Recommended food for cats across different life stages

Being a cat parent, you must know the importance of feeding your cat with the right food. However, the food that is good for a kitten might not suit the dietary needs of a grown-up cat as the nutrition requirements change with growing age. Reason being, kittens tend to grow at a fast pace and are always full of energy. Hence, kitten food is loaded with high calories as well as more protein and fat to support their energy levels. Also, the presence of DHA in their food supports brain and vision development while the vitamins and minerals enhance their immunity. Once a kitten reaches maturity stage; the nutritional requirement decreases. And as you know, cats are less energetic as compared to kittens; so a high-calorie diet can lead to weight gain.

MaxPetZ veterinarians suggest the best cat food across different life stages:

0-30 Days Kitten

Mother’s milk is the best cat food at this age. However, if mother’s milk is not available for a kitten due to any reason then cat milk replacers are the best option to fulfil their daily nutrition requirements.

While you can choose from the wide range of milk replacers available in the market under different brand names, we hereby list down the ingredients of best kitten milk replacer. The kitten milk replacer that you pick for you little kitty should replicate the nutrients present in mother’s milk and hence must contain Vitamins E, K, C, B1, B2, B6 and B12, Folic acid, Nicotinamide, Calcium, Biotin, Lysine, Taurine, Colostrum, DHA, Methionine, easily digestible proteins, prebiotics and probiotics.

Formula Preparation:

Once you have selected a kitten milk replacer, you must prepare it into a formula that could be fed to the kitten. For this, warm the kitten formula to slightly above room temperature. Before feeding it to your kitten, pour few drops on your wrist to ensure it’s not too hot.

1-12 Months Kitten

1 month old kitten is ready to take solid food. But it’s always recommended to consult a veterinarian before introducing any solid food to your cat as the nutritional needs of different cat breeds highly vary. Moreover, based upon your cat’s digestive capabilities; you can also seek advice if your cat should be fed with dry cat food, wet cat food or a combination of both.

The ideal cat food for this age group should contain higher calories and nutrients to ensure healthy growth of your kitten.

12 Months-7 Years Cat

1 year old kitten falls in the adult cat category and hence the food options must be changed at this age. As explained initially, if you continue to feed your cat with the same food at this age as well then there is increased probability of your cat becoming obese. So, choose wisely and alter cat food choices upon vet consultation.

Again, at this stage you need to choose between dry cat food and wet cat food. As the name suggests, the wet cat food has more water content as compared to the dry cat food and hence is best suitable if your cat drinks less water or has medical conditions like diabetes, kidney problems or lower urinary tract infections. However, if your cat is perfectly fine then you can go for dry cat food, wet cat food or even combination of both to offer variety in meals to your cat.

Once you know what to feed your cat; the next question that immediately crosses the mind is how often the cat should be fed? A 0-30 days old kitten should be fed 4-5 times a day. But as it grows and shifts to solid food; the feeding frequency can be brought down to 2 meals a day, about 12 hours apart.

Creating a regular feeding schedule for your adult cat can be of great advantage as it makes the cat stick to a routine. We hope that this blog post proves helpful in feeding your cat the right food according to its age.

For more information related to your cat’s dietary requirements; get in touch with the best veterinarians at MaxPetZ.

Call 8448449955, to book your consultation.