When can a kitten be given dry food?
The appearance of a new friend in the family is always happiness. A small bundle brings warmth and comfort to the house, and also an important question: what to feed the kitten? You need to monitor your baby’s nutrition from the first days of life. And the most crucial moment is the transition of the kitten from wet food to dry food.
When can a kitten be given dry food?
After birth, the mother takes care of the kitten's nutrition. Colostrum, and subsequently mother's milk, is a natural and healthy food for kittens up to 2 - 2.5 months. Cat's milk contains twice as much fat as cow's milk, and it contains about three times more protein. With this diet, the kitten will receive everything it needs for healthy growth and development.
If for some reason the cat does not have the opportunity to feed the litter, or there is not enough milk, there are worthy analogues in pet stores. The sucking reflex in a kitten appears in the womb, so any responsible owner can feed the kitten on their own. Veterinarians do not recommend preparing a nutritional formula for a kitten on your own, because the kitten’s digestive system is sensitive, and the immune system is just beginning to develop. ROYAL CANIN Babycat Milk milk replacer is suitable for kittens from their first birthday to 2 months. It comes with a feeding bottle and instructions. With this set you can feed your kitten for up to 1-2 months before switching to dry food.
You can completely switch to dry food 2 months after the kitten is born. However, the transition requires careful preparation. The first, still baby incisors, appear in kittens at 2-3 weeks of life. At 3-4 weeks, kittens develop fangs. From now on, you can add dry food to your little pet’s diet. At this time, it only serves as an addition to the main diet so that the kittens get used to solid food. There is no need to soak the food in water or milk; even a kitten’s baby teeth will handle this food just fine. The only important point is the size of the croquettes. Dry food should be specifically for kittens. You should not give your kitten food for adult cats, because large granules can simply choke on your kitten. Not to mention, the nutritional needs of kittens and adult cats are different.
If kittens don't show interest in dry food, you may want to wait a little longer. The decisive signal will be the moment when the kittens begin to chew on surrounding objects. This is a natural reflex that helps kittens explore the world. From this period, you can definitely begin the transition to a new, dry food for the kitten.
Choosing suitable dry food for a kitten
In every pet store you can find food lines for adult cats and lines for kittens. The lines are divided among themselves for good reasons: granule size and energy value.
Despite its modest size, a kitten needs more energy than an adult cat. Up to a year, the kitten’s skeleton is formed, muscle mass grows, teeth are renewed and immunity is established. Children are generally more active and mobile. All this requires energy, which the little fidget gets from food. On average, a kitten needs 25% more calories than an adult cat. If you feed your kitten adult cat food, it may lack energy. As a result, problems with the formation of the skeleton, teeth, immunity or muscle mass. Therefore, in the first months of life, the kitten must eat special food.
However, there are exceptions - super-premium and holistic food. Many of these diets can be included in the diet starting at 2-3 months. For example, GO food can be given to a kitten from 2 months of age. The lower calorie content in this case is solved by increasing the portion for the kitten, according to feeding standards. But why can’t you do this with economy and premium food? It's all about the sources of calories. In premium foods, meat takes up up to 20% of the composition. The rest of the feed can be vegetables and grains. With an increase in the serving size of economy segment food, the pet will eat more grains and only a little more meat. This diet is contraindicated for a baby whose body is just developing. At the same time, Akana food contains up to 60% meat, and legumes serve as the source of carbohydrates. This food biologically matches the cat’s natural diet.
The composition will help determine whether this food is suitable for your kitten. Previously, we wrote about what modern food consists of and how it is produced. The principles for selecting ingredients in food for kittens are the same as for adult cats. The special needs of a kitten include increased protein content. Make sure that the meat in the composition is on the first line. It is also recommended to avoid feeds that contain by-products and meat ingredients, indicated in general terms, without percentages. For example, the line “meat and animal by-products” should alert a responsible owner. If the manufacturer included lamb fillet in the food, he would openly write about it. Silencing ingredients
ntov suggests that the meat in the feed is far from being of the highest quality. While such a diet can be considered acceptable for an adult cat, the kitten’s fragile digestive system may not be able to cope with the digestion of offal. This may cause the kitten to vomit and have problems with bowel movements.
When choosing a dry diet for a kitten, it is better to immediately think about what brand of food you want to feed your pet in the future. After all, upon reaching one year, the kitten will have to switch to food for adult cats. 90% of manufacturers have food lines for both adults and kittens. The transition between two lines is easier if they are food of the same brand.
How to accustom a kitten to new food
The basic principle is simple - you need to gradually introduce dry food into the kitten's diet, observe the results and increase the amount of dry food in the diet. Carefully monitor the kitten's body reaction and adjust the diet accordingly. This way your pet can easily switch to dry food.
What happens if you completely replace the diet with dry food?
A kitten can completely switch to dry food only after reaching a certain age. As a rule, this is 2-3 months. The food itself that the pet switches to is also important. It must be complete.
It is not recommended to switch a kitten under 2 months to dry food, even if you soak it with water. It's all about the kitten's needs during this period. Up to 2 months, a kitten needs a lot of energy from food. He can get it from his mother's milk or dry kitten formula. Both contain much more protein and fat as a source of energy. If a kitten switches to dry food before the end of the feeding period, it may experience developmental problems.
A kitten that has reached two months of age can be safely transferred to a full diet of dry food. It contains enough nutrients for full life and growth. The main thing is that the food is designed specifically for kittens, or, in the case of holistic food, is indicated for kittens from two months of age. Also, you cannot switch a kitten to dry food in one day. This process requires attention and should be carried out for at least a week. It is necessary to gradually introduce dry food into the diet and reduce the number of milk intakes.
“There is an opinion that ready-made diets, in particular dry food, somehow stimulate the occurrence of urolithiasis. Actually this is not true. On the contrary, ready-made diets are balanced in the content of proteins, fats, minerals, microelements and are aimed at preventing urolithiasis,” Vasily Shilov, Candidate of Veterinary Sciences.
Modern dry food does not cause dehydration or digestive problems. They don't need to be soaked. The main thing is that the cat has constant access to a bowl of water. Therefore, upon reaching two months, you can safely switch to dry food only.
“High-quality dry food contains a lot of meat or fish, a balanced complex of vitamins and minerals, taking into account the age and health of the animal. This food is suitable as a regular diet, and there is no need to add canned food to it,”
- veterinarian at Vastab PetCity clinics Rannamõisa Marja Roosileht.
However, to diversify his diet, you can periodically include wet food in his diet. It’s great if the brand of your dry and wet food matches. If the manufacturer that produces a line of dry food does not have wet food, look towards super-premium and holistic wet food. As a rule, they consist of 60-80% meat and will not harm the pet.
PlanetaZOO recommends
The choice of dry food for a kitten determines its growth and further development. A small organism is sensitive to nutrition, and therefore the choice of food should be approached with all responsibility. A selection from Planet ZOO will help you navigate among manufacturers and not get confused when choosing food in pet stores.
1.Mr. Buffalo
Premium complete food. The main source of protein in the feed is chicken (36%), and carbohydrates are whole grain rice. The food strengthens the baby's immunity and increases resistance to disease. Due to the high meat content, the food is easily digested and absorbed, has excellent taste and is suitable even for picky pets.
2.Brooksfield
Super premium food from sunny Italy. Containing 57% meat ingredients, the source of carbohydrates is hypoallergenic rice. The food is rich in vitamins due to the addition of fruits and vegetables. Suitable for feeding both a pregnant cat and a kitten from one month old. It turns out that by buying a large pack you can feed both mother and kitten. A good option in terms of price-quality ratio.
3. Royal Canin
Premium food with the widest range for babies. Babycat Milk is a milk that can be given to a kitten from birth to 2 months. Mother & Babycat (mousse) wet food, from 2 to 4 months. Dry food from the Kitten series, for feeding kittens up to one year old. Blah
