Ten feeding tips for your kitten

A high quality and complete diet that meets all nutritional needs is essential for optimal growth and development of a kitten.

We are happy to give 10 feeding tips to help your kitten grow strong and healthy:

1. Cats in nature have the habit of eating small portions of multiple types of food per day. A kitten needs to have a minimum of three to four meals a day.
2. There are two ways to give your kitten dry food: unlimited feeding or multiple meals a day. The method that gives your kitten unlimited access to food is an excellent way of feeding for many kittens. However, there are also kittens who will overeat quickly with this feeding method. This is the case for kittens that had to 'fight' for enough food from their mother in their growing days. The benefit of the feeding method where you give multiple meals a day is that a kitten can't overeat as quickly. In addition, this method allows you to have multiple contact moments with your kitten, which can strengthen your bond.
3. Don't feed too much, but also not too little! It is best not to give kittens extra food in the form of snacks of left overs. Extra feeding can lead to obesity or to a disruption of the digestive system. Not only an excess of food, but also underfeeding can have negative results for a kitten.
4. Don't give your kitten milk. Milk contains a high level of lactose (milk sugars) and can cause digestive problems, such as diarrhoea.Ensure that your kitten always has access to fresh drinking water. You can best offer the drinking water at room temperature, water that is too cold can harm the stomach.
5. The advice on the packaging is merely a guideline. Look at your kitten closely!
6. Give your kitten a special kitten food up to twelve months. It's not advisable to give your kitten of that age food for mature cats.
7. On the packaging of the food, you can find the daily recommended amount of food. This is merely a guideline. Keep a close eye on the development of the animal and estimate the right amount of food based on the needs of your kitten.
8. A kitten must absolutely never fast. It is very important to ensure that a kitten is eating well and satisfactorily, but not excessively. The danger of fasting for cats is that it can cause liver fattening, a nasty condition that is very hard to cure.
9. Cats naturally don't drink a lot. Sufficient absorption of fluid helps maintain healthy urinary tract. Spoil your kitten in a responsible and healthy way by giving wet food, for example one of the Prins NatureCare meat meals or our Prins TotalCare frozen fresh meat. These foods contain about 60 to 80 percent of moisture.
10. Only give healthy snacks in moderation, preferably without excessive (colour) additives and with an added value. Responsible and delicious!

Need advice?

Every kitten is different. Do you want to know what is the best specifically for your young, growing cat? The Prins CareTeam is happy to offer guidance and advice.