How to start feeding kittens a month. Feeding kittens

A kitten is not much different from a child. Newborns usually eat breast milk from his mother. Gradually they grow up, and they may no longer have enough milk. This happens when more than three babies are born. Therefore, it is necessary to organize complementary foods for kittens. This will also allow you to diversify their diet.

Switching to adult foods

The young body is growing rapidly and getting stronger, it needs a set of nutrients and vitamins. Weaning kittens begin at the age of three to four weeks. Before introducing complementary foods into the menu of small pets, you need to check whether they feel well and are healthy.

When starting complementary foods, it is important to consider the age of the babies. Many are concerned about the question of how the owner will understand that the time has come to diversify the diet of kittens. If the animal was picked up on the street, then its age can be determined by a veterinarian. When the mother is a domestic cat, then there will be no problems with counting the number of days and weeks.

At what age do you start feeding kittens born from your cat. Usually, the first 3-4 weeks of newborns are fed by the mother, and after this period, she herself will bring her babies to the bowl and ask the owner to feed them additionally. There are times when a cat is not able to feed babies, then the owner should take on this role.

How to properly organize complementary foods, what kind of food kittens need depending on age:

• less than a month - it is allowed to give only warm boiled milk for complementary foods;
• 4-8 weeks - it is worth adding more viscous food with a porridge consistency to the menu;
• more than two months - a painless transition to adult food is possible, complementary foods can be organized using meat, vegetables and ready-made feed from the store.

At the age of one month, kittens should be given the opportunity to drink fresh water. It is better to put it a little further away from the place where the pets eat. It is advisable not to use a plastic bowl, it should be made of metal, glass or porcelain. Some housewives put several bowls at once in different places. You can build a special drinking fountain.

Complementary feeding rules

Developing the habit of proper nutrition in kittens requires a great deal of responsibility.

When feeding, it is important to follow some recommendations:

• Every day you need to introduce one new product into the diet so that you can see how the pet's body reacts to different foods.
• If the proposed product is not suitable for some reason, it is excluded from the diet.
• It is forbidden to give minced meat to animals, as it is poorly digested.
• At first, you should offer beef, having learned to chew food, kittens will be able to eat chicken pieces.
• Accustoming to dry food should be carried out gradually, it is desirable to dilute them with water at first.
• For kittens, special vitamins are produced, according to age. They can be used too.

Age - 4 weeks

Feeding newborn kittens can be started from the third or fourth week. This procedure must be carried out up to six times a day, every 3-4 hours. The start of complementary feeding is usually carried out simultaneously with the use of mother's milk. Food is a supplement, it must be soft, warm, and the portions are small, because the kids have not yet learned to chew.

If you plan to feed the cat with dry food in the future, then you can make gruel out of it and give it to kittens. The store sells special food for tailed babies different breeds. Several pads are soaked in water and gently smeared on the kitten's palate.. Then a bowl with food soaked in water is placed in front of him. Gradually, he must understand what is required of him. The amount of water added to the food should be gradually reduced, and by two months the baby will be able to chew the pads on his own.

What should be included in the kitten's diet when the first feeding is carried out.

Pets can eat every day:

• oatmeal or semolina porridge cooked in milk;
• cottage cheese of medium fat content;
• meat (beef, then chicken);
• greens, finely chopped;
• vegetables (carrots, cabbage, cucumber).

1-2 times a week the kitten is allowed to eat:

• egg yolk;
• sea ​​fish (pollock, cod, capelin);
• soft cheese, not too salty.

At first, the pieces should be made small in size so that they are easier to chew. If the baby is unable to chew, you can offer him mashed baby food.

The basis of the diet during feeding should be meat and fish, some greens. In second place in the grocery set are cottage cheese or porridge. Good menu variety vegetable puree. They can be mixed with porridge or given separately. Then you can add meat puree with vegetables.

Age 2-4 months

During this period, kittens should be gradually fed offal: lungs, liver, heart. The offal must first be cooked. Portions of food should be increased, and the frequency of meals can be left the same. From the age of three months, you can feed your pet less often, up to 4-5 times a day. A four-month-old kitten will already be able to eat the same things as adult cats, only in smaller quantities. He should have breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Basic foods for complementary foods:

• small pieces of meat (boiled);
• pork or beef offal;
• rice, buckwheat, millet, oatmeal;
• boiled sea ​​fish;
• tender cottage cheese;
• hard-boiled egg yolk;
• vegetables, finely chopped or grated;
• cream, yogurt;
• chopped greens with vegetable oil.

You can feed with good dry and wet food with inscriptions for kittens up to a year. You need to exclude fresh milk from the menu and switch to fermented milk products - kefir, yogurt. It is best to start feeding a kitten with artificial feeds from the age of two months.

If the owner plans to continue feeding his pet natural food, then a kitten should switch to adult food at three months.

The first six months in the life of kittens is the most important and responsible period. At this time, the foundations of education and health are being laid. Kids are active and inquisitive, they need a lot of strength for further growth and development. This will ensure proper feeding. Food should be healthy, tasty, contain essential vitamins and micronutrients.

This topic will be useful to all cat owners who want to raise a healthy, cheerful pet.

Of course, fluffy lumps that even have a mother sometimes also need bait due to insufficient mother's milk, as well as their own or mother cat's disease state. For this reason, the owner must not only have information about when to start feeding kittens, but also know what the diet of babies should consist of.

At the age of one month, the growing body of a kitten needs additional nutrition, so this age is considered the most suitable when kittens can be fed. But if the cat has brought a large offspring, they begin to feed the babies from the age of three weeks. In addition, the introduction of complementary foods is a very important process, because thanks to it, the kitten is prepared for the subsequent independent meal.

Milk is considered to be the main product of complementary foods. Experts advise feeding the baby with a special mixture, for the preparation of which fresh milk is combined with additional vitamin supplements. As such additives, you can use beaten egg white. As for milk, it can be not only cow, but also goat. It is with this composition that the kitten gradually begins to feed. For each feeding, it is worth preparing a new mixture, because. this composition deteriorates very quickly and can adversely affect the baby's stomach. In addition, you need to ensure that the mixture is not hot - its temperature should fluctuate within 38 degrees. As the pet grows, the temperature is gradually reduced. Also, the kitten is fed with purchased ready-made mixtures or feeds intended for kittens of this age and the first complementary foods.

At the time of the very first feeding, the kitten needs to be helped, after which the growing pet will begin to cope with his meal on his own. It is also worth remembering that at the beginning of complementary foods, it is difficult for babies to drink formula from a bowl. In this case, the following auxiliary items will help: a feeding bottle with a nipple (the most convenient option) or a syringe without a needle. These items should always be kept clean.

At the time of the first feeding, the kitten needs to be helped, after which the growing pet will begin to cope with his meal on his own. It is also worth remembering that at the beginning of complementary foods, it is difficult for babies to drink formula from a bowl. In this case, the following auxiliary items will help: a feeding bottle with a nipple (the most convenient option) or a syringe without a needle. These items should always be kept clean.

When the little pet is three weeks old, it is recommended to supplement its diet. For example, it is allowed to introduce finely chopped and boiled chicken or beef meat into complementary foods (its amount should be minimal). By the way, all food products must contain a minimum percentage of fat.

But when the baby turns the first significant date in one month, he needs to be taught by all means to eat from a bowl. The animal must understand and remember where the bowl of food and water is. It is for this reason that it is necessary to allocate a suitable place for the "cat table" and change it. In addition, the kitten must always and at any time have free access to them. By the way, it is strictly forbidden to continue to feed your pet from your hands or on the bed - all food should now be served exclusively in a bowl.

In order to find out if a kitten is eating properly, it is necessary to monitor the change in its weight. If there is an increase in it, this is a sign of proper nutrition. In addition, the good diet and health of the kitten is indicated by its noticeable increase in growth and active behavior.

Of course, a person cannot completely replace a mother-cat kitten, but helping him survive is the main task of any caring owner. Therefore, feeding a baby should be taken very responsibly and seriously, since a small and growing body must always eat well and satisfyingly.

To grow from little kitten a solid, beautiful and smart cat or cat, you need to rely on three main postulates: proper nutrition, upbringing and good care. What is proper nutrition? Let's start with how to feed a kitten, when to start complementary foods, what should be the diet.

Ordinary yard kittens can be taken from a mother cat already at the age of one month, starting to gradually feed the baby. They quickly adapt to new conditions, learning to lap milk from a bowl on their own. At the age of one month, it is necessary to feed 7 times a day. Night is excluded.

Pedigree kittens are ready for transfer only in the second month of life.

When choosing ready-made food for a two-month-old baby, there are some rules:

• on a box with dry food, in the “digestibility” column, the corresponding indicator should be at least 80%;
• soak the food with water before feeding (never soak with milk).

Mix finished and natural nutrition it is impossible, since ready-made and natural food are digested differently.

With natural feeding, you need to introduce complementary foods according to the following scheme:

• gradually accustom the kitten to new products;
• do not introduce all products at once;
• start a new product in small batches.

Trying a new product, you should watch a four-legged family member for a couple of days. After making sure that the kitten's stomach reacted positively, it is allowed to continue to "experiment" further according to the scheme. At the slightest change (stool, general state) immediately cancel this top dressing or replace it.

You can often hear the question of how many times and how to feed a kitten without a cat. If for some reason a newborn baby was left without mother's milk, then there are such options:

• find another cat nurse;
• buy a cat's milk substitute and feed the baby from the nipple;
• dilute infant formula or goat's milk with water.

The number of feedings is 7-8 times a day, together with night feeding, 30 ml per 100 grams of weight.

Video "What to feed kittens"

In this video you will learn how to properly feed kittens.

The right diet for your pet

A proper diet is a balanced diet that includes proteins, fats, carbohydrates, fiber and vitamins.

When compiling a diet, one must take into account the main rule - food for a kitten should be prepared only from fresh products. Food should be at room temperature and mushy.

The basis of the diet is protein food. Eggs, cereals, milk serve as an addition to the main meal. Everything for kittens and cats is prepared without salt, sugar, spices.

A few tips:

1. Until the age of 2 months, you can buy canned baby food (pate, various cereals) instead of meat products.
2. Do not overfeed your pet (they often do not know the measure and are able to eat to satiety) so that there are no problems with the gastrointestinal tract.
3. Drinking water for the first 3 months should be boiled and at room temperature, for older kittens - raw. Always fresh and available.
4. Get advice from a veterinarian. Add vitamin and mineral supplements to your meals.

At 1-3 months

The first bait for a kitten, aged one to one and a half months, is better to choose from kefir and fermented baked milk with a minimum percentage of fat content. A little later, you can enter oatmeal in the menu in the form of liquid puree with the addition of grated or twisted boiled meat in a meat grinder.

At 2 months, vegetables and meat should no longer be ground, they are simply finely chopped with a knife. Dairy products and milk make up about ½ of all food. At this age, you can try a partially strict kitten feeding regimen. With it, 2-3 times a day, the baby is fully fed, and the rest of the time they leave a little kefir or yogurt in a saucer for a snack.

At the age of three months, sour milk is gradually reduced to ¼. The kitten is already able to eat all foods in larger pieces. The porridges cook thicker. The diet is translated into 5-6 meals a day.

Products and their preparation are as follows:

1. Lean meat (veal, chicken, turkey) is boiled and ground. If you want to feed raw meat, it must be well frozen before use. Once a week, meat can be replaced with offal. The ground mass is diluted with meat broth.
2. The boiled yolk is kneaded with a fork and diluted with low-fat kefir.
3. Thoroughly mashed cottage cheese is diluted with yogurt.
4. Oatmeal or buckwheat is boiled in water or milk with water.
5. Vegetables - in water or a water bath and grind to small lumps.
6. Be sure to have boiled drinking water.
7. Vitamins and mineral supplements will be advised by the doctor.

Up to six months

After three months, the kitten has fully formed teeth and jaw. There is no need to grind food, but you still have to grind. This is a period of active growth of the pet. Daily rate feed is 170-280 grams.

Boiled fillet of sea fish is added to the previous diet, an assortment fermented milk products expands with the use of yogurt without sweeteners and fermented baked milk. From vegetables - greens, zucchini, cauliflower, carrots. Vegetable oil- a few drops.

If the kitten eats wet food and canned food, then after opening they must be kept in the refrigerator and heated before serving.

From 6 months and older

During this period, the active growth phase is reduced, and the kitten is transferred to three meals a day. Only after a year - for 2 times a day: morning and evening. daily rate, which a teenager should eat, is 180-200 grams. At this age, they tend to sit next to the owner and patiently wait for "mercy" from the master's table. Do not succumb to provocations, the health of the cat is above all.

What should be excluded from the menu

Completely excluded from the menu:

• food from a person's table;
• raw meat and river fish (optional);
• sausages and canned goods;
• potatoes in any form (potato starch is not absorbed by the cat's body);
• legumes (not digested);
• sweets, flour products.

We remind you that the full nutrition of a small domestic kitten is the key to good health in a grown-up animal.

In the first three to four weeks of life, feeding kittens is the concern of their mother. After that, the babies continue to eat milk, but it is no longer enough for them to develop properly, grow healthy and strong. Now the cubs need to be gradually fed - to begin to accustom to adult food.

From the age of one month, kittens should always have access to fresh clean water. The bowl with it should be at some distance from the place where the animals eat. The material of drinking utensils is porcelain or metal, in no case plastic. Some experts recommend placing several bowls of water throughout the apartment. Also good decision There will be a special drinking fountain.

kitten food

Inculcating eating habits in kittens should be taken seriously. Basic rules for feeding kittens:

• In one day, you can give only one new product. This will allow you to track the reaction of the cubs to different foods and timely remove food from the diet that is not suitable for a particular animal.
• In no case should you give minced meat (any), as the cat's digestive system does not absorb it.
• First give beef, and only when the kittens learn to chew - chicken or turkey.
• The animal is accustomed to dry food gradually, first diluting it strongly with water.
• Together with the start of complementary foods, it is necessary to give kittens vitamins for the appropriate age.

From the age of one month

You need to start feeding kittens from the age of three to four weeks. However, they must still receive mother's milk or its substitute. Kittens need to be fed up to six times a day, every three to four hours. Portions should be small, and food should be warm and softened, because babies do not yet know how to chew.

If the kitten will continue to eat dry food, then they need to be fed. Food must be chosen special - for very small kittens and taking into account the breed. First, the food should be soaked in warm water and smear the kittens across the sky. In the future, put bowls of soaked food in front of them. It is worth repeating the smearing until the kittens understand what you want from them. As soon as they begin to eat from the bowl themselves, you need to gradually, day by day, reduce the amount of water in the feed. By two months, you can already give food without soaking it.

The diet of a one-month-old kitten eating natural food is conveniently compiled according to the table.

First, the kitten is taught to eat meat. To do this, you need to take a very small piece and put the cub in the mouth. On the first day, it is enough to do it once, the next - twice. So continue until the cubs learn to chew on their own. After that, you can gradually increase the number of feedings and give out larger pieces of meat.

If the kitten does not want to chew in any way, you can try feeding him baby food. Smear the meat puree across the palate, and then put it in the same bowl. When the cub begins to eat on its own, slowly mix the grated meat into the usual food, and completely replace the mashed potatoes within a few days.

Then every day you need to introduce into the diet of kittens one new product from the table above. Instead of oatmeal you can sometimes give rice or buckwheat. When the kittens learn to eat all of the above, for one feeding they need to be given the following set of products (mixing everything):

• meat or fish is the basis of a cat's diet;
• porridge or cottage cheese - a third of the amount of meat;
• vegetables and herbs - quite a bit.

Once or twice a week, a little bit of cheese or yolk can be added to this mixture.

At the age of two to four months

By two months, you can gradually add offal (liver, lungs, heart, kidneys) to the kitten's diet. They can only be given in boiled form. The frequency of feeding remains unchanged, but portions must be increased. At three months, you can feed the kitten less often, four to five times a day.

By four months, the kitten should already be eating the same that adult animals eat, only in smaller quantities. Now the baby is enough feeding three times a day. Milk from the diet by this time should be completely excluded, since the body adult cat does not absorb it. Instead, you can give the cub cream and unsweetened sour-milk products - yogurt or yogurt.

A kitten appeared in the house - what and how to feed it?

Features of complementary foods of individual breeds

1. Maine Coon.

Maine Coon kittens differ from all others in their large size. Accordingly, the young beast needs more food. A two-month-old Maine Coon per day should eat about one hundred and thirty grams of meat or fish, up to forty grams of vegetables, the same amount of dairy or sour-milk products, about fifteen grams of cereals. For all other breeds, this is the norm for an adult cat!

Also, specifically for Maine Coons, some breeders recommend adding a little salt to food, at the tip of a teaspoon. This is a controversial idea, and it's best not to risk your pet's health. Before including any supplements or vitamin complexes in the kitten's diet, you should consult a veterinarian.

2. Sphinx.

Canadian Sphynx kittens (as well as other representatives of this group of breeds) have an increased risk of getting diseases of the cardiovascular system. Therefore, they can only be given dietary meat: turkey or chicken, rabbit meat, beef is also suitable, but not pork. The latter should not be given to any cats, and even more so to sphinxes. To start feeding, defatted veal is suitable - raw or boiled.

It is necessary to feed a Sphynx kitten somewhat more often than an ordinary cat. Veterinarians recommend six to eight meals up to two months, four meals up to five months. From six months, you can feed the Sphynx three times a day, and from nine months to accustom to two meals a day.

3. British and Scottish kittens.

British and Scottish kittens are forbidden to give low-fat dairy products. But too fat is also prohibited. Perfect option- 2-4% fat.

It is possible to accustom kittens of these breeds to dry food only after two months, before that - to feed with natural food. To switch to food, you need to gradually add it to your usual food, increasing the amount of food every day, and reducing everything else.

The first six months of a kitten's life is a very important period in his life. After all, it was at this time that the foundations of health and education were laid. But if after three months the new owners of the kitten take care of this, then the most responsible first three months are the main headache breeders.

In the first 3-4 weeks, there are no problems with feeding the kittens - the cat feeds them herself. The owners can only feed the mother well, with pleasure watching how rapidly their pets grow. But after a month and a half, the kittens no longer have enough nutrients obtained from mother's milk, and the cat is exhausted to feed such a horde. It's time to gradually switch to adult food, and since then all the care of feeding the kittens falls on the shoulders of the owners.

It is very important to take care of fresh drinking water, which should always be in another bowl and at a certain distance from the food cup. This is necessary so that the kitten does not bring food leftovers on its fur, otherwise it can turn sour, which can lead to intestinal troubles.

The water that you will feed your kitten with must be purified and not in a plastic bowl, but in an iron or porcelain bowl. Great option a special drinking fountain will be installed, the water in which will always be fresh and saturated with oxygen. If there is no fountain, then simply place bowls of water throughout the room so that the kitten stumbles upon water during the game and does not forget to drink it. Lack of fluid in the body of cats leads to severe diseases of the kidneys and ureters.

Let's start the first meal.

So, the kittens are already a month old. They become more active and inquisitive. And although they still need mother's milk or formula at this age, it's time to switch to adult food. At this age, kittens are best fed 5-6 times a day, in small portions, in warm form. Food should be liquid or semi-liquid.
It could be:

• baby food: first meat purees, later - meat purees with vegetables,
• liquid semolina with milk and without sugar.

From two months kittens can already eat more solid food. You still need to feed them 5-6 times a day, in small portions. At this time, the menu can include minced meat or fish, hard cheese, cereals (rice, oatmeal, buckwheat), vegetables and even fruits. Many cats are happy to eat vegetables and fruits, getting used to this from early childhood. From two months, kittens can be given boiled vegetables (carrots, cabbage, pumpkin, zucchini) in the form of mashed potatoes or finely chopped, with vegetable oil.
At the same time, kittens should definitely be fed kefir, cream and yogurt (necessarily natural, without sugar and additives).

A little later, you can already give finely chopped scalded or boiled meat. The best meat for kittens at this age is lean beef, veal, rabbit, chicken, turkey. No more than once a week, offal can be given: beef or chicken liver, heart. They are fed in finely chopped or ground form, with porridge.
If you plan to transfer kittens to wet or dry, then this should be done after 2 months. Please note that this must be a high-quality special food for kittens.
If you decide to continue to feed the babies with natural food, then three months is the age when it is time to finally transfer them to adult food. The number of feedings is reduced to 4 times a day.

From three months you can introduce fish into the diet of kittens - always sea and no more than 2 times a month. Another product very useful for small pets at this age is finely chopped greens (dill, parsley) with oil. A little later, you can offer grass to the kittens.

Thus, approximate diet kittens from the first to the third month should look like this:
First month:

• Milk (milk formula)
• Liquid semolina
• Egg yolk
• Meat puree

• Scalded or boiled meat
• Liquid porridge (rice, buckwheat, oatmeal)
• Cottage cheese (best for children)
• Egg yolk
• Boiled vegetables (mashed with vegetable oil.)
• Unsalted cheese.
• Milk
• Kefir
• Cream
• Natural yogurt.

• Finely chopped meat
• Offal (liver, heart)
• Porridge (rice, buckwheat, oatmeal, millet)
• Boiled sea fish
• Cottage cheese
• mashed yolk
• Grated vegetables
• Kefir, cream
• Natural yogurt.
• Finely chopped greens with vegetable oil.

• animal fats (especially melted),
• pork,
• fried, fatty and smoked foods,
• sugar,
• salt.

Advice: if you decide to feed kittens only with natural food, it is advisable to accustom pets to eating a variety of foods from the first month. You should not succumb to the tricks of small fluffy manipulators and make one, especially beloved, product the main one in their diet. Thus, you are doing a disservice to the future owners of your pets by growing small whims, picky eaters.

As often as possible, pay attention to the kitten's coat: if it is shiny and smooth, then rejoice - your pet is healthy. If you don't like something about it appearance then, after consulting with the veterinarian, buy him a special vitamin complex. But at the same time, remember that in good industrial stern all nutrients and trace elements are already balanced.

A great danger to the health of a kitten is such a mistake by the owner as feeding the pet products from his table in combination with industrial food. It is also not recommended to mix expensive dry food with cheap wet food. It is better to leave only dry food, as poor quality wet food All the same, nothing but harm to the kitten will not bring.

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