What do kittens need in their food?
Kittens are adorable pets with special dietary requirements. As a caring owner, you must be concerned about its health. Accordingly, you need to cater to its nutritional needs adequately. The food requirements of kittens are different from that of cats. With a healthy diet, these pets would mature into healthy adults. Considering the diet equation, make sure to buy kitten food from one of the reputed suppliers. With proper feeding, your pets would remain in good health conditions.
Nutritional requirements for kittens
Cat food differs from kitten diet in several ways. For instance, kittens need smaller dry kibbles. It helps them easy to intake food. Besides, food for kittens is also different from that of cats in terms of nutritional content. At a younger age, kittens need more energy. During this phase, their body grows undergoes rapid growth. So, you know why they have special nutritional requirements. In kitten food, the caloric content is higher, while it also contains nutrients in larger quantities.
When you purchase customized kitten food online from one of the reputed brands, the pets benefit from the following nutrients.
- Protein: Compared to dogs, cats need proteins in larger quantities as they are also carnivores. This requirement for kittens is even more. They also need essential amino acids in higher quantities. Some of these include methionine, lysine, and arginine. This helps kittens to grow and develop more rapidly.
- Minerals and vitamins: Kittens, just like cats, need vitamins and minerals to sustain good health. However, kittens require more iodine, copper, magnesium, and Vitamin A in larger quantities.
- Phosphorous and calcium: At a young age, kittens need more calcium and phosphorous as compared to cats. This helps them get strong teeth and bones.
- Fat: Fat serves as the most important source, considering the requirement of essential fatty acids. It carries fat-soluble vitamins and happens to be a concentrated energy source. However, excessive fat intake in kittens can lead to obesity. Branded kitten food has a rationed fat content to keep them healthy.
- Other nutrients: For the proper development of vision and brain in kittens, they need DHA (omega-3 fatty acid) in good quantities. Moreover, their daily intake should include choline and taurine.
Can you give milk and human food to kittens?
Kittens feed on their mother’s milk up to four weeks after birth. You might provide them with a milk replacement to cater to their nutritional needs.
When your pet is between six to eight weeks of age, you can introduce kitten food to it. However, you should avoid goat’s milk, cow’s milk, or other types of dairies. These are not complete foods, and you should refrain from giving them to your kitten.
Just like milk, human foods aren’t properly balanced and complete. Therefore, human food is not recommended for your pet. However, you have a few safe human foods like cooked eggs and salmon. To ensure the safety of your pet, make sure not to give anything other than packaged kitten food to them.
Choosing the right kitten food
Depending on your criteria, you need to choose from different kitten foods. While the reputed kitten food manufacturers formulate some meals to ensure their optimal growth, some foods help them achieve maximum growth rate. Ideally, it would be perfect to go for an optimal growth rate. With this type of food, your pet would undergo a steady and slow growth rate. This would also help it avoid obesity and excessive weight. On the other hand, food for maximal growth rate helps them grow rapidly. This might involve free-choice feeding, overfeeding, and sometimes high-fat foods. This often makes your pet susceptible to obesity and sickness.
Check out branded kitten food online and procure the same for your pet. With a complete and balanced meal, your kitten can enjoy an optimal growth rate.
