Experienced "cat-litter" and those who first got a favorite, are constantly amazed at the amount of food that can be swallowed by a small four-legged lump. Kittens are completely unfamiliar with concepts such as "moderation" and "sufficiency", such representations are simply alien to them. If a tiny lump, who has not yet learned how to confidently move on his paws, overeats, then he simply belches out the excess.
Although belching is a natural occurrence and a congenital reflex, it does not benefit the animal’s digestive system. And the owners of the kitten are not particularly pleased to remove the emetic islets, finding them in the most unexpected places. All this can easily be avoided, knowing how and how to properly feed the kitten.
Do I need to give food on demand?
Probably, there is no person who was not sure from early childhood that cats do not eat on a routine, unlike dogs. Mustached pet should always have food in a saucer. When the cat wants to eat, then she will do it.
This is partly true, but does not apply to kittens. Adult cats are quite familiar with the feeling of moderation, sufficiency in food. Until belching or vomiting, adult animals will not become full. Also, one should not forget about such an important moment as accustoming a kitten to the tray. With a feeding schedule, this is much easier.
Do I need to leave a drink?
If it is important to feed the kitten according to the schedule, then regarding drinking, you should not even think about any extradition in time. The baby should always have clean water.
It is very important to monitor the condition of the bowl intended for drinking. It's no secret that small four-legged lumps, unlike adult animals, do not possess special cleanliness and accuracy. The kid is quite capable of stepping into a bowl or even sitting in it. Therefore, the water tank should not only be in a place convenient for the kitten, but also in full view of the household.
Also, you should not leave milk as a drink. Milk is a food for the kitten’s digestive system, not a drink. If the baby was given a saucer with milk, then you still need to leave water.
Is feeding different at different ages?
The way and how to feed a kitten for 1-5 months, of course, is not the same. At the age of one month, the baby needs one amount of feedings, and starting from two - another. The same is true for everyday diet, and after six months the list of products that are necessary for a little pet changes dramatically.
In each age period, a growing kitten needs a different list of products, or rather, priority in nutrition. This is due to the different needs of the body at each stage of growth.
In that case, if the question of how to feed the kitten for 1-5 months, the owners of the animal are inclined to use ready-made feeds, then it is important to consider age when choosing them. Do not give the growing pet food intended for adult animals. In their composition, manufacturers involved a completely different balance of nutrients and vitamins than those intended for growing animals.
What are kittens fed with?
When asked how to feed a domestic kitten, pet owners are usually inclined to one of the following options:
- ready-made dry mixes;
- soft feed;
- homemade food;
- mixed diet.
Each of these options has both its advantages and significant disadvantages. Choosing a certain type of food, you need to carefully monitor how exactly the baby tolerates it.
If a thoroughbred pet has settled in the house, it will be useful to get acquainted with the features characteristic of its appearance. For example, when choosing what to feed a Scottish fold kitten, you should immediately exclude the option of dry mixes. Kids of this breed can not tolerate them, as well as adult animals. Pets of this species are prone to urolithiasis, the occurrence and development of which often provoke dry mixes.
The same pattern can be seen in most species of animals, in the genetics of which Persian blood is present. The link between the disease and the dry diet of exotics of all varieties is especially clearly visible.
In the question of how to feed a British kitten, responsibility should also be shown. Toddlers of this breed in most cases can hardly tolerate dairy products, often suffering from prolonged diarrhea. But these animals are prone to constipation. Therefore, choosing what to feed a British kitten with, one should not forget about including vegetables or substitute components in the diet if the baby eats ready-made soft mixes.
It will be useful to have a box with grass for cats in the house. But it needs to be equipped only after the baby is completely used to meeting his needs in the tray. Although the question of how and how to feed a British kitten or a thoroughbred baby of another variety, the grass solves most of the difficulties associated with digestion, the pet can start using a box with it to relieve the need. And it will be practically impossible to wean him from this habit, and as soon as the drawer is removed, the animal will use indoor flowers as a tray.
To say which of the feeding options for a small pet is better, and which is worse, is impossible. Each organism is unique and what is ideal for one kitten will be completely unacceptable for another. Therefore, you need to observe your own pet and, based on this, decide how he will eat. As a rule, the ideal variant of animal nutrition is formed by five to six months, using the “trial and error” method.
What you need to feed a pet aged from a month to three?
How and what to feed a kitten per month is an important issue for each owner, both experienced and not so. Of course, there is a certain list of products containing the components necessary for a small pet to grow. The range of ready-made feeds intended for kittens is quite large.
However, the baby’s body is not an artificial mechanism, each kitten needs a different diet. You need to pay attention to how a small pet transfers the proposed food. For example, dairy products are a storehouse of many nutrients, including calcium. But not every kitten tolerates and assimilates them well, on the contrary, dairy products cause diarrhea in the majority of four-legged babies. And this, in turn, leads to dehydration, a lag in development and growth, and, of course, not a particularly presentable appearance.
Before the animals reach the age of three months in the body of a small pet, intensive bone growth occurs, during the same period, teeth are cut out. The baby’s brain is also developing intensively. Just at an early age, kittens learn the rules of behavior, acquire the skills and habits that their whole life follows. That is, the cost of mental energy is extremely high.
This is what dictates the priority for certain components in the diet. Food should be rich in calcium, magnesium, and, of course, animal protein. In the event that the baby is preferred to be fed with a ready-made dry or soft mixture, it is enough to purchase packages indicating the age group. When eating "from the table" will require more effort.
For young children, for development and growth, products such as:
- fish;
- liver, kidneys, brain, heart, and more;
- carrots, as a supplement;
- poultry or rabbit meat.
A good answer to the question of how to feed a monthly kitten are baby food jars intended for people. But you need to understand that as soon as a little pet's teeth begin to grow, he will no longer need pureed food, but one that can be nibbled.
A small pet should not be given pork, lamb or beef. This is not the best option for feeding a monthly kitten, for a very prosaic reason. These types of meat load the digestive organs, are poorly and long digested. In early childhood, a four-legged pet is better suited for dietary types of meat and offal, high in protein, high in calories and easily digestible.
What should not be given to a pet?
As a rule, newly-minted owners of the animal are only interested in what and how to feed the kitten, forgetting to find out what the pet is strictly contraindicated.
Under no circumstances should you include in the diet of the baby or give as a treat:
- bones, especially avian and fish;
- the remains of human food - fried, pickled, filled with spices, salted, smoked;
- ready-made sauces - cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream;
- bird skin, cream or whole fresh milk, raw eggs;
- confectionery - biscuits, custards;
- raw fish.
Fish for many animals is the basis of the diet. For example, people who are faced with the question of how to feed a Scottish fold kitten, this product helps out. Lop-eared in early childhood often suffer from allergic reactions caused by food, so many healthy products are excluded from their diet.
However, kittens should not be given raw fish. Although it is easily digested and much more useful than boiled, there is a great risk of infecting the animal with worms. Too cold and hot food is completely prohibited. No need to strive to give the pet "warm". This will lead to the fact that even before reaching the age of six months, the pet will begin to suffer from gastritis.
What does malnutrition lead to?
The question of how to feed a kitten, and what not, is much more important than it might seem at first glance. Malnutrition at an early age has far-reaching consequences and inevitably affects the health and appearance of an adult animal.
The obvious consequences of malnutrition, manifested already in early childhood, are as follows:
- hair loss and poor growth;
- lacrimation or conjunctivitis;
- obesity, subsequently turning into obesity;
- lack of activity;
- dyspnea;
- vomiting and diarrhea;
- slow development.
An adult animal that did not eat properly in early childhood may suffer from such diseases:
- diabetes;
- allergies
- digestive ailments;
- disturbances in the work of the heart muscle;
- obesity.
Needless to say, in addition to causing a lot of trouble for the owners and an unpresentable appearance, the sick animal will also live many times less than measured by nature. And to avoid this is simple, you should only take seriously what and how to feed the kitten.
Do I need vitamins?
This question is asked by all owners of four-legged babies. On the one hand, vitamins are beneficial for development and growth. On the other hand, most owners of exotics and other purebred kittens fear that their use will cause severe allergies in the four-legged baby. The dilemma seems difficult only at first glance, in fact it is solved simply.
Kittens who eat ready-made feeds do not need additional intake of vitamins. In mixtures intended for the younger age group, there is everything necessary for the proper development and growth of the animal.
The same four-legged lumps that eat homemade food, vitamins are required. In every veterinary pharmacy you can buy balanced vitamin complexes for small kittens. If for some reason you have to be content with the assortment of a regular pharmacy, then you should buy vitamins in oil - “A”, “D”, “C”. This is the basic complex needed for the development of any living organism. Do not forget about fish oil. Vitamins should be given dropwise, adding to food, 2-4 drops per day.
How often do you need to feed your pet?
The question of how many times a day to feed a kitten has no single answer. The diet depends on the baby. Five to six times a day is enough for some kittens, and eight for a few.
The main thing in the organization of animal nutrition is the regularity of feedings. Serving should be carried out at the same time, without long time intervals between feedings. The time intervals also should not differ significantly. This means that you can not feed the baby in the morning, then forget about him until the evening, and remembering, give out six or seven servings with a difference of an hour and a half.
Recommended breaks between feedings are two to three hours. It is better to feed a monthly kitten every two hours; in parallel with its maturation, the time intervals between meals gradually increase. This means that a kitten in two months will eat already with an interval of half an hour more. And the three-month-old will eat even less often.
Two breaks are allowed in the feeding schedule, exceeding the base time period in length. Typically, these are afternoon and nighttime periods.
What should be the servings?
Owners of animals using ready-made feeds, as a rule, are not interested in the question of the amount of servings. Detailed directions and recommendations regarding feeding are always present on the packaging with the finished mixture.
But how to feed a kitten homemade food? How to understand whether the baby eats up or, conversely, you need to give him less? You need to focus on the behavior and appearance of the pet. After eating, the kitten’s tummy is rounded, but does not swell. The baby should not resemble a ball on the paws with eyes. The kitten also should not stay at the bowl and squeak after eating.
With a sufficient portion, the baby, having eaten everything, goes to play, after a while he needs a tray, and then the animal usually falls asleep. Waking up, he visits the tray and goes to the bowl. If the baby remains hungry after eating, then he does not go in search of adventure, but meows plaintively, tries to turn the bowl over, pokes a muzzle next to her in search of food.
On average, a healthy kitten of a month old eats a volume equal to half a glass at a time, that is, 100-120 grams. By three months, the portion increases to almost a whole glass, 180-220 grams, and the time interval between feedings increases. After six months, less food is required. Of course, this applies exclusively to feeding homemade food, ready-made mixtures are consumed in a smaller volume.
What do you need after three months?
Three months is the first “transitional" age limit for a kitten. By this age, the formation processes are over and intensive growth begins. Also, by the age of three months, the basic knowledge of the animal about the rules adopted in the house, including the schedule for obtaining food, is formed. By the same age, the formation of conditioned reflexes, that is, habits, is being completed.
Of course, all this leaves its mark on how to feed the kitten. 3 months - although the age is transitional, it does not mean an instant and cardinal change in diet. Rather, changes are not connected
Starting from the age of three months, the fourth pet is transferred to four meals a day. This is done gradually. First you need to determine the time at which the baby will eat four times a day. Then it is necessary to gradually reduce the amount of food in other hours, proportionally sharing it between the feedings that remain. This takes far from one or two days. On average, it takes two to three weeks to switch to four meals a day. A faster change of regime injures the kitten not so much physiologically as mentally. The animal may begin to eat up “in reserve”. This is a special condition of the nervous disorder characteristic of cats and dogs, reminiscent of bulimia in humans.
Often, transferring the little four-legged to a new diet, the owners immediately begin to accustom the kitten to three meals a day. However, most experts and simply experienced “cat-keepers” believe that the age of four months, to which the transition from a child to a teenage regime ends, is not the best time for further changes.
The growth of the kitten’s body continues and, accordingly, the baby needs energy and nutrients. If the transition to three meals a day is started at four months and completed by five, then inevitably there will be time intervals when the kitten begins to feel hunger. In search of something to eat, the baby is quite capable of gnawing houseplants, any wires, pencils and other things that are not particularly edible. this is not only unpleasant for the owners of the animal, but also dangerous to the health of the growing kitten.
The transition to a new diet, that is, three meals a day, is more optimal to start at five months, completing by six months of age. Starting from eight months, the animal can be gradually trained to eat twice a day.
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