What Do Kittens Drink And Eat
When do kittens start eating solid food.
What do kittens drink and eat. Cats from 5 weeks can drink water although most kittens are still nursing from their mother at this stage some young kittens have a drink of water too. Young kittens should be fed four to six meals a day while older kittens around 6 9 months. Pregnant or lactating females have higher nutritional requirements and your veterinarian may recommend feeding her a kitten diet. If this is the case you should invest in a healthier brand name cat food.
Kittens can eat either wet or dry cat food but dry food is generally higher in healthy ingredients with less moisture and filler. It s also about the very important introduction to drinking water. The milk that the kittens take both by natural breastfeeding and artificial feeding is rich in fatty acids colostrum antibodies and vitamins. Provide kittens with.
What should kittens eat and drink. Cats in the wild receive most of their water intake via their food a wild rodent or bird. You shouldn t use normal milk from another species as it will not contain the right balance of nutrients for their development. Starting at around 6 or 7 weeks most kittens can switch over to solid food completely and no longer need to drink from their mother.
Adult cats require a maintenance diet. After that you may begin adding canned food to their diet. For the first weeks of their lives the diet of kittens consists of mother s milk only. Young kittens require milk for the first three weeks of life before slowly beginning to eat solid food around six to ten weeks of age they will begin to wean.
If you are hand rearing an orphan kitten or they can t drink their mother s milk for any other reason you should feed them special kitten formula milk. Some kittens and adult cats are lactose intolerant and get sick when fed cow s milk and other dairy products says drew weigner dvm board certified feline specialist. The weaning process isn t just about kittens beginning to eat normal wet and dry kitten specific protein rich foods. For freshly weaned kittens or kittens still being weaned feed dry food softened in warm water.
Lastly don t forget to give your kitten s lots of love and care. Breastfeeding a kitten lasts about 9 weeks and when their teeth begin to come in after about four weeks they can begin to eat food. H20 is vital for keeping kittens healthy and lively. Encouraging your cat to drink water.
Mother s milk will do for the first 3 to 4 weeks. If your kittens have bad gas or diarrhea it could be due to their kibble.