buy food in the nursery in large bags; their appearance works more for owners than for cats: cats do not care what the food looks like, and the buyer would rather like colorful fish, bones and stars than unattractive brown lumps. By the ratio of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and vitamin supplements, cheap feeds may not differ from professional expensive ones, but the raw materials used in them are much worse, for example, feathers as a source of protein. For the cat to eat such an inedible mixture, flavors are added to the food, attractive to the cat, but acting as a drug. It often happens that a cat, accustomed to eating such food, refuses even fresh meat.
Helpful and Complete Guidance on Cat Nutrition
Cat Nutrition.
Cat diet is unique and different from the dog (do not feed the cats with food for dogs or dog foods). Make sure you provide cat foods that contain several vitamins and nutrients.
Don’t be tempted by low prices, because cheap food doesn’t mean good. Get used to observing the content of the cat food, which is usually printed on the packaging. Here are some references for cat nutrition which is needed:
- Arachidonic acid (arachidonic acid).
- High protein, at least 25%. The higher protein in the ingredient is usually better.
- Low-fat, fat digestion efficiency in cats is very low.
- Low pH (high acid degree).
- Low magnesium. High magnesium can interfere with the urinary tract.
- Taurine.
- Vitamins and minerals (Vitamin A, B12, Niacin, Thiamin).
Cat Nutrition in Two Types of Cat Food
Dry food
- Dry food is usually good for a cat. Giving a dry food is good for dental health, it is more durable and it’s more nutritious because it contains many extra nutrients.
Wet food/Canned food
- Wet food / canned food is less well provided for long-term food stock. These foods are usually more ‘junk food’ for cats. It may cause poor dental health since it often causes plaque and tartar, and the nutrient content is less complete. Cats which are usually given wet food are rather difficult to be switched to another type of food-especially dry food.
Cat Nutrition in Food Need By Age & Condition
- < 1-Year-Old Kitten.
- Kittens can be fed at 3-4 weeks. Food provided is usually soaked in warm water to taste, crushed, and pulverized. For the first time, the kittens still need to be taught, fed with a dropper or apply a small portion of food to the mouth, then hold the plate of food to see if it will eat its own. Give special food for kittens because it usually contains a higher protein, and many nutrients needed for their growth.
- Up to the age of 2-3 months, the number or the proportion of water in their foods can be reduced gradually until the cat can eat dry food completely.
SEE MORE ABOUT KITTEN NUTRITION HERE
- > 1 Year Adult Cat
- Adult cats are weighing about 8-11 pounds and at least require about 300 calories for energy from food. Thus, you should provide adequate food and balanced nutrition. There is usually written on cat food packaging, complete or balanced nutrition. Try not to feed with the same brand continuously. Occasionally you need to change brands of cat food to train the cat’s digestion on various types of food. Make sure also about the pH and mineral content in the food to avoid urinary tract disorders.
- Pregnant & Breastfeeding Cat
- Pregnant and breast-feeding mother cats need food with high protein content. When pregnant, the cat is usually fed with kitten food because of higher protein content in the kitten food. Calcium supplements may be given to the mother cats which breastfeed their kittens.
Food Intake for Better Cat Nutrition
Remember that adult cats need 300 calories in their energy foods, so make sure about the calorie content written in food packaging, determine the food servings to meet the calorie needs for one day, then divide that amount following the frequency of meals (2 or 3 times a day).
As for better consideration, calculate also the weight of the cat. It is usually that cats eat about 2% of their body weight every day. So when the cat’s weight 10 pounds, the food takes about 2% x 10 pounds, which is about 100 grams per day.
