Kitten Feeding Guidelines
Are you thinking of adding a cute and cuddly kitten to your household? Then you need to familiarize yourself with kitten feeding guidelines.
Newborn kittens get everything they need initially from mothers milk.
The time duration for this process is usually four weeks.
Should the need arise for an alternative source of nutrition, due to illness of the mother cat in this initial four week period, a commercial milk replacement is the way to go.
You should contact a veterinarian for product recommendations.
Kittens grow quickly, during their first weeks of life a kitten's body weight can double, even triple during this time span.
They will continue rapid growth although slowing progressively until they reach maturity.
During this growth phase large amounts of nutrients and energy are needed in balanced amount to maintain this amazing development.
Kitten feeding guidelines should be strictly adhered to in order to achieve the desired results.
Kittens require enormous amounts of energy, approximately two to three times that of an adult cat.
And 30 percent of their total energy needs to be derived from protein.
To insure that the kitten get the best nutrition possible you should purchase a food specially formulated for kittens.
The kitten will need to stay on kitten formulated food until reaching maturity at one year of age.
Once a kitten reaches five or six weeks old they should begin eating a high quality dry food while still nursing on mother's milk.
By introducing them to dry food while still weaning on mother's milk is an important step in making a smooth transition to feeding in maturity.
Kittens will usually suckle on mothers milk until reaching eight weeks of age, by this time 80 to 90 percent of total diet should be from kitten food.
If you are weaning an orphaned kitten they can be offered moistened kitten food at approximately three weeks of age.
Use a commercial milk replacement to moisten the food.
Then gradually reduce the amount of milk replacement you use until the kitten is eating primarily kitten food at about five or six weeks of age.
You should feed kittens with what is called the free-choice method, meaning that food is continuously available for the kitten when ever she wants to eat.
Dry food best facilitates this process as dry food is less prone to spoilage.
At first kittens may want to play with dry food by batting around, But their senses and their stomachs will soon have them devouring it freely with no problem.
If you follow these kitten feeding guidelines you will see your kitten develop into a healthy and happy adult cat.
Newborn kittens get everything they need initially from mothers milk.
The time duration for this process is usually four weeks.
Should the need arise for an alternative source of nutrition, due to illness of the mother cat in this initial four week period, a commercial milk replacement is the way to go.
You should contact a veterinarian for product recommendations.
Kittens grow quickly, during their first weeks of life a kitten's body weight can double, even triple during this time span.
They will continue rapid growth although slowing progressively until they reach maturity.
During this growth phase large amounts of nutrients and energy are needed in balanced amount to maintain this amazing development.
Kitten feeding guidelines should be strictly adhered to in order to achieve the desired results.
Kittens require enormous amounts of energy, approximately two to three times that of an adult cat.
And 30 percent of their total energy needs to be derived from protein.
To insure that the kitten get the best nutrition possible you should purchase a food specially formulated for kittens.
The kitten will need to stay on kitten formulated food until reaching maturity at one year of age.
Once a kitten reaches five or six weeks old they should begin eating a high quality dry food while still nursing on mother's milk.
By introducing them to dry food while still weaning on mother's milk is an important step in making a smooth transition to feeding in maturity.
Kittens will usually suckle on mothers milk until reaching eight weeks of age, by this time 80 to 90 percent of total diet should be from kitten food.
If you are weaning an orphaned kitten they can be offered moistened kitten food at approximately three weeks of age.
Use a commercial milk replacement to moisten the food.
Then gradually reduce the amount of milk replacement you use until the kitten is eating primarily kitten food at about five or six weeks of age.
You should feed kittens with what is called the free-choice method, meaning that food is continuously available for the kitten when ever she wants to eat.
Dry food best facilitates this process as dry food is less prone to spoilage.
At first kittens may want to play with dry food by batting around, But their senses and their stomachs will soon have them devouring it freely with no problem.
If you follow these kitten feeding guidelines you will see your kitten develop into a healthy and happy adult cat.
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