Blaine
My cat had 3 kittens about four and a half weeks ago. I was wondering how old they should be before I can feed them wet food.1) How old do they have to be?2) Whats the best food to feed them?3) How much do I feed them?4) how many times a day should I feed them? Thanks
Eleanore
1) depends on when they are ready to wean. I had some kittens do so at 3 weeks, some not till almost seven. When should you feed it? now. When will they eat it? who knows.2) a high meat based protein low carb/plant based protein diet. Generally a canned diet in loaf or pate form with as few ingredients as possible. Wellness grain free is generally considered the gold standard in canned. If money is an issue, check out friskies, 9-lives or even special kitty (walmart brand) but again you want loaf and pate forms, not chunked or shredded3) as much as they will eat. Kittens have so much growing and running around to do, you basically cant overfeed them.4) minimum twice a day, but as often as you want is fine.
Rosann
They should start going onto solid food any time in the next 2-4 weeks(kittens are usually weaned at 6-8 weeks though it can go a couple of weeks each side of that). Start leaving a little kitten food out for them, be cautious as some brands can be quite rich. You may find at first they will still feed off their mum, so small helpings little and often is better. By solid food I mean anything not liquid, which includes wet/ meat..
Beata
1) they need to be at least 15 weeks old to eat wet food.2)the best food to feed them?? there is no brand just pick one thats high on meat and protene.3) http://www. catster. com/articles/Kitten-F… go to catster. com and then on the top red bar click on cats101 and scroll down to kittens and ta-da they have every thing to need to know about cats!
Antionette
Well just to tell you they HAVE HAVE HAVE to be 1 year old to eat solid food. i think like 8 weeks till wet food. pick a brand with a lot of fat ONLY for a kitten.
Enda
1. I rescued a barn kitten from a horse farm at about 5 weeks of age and started him on wet food pretty much right away. He is almost two years old now, and fluctuates between 12 and 13 pounds. Our vets always give very positive feedback about his development. (FWIW, my girlfriend works at a vet hospital, and gets huge discounts for visits. Therefore, my cat gets a lot of veterinary care from shots to checkups to pedicures). So...that being said, a lot of people might say that 5 weeks is too early...that has not been my experience. You might wait a few more weeks to have him weened from the mother, but that is more of a socialization thing.2. I started off feeding my guy Chicken Soup for the Kitten Lovers Soul. After a while, I started alternating in the morning and evening between that and Natural Balance. Within the last six months or so, I replaced the Chicken Soup for the Kitten/Cat Lovers Soul with Wellness. Also, I give a small amount (about 1/2 cup to share between two cats) of Innova Evo dry food per day to have between morning and evening feedings of wet food.3. Im pretty sure that most literature that Ive read about it has stated that young kittens should be fed liberally, meaning that you should allow them to eat as much as they like. As the kitten gets older (like, maybe between 8 months to a year), you should start feeding based on whatever the food label says. Just keep in mind though, that if you are feeding both wet and dry food, you should not feed a full portion of wet food and a full portion of dry food. You should give half of each.4. Now, I feed them twice a day, but like I said, I leave a little dry food out for them to have between their main meals. Again, the amount of dry food that I leave out is a pretty small amount, and it is a measured amount. But, like I said earlier, for a kitten, they should probably be fed "free-range" meaning that you can just put out some food and let them eat as much as they want when they want. Just keep in mind how that should change as the kitten gets older. EDIT: By the way, Chicken Soup for the Kitten Lovers Soul is an intermediately priced brand. It is higher quality than, say, 9-Lives, Science Diet, Friskies, or other grocery market brands, but not as expensive as the higher quality brands like Wellness. It is a good compromise between quality and price if you are on a bit of a budget.
Denese
Thank you for thinking ahead and giving quality food to start them off right. Canned kitten food (quality brands) in chicken or lamb at first can be given from 4-6 weeks old. Some kittens show interest at 4 weeks, some may wait till 6-7 weeks to try it. Make a thick soup-like mixture of canned kitten food, KMR, and warm water. Offer it on a plate - not a bowl and put some on your fingers for the kitten to lick off till they get the hang of it. You can put do dry food to nibble on but the main meals (2-3 times a day) should be canned food. Do NOT give them fish flavored food - stick to mild meat like chicken or lamb and then add beef canned food later. Wellness, Blue Buffalo, Iams (canned only), Max Cat are all good quality canned foods.