“A kitten’s stomach is no bigger than a thimble”—these words from the advertisement come to mind when the question arises about the frequency of meals and the size of the pet’s portions. The fear of underfeeding or overfeeding is natural, but worries will disappear if you understand how many times to feed a kitten at 2 months, and the baby can easily figure out the amount of food himself and will definitely show with his behavior whether he has enough to eat.
How often to feed
In order not to guess whether the kitten is full or not, you just need to know its age-specific food needs and correctly create a diet. According to general observations and recommendations of veterinarians, A 2 month old kitten needs to be fed 5-6 times a day. In total, the interval should be 4-5 hours.
Why is the number of meals so specific? There are several explanations for this:
- the kitten is very active and energetic;
- due to high activity, appetite appears quickly (provided that the baby is healthy);
- At this age, the pet's weight increases noticeably.
As for the amount of food that a kitten should eat per day, on average for a 2-month-old baby, 150 - 170 g will be enough with slight deviations in one direction or another. Of course, the exact amount in grams for each individual kitten cannot be predicted, since everything here depends on the degree of activity of the pet, its state of health, breed and basic “love” of food.
One thing is clear: if a kitten overeats at 2 months, its small stomach may react heavily to oversaturation and fail to cope with its main function.
Is your pet full?
There is a belief that the cat itself knows how much food it needs and will not eat too much. But she cannot convince overly worried owners of this, as a result of which overly caring owners sometimes try to keep the animal near the bowl, forcing and persuading it to eat more. Moreover, instead of benefit, such “love” only brings harm: already from 2 months the kitten will begin to suffer from stomach disorders
However, often even at 2 months, getting your pet to eat more is not always easy. At this age, the kitten usually begins to realize when there has been enough food, although occasionally “punctures” still occur, leading to overeating.
To understand whether your pet is full, you should pay attention to the following signs:
- if the portion is approximately 50-70 g, a kitten at 2 months will already be full of this amount;
- if the tummy is slightly rounded (we are not talking about a belly that looks like a tight drum - this is already overeating);
- the kitten itself, having eaten, moves away from the bowl and licks itself contentedly;
- if the portion turns out to be too big, the pet may not finish it, independently determining its feeling of fullness.
And don’t worry that the baby didn’t get enough food, because in case of malnutrition, the kitten at 2 months will already let the owner know that he would like more:
- carefully licks the bowl until it shines, not wanting to leave a drop of tasty food in it and collecting the last crumbs of food;
- Having finished his portion, he continues to sniff his “dining room” in search of food.
Important: if the kitten has not yet been weaned from its mother, then the baby simply will not be able to eat the treat offered by the owner in the quantity indicated above, so there is no point in insisting or worrying. In this case, inviting the baby to the bowl 3-4 times a day is enough.
Weight control
For most breeds, the first year of life is the most active, and it is during this time that the kitten grows rapidly and gains weight. If the pet receives sufficient nutrition, all its indicators will be normal.
It is advisable to monitor the weight of a cat at 2 months every week, writing down all the data in a notebook (this will be very helpful in case the gain is insufficient and you have to contact a veterinarian).
If a kitten eats enough at 2 months, it weight should be in the range of 400-900 g(average - approximately 600 g). But for some breeds, these data may be different: some representatives of large breeds by this age gain weight from 1 to 1.5 kg (for example, Maine Coon, British and Scottish kittens).
How often to feed certain foods
The diet of a small pet fed homemade food must include foods that are important and healthy to consume, but cannot be offered to a 2-month-old kitten every day:
- Ocean fish. This product is one of the provocateurs of central nervous system disorders and the development of urolithiasis (male cats are especially prone to the latter). You can give fish to your baby, but not more than once, maximum twice a week, and only in a well-cooked form. River fish often leads to helminthiasis (if it itself is infected).
- Liver/kidneys. They are very useful and loved by kittens, but they contain waste, because these organs are essentially filters that retain harmful substances, too. A 2-month-old kitten should eat them as often as fish, and also only boiled.
- Egg yolk. A rich source of vitamin E, but half a yolk per week is the maximum that a 2 month old kitten should eat.
- Milk. With the active growth of a kitten, milk gradually stops being absorbed by the body (especially cow's milk). Therefore, this product needs to be removed from the diet, despite the touching videos and images of kittens in a saucer of milk. For pets, clean water and broths will be enough to drink, and lactic acid products (cottage cheese, sour cream, cream, etc.) are excellent sources of calcium.
Adequate nutrition is not only good food or homemade food, containing a lot of substances and vitamins useful for a growing body, but also properly calculated portion dosages and time intervals between meals. Only compliance with all these conditions together will help a small pet grow healthy, energetic and beautiful from the age of 2 months to the delight of its owners.
We will only help you be closer to your pet: better understand its needs and know the basic nuances of caring for it.
Kitten care: newborn babies
The main task of a cat owner when caring for her kittens is to provide the mother cat and babies with a cozy and warm home with comfortable bedding. Many breeders use an incubator to raise kittens, but an ordinary box is quite suitable for these purposes. If the apartment is cold, the box can be heated using a heating pad wrapped in a towel or plastic bottles with warm water. Most cats spend the entire time raising their babies in their house, but some of them, soon after the birth of kittens, try to “hide” them. Thus, the cat instinctively tries to protect newborns from predators that once threatened its ancestors in the natural environment.
In the first weeks of life, kittens are still blind and deaf; they feed only on their mother's milk. The babies snuggle up to the cat's warm belly, find the nipple and massage the mammary gland, trying to get as much milk as possible. At this stage, if all kittens are healthy, no human intervention is required.
Strong, healthy kittens look round, dense and actively feed, making almost no sounds.
Care for kittens up to 1 month. What to do if kittens are left without a mother cat
In some cases, cats abandon their kittens. The reasons for this may be physiological, for example, lack of milk, or psychological. Often, after several weeks of caring for kittens, the cat leaves the nest.
Kittens can also be left alone if the cat is injured during childbirth or dies. In this case, the owner must take on the difficult task of independently caring for and feeding newborn kittens.
If the cat refuses or cannot feed the babies, try to find a replacement for her. You can find a nursing cat by contacting the nursery where your cat was purchased, visiting a veterinarian at the clinic, or finding a nursing cat through an advertisement. As a rule, cats accept any kittens for feeding. The main thing is that they are approximately the same size as her own. Remember: feeding kittens with someone else's cat will not affect their appearance or breed qualities in any way.
For artificial feeding of kittens, without a nurse cat, a bottle with a pacifier is used. You can easily find such devices in any pet store, as well as ready-made milk formulas for feeding.
You should not feed a kitten the same way as newborn babies, turning it onto its back. The animal may choke. The kitten must be bottle-fed in a prone position.
Kittens that have grown up to three weeks begin to be fed porridge, gradually adding other foods to their diet. Please note: the animal’s diet is determined strictly by age.
Kittens are growing up: feeding and caring for pets
Proper feeding and care of kittens from the moment they are born largely determines their future health. When starting to feed your baby with denser food at one month of age, make sure that it contains all the necessary microelements for the growth and development of your pet. Next, we will tell you how to create your kitten’s diet yourself.
Meat and offal
Meat contains the best highly nutritious protein. In second place after this product are the entrails, which are an excellent source of many minerals and vitamins.
The best meat products in a kitten's diet are beef and beef heart. The meat must be ground into minced meat, to which you can add vegetable puree or wheat sprouts, as well as vitamins and crushed yeast tablets. All foods must be thoroughly washed before cooking.
Dairy products in a kitten's diet
Cow's milk is unacceptable for many cats because it contains specific milk sugar, which adversely affects the digestion of animals.
Fresh cow's milk is absolutely unsuitable for feeding kittens - it has a completely different composition compared to cat milk.
Low-fat cottage cheese, yogurt and various types of cheese are preferred for kittens. Excellent nutrition for a kitten can be obtained by mixing cottage cheese with egg yolk and a teaspoon of sprouted wheat.
Fish in a kitten's diet
The most important product in a kitten’s diet is fish. The fish fillet must be well cooked: in this case, the digestibility of the protein contained in it increases, and the eggs and larvae of worms that may be in it die. Desirable fish varieties are: salmon, cod, navaga, eel, flounder and trout. Choose low-fat fish.
You should exclude smoked and canned fish from your diet, or give it in small portions and only as a treat.
Vegetables for kittens
Vegetables and other types of complementary foods must be added to each serving of kitten food. It is best for the kitten to consume them pureed.
If you do not have the opportunity to prepare vegetable puree for your baby yourself, use a variety of baby food products. Make sure that prepared foods for complementary feeding are unsweetened.
Eggs in your pet's diet
Egg yolk is a highly nutritious product rich in vitamins. In a kitten's diet, it goes well with mashed potatoes, vegetables, corn flakes, and sprouted wheat grains. The yolks must be given to the cat boiled. Raw eggs should not be fed to your pet.
Kitten care, pet nutrition for 2 months and older: dry food
Feeding an older kitten with dry and canned food is the best choice for busy owners. It is not always possible for kitten owners to properly monitor their pet’s diet on a natural diet. In industrial feed, the manufacturer has already taken into account the daily intake of nutrients; vitamins are additionally included in the composition of many feeds.
The age of the animal is also taken into account when developing the ingredient composition of these products: special food is produced for kittens, designed specifically for their age.
You can easily find commercially produced food for kittens in any pet store.
When preparing a diet for a kitten, it is important to remember that mixing natural food with industrial food is unacceptable. Such feeding can lead to serious health problems for your pet.
cat lawn
A grown kitten vitally needs the minerals contained in fresh sprouts of cat grass. In addition, the grass helps your pet cope with clumps of accumulated fur in its stomach after diligent licking.
Setting up a lawn is easy: all you need is a couple of flower pots and cat grass seeds, which are available at pet stores. The “pasture” for your pet is ready!
Wheat, oat, and barley sprouts are good for your kitten's health - these seeds are sold as bird food or in medicinal herbal stores. Avoid using treated seeds intended for field sowing.
Caring for a kitten and raising a pet: how to get rid of bad habits
The optimal age for a kitten to settle in a new home is two months. By this time, the pet will be able to successfully socialize and feel comfortable around its new owners. There is no doubt that owners will still not be able to avoid some problems in their pet’s behavior. Let's list the most common variants of unwanted behavior in a kitten and ways to solve them:
Care and education of kittens: games with filler
Burying their feces is natural for cats in any habitat. An apartment is no exception. Pets are often careless during this process: the filler ends up on the floor and spreads throughout the apartment. Also, small kittens often mistake lumps of litter for a toy. It’s easy to solve this problem by changing your pet’s toilet: choose a house tray for him or a tray with high sides curved inwards.
Puddles in the wrong places
If your kitten suddenly changes the place or position of defecation, first of all you should pay attention to his health and consult a veterinarian. Have you made sure that your pet is healthy, but he still continues to crap? Then pay attention to the tray, the filler, the position of the toilet; perhaps he doesn’t like some of this.
Begging and stealing food from the table during lunch
As a rule, such habits are reinforced by the behavior of the owner himself. Once you gave in and treated your plaintively meowing pet to a piece of meat from the table? This means that we have taken the first step towards similar behavior in the kitten in the future. Feed your pet before you sit down at the table yourself and do not let him eat from the table. And after lunch, put all food away so as not to provoke petty theft.
Proper and balanced nutrition for a kitten up to one year is one of the important aspects of its life. Its further health, activity and ability to reproduce depend on this. Before you get yourself a small pet, you need to study the information about how many times a day and what exactly you should feed it. This depends on the following indicators: the age of the kitten, its weight and the composition of the food that it will receive in the future.
Show all
Number of meals per day
The very first point that a new owner must learn is how many times a day the kitten needs to be fed. If there is a cat in the house that feeds a small pet, then the task is noticeably easier, since it is she who monitors the diet of her baby. If the kitten was acquired at a very young age or was found still blind, then an approximate feeding schedule is presented below:
Once a kitten reaches one year of age, it is considered an adult and feeding should be reduced to twice a day. But there are breeds that are considered adults only by the age of three, for example, Maine Coons.
Features of feeding by month
Depending on the age and weight of the pet, its feeding varies.
Up to 1 month, the animal needs a special mixture that will replace mother's milk. It is sold in a specialized store. If it is not possible to buy a cat milk substitute, you can mix four parts goat milk (boiled) and one part egg white (raw). The resulting mixture is whipped and heated to the required temperature. It is best to use a bottle for food so that the baby develops a sucking reflex faster. As a last resort, you can feed your pet baby formula, but it must be diluted twice as thin as for a child.
In the first two days of a kitten’s life, you need to feed every two hours day and night, and on the 3rd, 4th, 5th day - every two hours during the day and three hours at night. In the first week of a kitten’s life, the feeding temperature should be 38–39 degrees. The volume in the first four days is 30 milliliters per hundred grams of weight, and then until the end of the week – 38 milliliters.
In the second week, the kitten needs to be fed every four hours, no matter whether it is day or night, the volume remains the same. The only thing that changes is the temperature of the mixture. It must be lowered to 32 degrees.
In the third week, the volume of the mixture must be increased to 46 milliliters per hundred grams of the pet’s weight, and the temperature reduced to 30 degrees. The baby should also receive food every four hours.
In the fourth week, the volume of the mixture remains 46 milliliters, but you can gradually add lean beef and low-calorie cottage cheese.
It is necessary to pay attention to how the kitten gains weight. A newborn baby weighs 80–130 grams, depending on the breed. After one week, the weight should double, and thereafter the increase per week is 100 grams.
Closer to 1 month, the kitten can be given liquid milk porridge in addition to the formula.
When feeding, it is important to observe the food temperature: it should be at least 30 degrees.
Starting from the fifth week, the kitten should be taught to eat food from a bowl. To do this, first, lubricate the baby’s mouth with porridge or a mixture and bring it to a small plate. A hungry pet will begin to lap from the cup on its own.
1–2 months
A one-month-old kitten is already feeding independently from a bowl and can be given solid food, which must be ground in a blender. The diet of a two-month-old baby includes: boiled meat (no more than 15 grams at a time), liquid porridge, milk, soft cheese, low-fat cottage cheese. It is advisable to include calcium and phosphorus supplements in the menu.
A prerequisite is the availability of freely available water so that the kitten can quench its thirst at any time. The water should always be fresh and clean, so it should be changed as often as possible.
A kitten appeared in the house - what and how to feed it?
Closer to four months, fish can be given once a week. It should be low-fat, sea and boiled. To all this you can cook buckwheat, rice, porridge, and give cottage cheese. So that the kitten can get the necessary vitamins, dry food and canned cat food should be included in the diet.
Up to three months, kittens tend to gain excess weight, so the owner should carefully monitor the animal’s diet.
4 months and older
During this period, the kitten is also fed meat. If it is beef, then you should boil it for 30 minutes or serve it raw (before that, it must be in the freezer for at least three days). Vegetables should be mixed with the porridge. Twice a week you need to give an egg yolk, and add kefir or yogurt to fermented milk products.
After five months, a pet develops its gastronomic tastes, so its menu is compiled individually according to preferences. If the animal is on a natural diet, then at this age you can add complex vitamins and minerals.
Every owner who has a little four-legged friend understands that the baby needs not only tasty food, but also balanced food. Only then will he be able to grow into a healthy and strong animal. Therefore, it is necessary to dwell on such an important question: what to feed a kitten at 2 months?
Almost all kittens, without exception, begin to feed on their own by the beginning of the second month, and they no longer need special feeding. Their diet is already significantly different from the diet of a kitten at one month of age. This is explained by the fact that their stomach and body in general become more adapted. At the age of two months, the kitten can already be offered an expanded range of food for feeding, as well as more roughage food.
Feeding options
In order for your pet to grow up energetic and become a healthy cat, you need to know what to feed a kitten 2 months old. When a baby persistently does not touch food, it means that he does not like it. You shouldn’t force it into his mouth, nothing good will come of it. It would be better if the owner of the animal thinks about changing the feeding scheme and thoroughly prepares the diet. It should contain products that contain sufficient amounts of essential microelements and vitamins. At the same time, do not forget about the main thing: the kitten should like the food.
Also, without delay, you will need to think about which of the available feeding options is most suitable for your baby. You have to choose one of three types of food, they are indicated below:
- natural;
- finished feed;
- mixed.
You should not count on someone to suggest the most correct option for your pet. Even veterinary specialists have conflicting opinions in this regard. An important role when choosing a diet for a pet is given to the breed of the animal, its taste preferences, the absence or presence of diseases and, finally, the gender of the kitten. If you have difficulties in how to feed a kitten for 2 months, then first of all, when choosing the right option, you should proceed from your financial capabilities, availability of experience and time to prepare your own food and other circumstances.
If you decide to give preference to ready-made food, you should take into account that you will have to buy only the highest class. And these feeds are quite expensive. But they have an undeniable advantage - they contain a set of important microelements, they will be very useful for a two-month-old kitten, and no additional complementary feeding will be required. There are also advantages to preparing your kitten's food yourself. This is not such a costly affair, and the food is usually closer to the natural diet of the animal.
Natural nutrition
Those who adhere to the position of feeding kittens with natural food are confident that only such food is safe and healthy for them. Naturally, for them there is no question of what to feed the baby at this age, since they have already made their choice. However, it is worth noting that natural foods that are considered acceptable for kittens are not at all the same products that humans consume. This is a specially produced food that contains useful substances and no chemical additives.
Advantages
Each feeding option usually has its pros and cons. It’s probably worth starting with the main advantages of this type of nutrition:
- The opportunity for the owner to select products for preparing food for kittens, focusing on their freshness and quality. This allows you to have more confidence that the prepared food is healthy for the baby.
- The food that is intended for the animal is always fresh, there are no chemicals in it, and therefore it will not only be useful for the still weak body, but also safe.
- The pet receives a variety of food daily.
- This food does not contribute to the development of addiction, the kitten will not suffer from painful addiction. Some foods can be freely replaced with others without causing stress to the kitten.
Flaws
As for the negative aspects of natural feeding of an animal, the following main points should be highlighted:
- It is necessary to carefully monitor that the diet does not contain foods that are undesirable, or even dangerous, for the kitten’s digestive system.
- Ordinary food does not always contain enough vitamins necessary for the normal development of a kitten at two months of age. To balance the diet, you will have to buy them specially and, after calculating the dose yourself, add them to your cat’s dishes.
But regardless of the option you choose to feed your pet, protein should be the basis of nutrition. Only they participate in the construction of a living organism. Therefore, the diet should consist of foods that are rich in protein, in a proportion of approximately more than half of the daily diet. Fish and meat products have a sufficient amount of protein.
But not only protein foods should be included in the baby’s diet. It is necessary to ensure that it contains various vitamins and microelements in sufficient quantities. The kitten's body is growing and it needs to have plenty of calcium, which promotes tooth growth and skeletal development. These substances are found in whole milk and fermented milk products. Knowing what a kitten should eat for 2 months and what should be removed from its diet, the baby’s owner will be able to confidently create a high-quality diet that will include necessary and healthy natural products.
The kitten, although small, is still a predator, so at this stage of its life it needs appropriate food every day. In general, the diet should consist of the following products:
- fatty meat, since the kitten’s stomach is not adapted to such loads, and as a result, this is fraught with indigestion and liver disease. This list includes meat such as pork, goose, and lard;
- whole milk, since they do not have enzymes that digest milk;
- bones, because it is easy for a baby to injure the esophagus with them or simply choke;
- the protein of raw eggs, since the enzymes present in them can affect the body’s biotin;
- pickles, smoked meats, products canned for human consumption;
- chicken skin - it is not digested by the stomach;
- vegetables - for example, eggplants, tomatoes, onions, garlic. And also some fruits, such as avocados;
- chocolate. This product is highly toxic to these animals and can even cause death;
- medicines and vitamins intended for human consumption, although there are exceptions.
Products that can be used in minimal quantities:
- peas and beans, their consumption causes bloating;
- freshwater fish, since there is a high risk of helminth infection.
Ready-made feed
One of the main rules in feeding a two-month-old kitten is to maintain uniformity in the supply of food, that is, dry and wet food should not be mixed. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the kitten to rebuild its body, since these types of food are not digested by the body for the same amount of time. When switching from one food to another, or feeding one type for a long time, you need to do this gradually. For example, over the course of a week or a week and a half, slowly accustom your baby to a different type of food, introduce it into the diet in small portions, observing the kitten’s reaction. When choosing two types of food at once, one-fourth of the daily food should be wet food and three-quarters should be dry food.
Advantages
What are the advantages of feeding such food? This can be judged by the characteristics below:
- If the food is high-quality, then, as a rule, you can find in it a sufficient amount of essential minerals and vitamins for a balanced diet, which makes it possible to avoid purchasing additional supplements.
- The composition of the feed is almost always selected for the specific age and physiological characteristics of the animal.
- The dry food that the baby will eat helps stimulate the jaw bones and muscles.
- The use of such feed allows you to save time and effort on its preparation.
- It is very simple and convenient not only at home, but also when traveling - you can easily take it on the road.
- There is no need to rack your brains over drawing up the daily intake - the daily dose can be read on the package.
Flaws
Everything mentioned above, as a rule, concerns high-quality feed. Low-grade food that belongs to the economy class can pose a danger to the kitten’s body. Since they contain a large amount of mineral salts, which, when accumulated, often provoke the development of urolithiasis.
- In most cases, all waste products are used for their production - feathers, skins, animal fats, feathers, etc., which ultimately leads to clogging of the food tract.
- The presence of preservatives, fats and flavors in such foods.
- Dry food leads to addiction, and weaning an animal off it, if necessary, can be quite problematic. Does the fasting method help?
When you choose the option of ready-made food for feeding, but do not understand which one is best for your two-month-old pet, use the advice of veterinarians. Like professional breeders, these experts recommend purchasing ready-made food only in special stores or veterinary pharmacies. In addition, the feed must be of the highest quality, which contains all the nutrients necessary to maintain life.
The highest quality types of feed include holistic feeds. As a result of their production technology, they retain all the advantages of unprocessed meat - freshness and juiciness, as well as the greatest effectiveness of the ingredients included. The composition can be found on the packaging labels.
Important: Dry food marked “NaturCroq” can be used by humans for nutrition.
As for specific foods for kittens, the following are recommended, in particular:
- Happy Cat Junior. This food belongs to the super-premium class, which is produced specifically for small cats from five weeks to a year with a sensitive digestive system. It contains very important meat mixtures (rabbit, beef, chicken), as well as fish and egg; The food is of a size and texture that allows the kitten to successfully feed on it.
- 1st Choice. The same class as the previous food is intended for kittens from two months to one year of age. It is distinguished by high quality and reasonable price for this level. The food contains a balanced mixture of meat and plant ingredients. It also contains salmon fat, which helps stimulate brain activity. Improves the functioning of the heart muscle and eyes. The only disadvantage is that it is almost never found on sale; to purchase it, you must place an order online.
- Purina ProPlan. Available in two versions. The first (dry) is intended for kittens aged from one and a half months to a year, the second (wet) - up to a year. It is characterized by a relatively low price, availability, and is sold by weight, which allows significant savings on costs. It contains a sufficient amount of necessary elements and substances. Among the disadvantages are a large number of herbal components; may contribute to the development of allergies.
Mixed nutrition
There are quite a lot of experts who argue that it is prohibited to use different types of feeding at the same time - artificial and natural, explaining this by the fact that such a mixture often leads to disorders of the digestive system and hypervitaminosis. Other experts believe that this is how cats should ideally be fed at two months of age. That is, if the balance is maintained, the animal will simultaneously eat natural food and receive all the important microelements from ready-made feed.
As for the dosage of feed for mixed feeding, it is necessary to consult a specialist. As a rule, the dosage largely depends on the baby’s breed, condition, weight and other parameters. It happens that sometimes overly caring owners begin to change the diet two weeks after two months. You shouldn't do this, it remains the same.
Feeding rules
- You should not immediately feed your kitten the entire daily diet at once - since the baby cannot yet fully control his appetite, but the exception is feeding dry food.
- If you are going to feed your kitten food from the refrigerator, you should definitely warm it up until warm.
- It is allowed to store food in the refrigerator for no more than a day, wet food - up to 48 hours.
- Vitamins specifically designed for cats should be added to the natural diet.
- You must always remember that the key to a long and active life for your pet is proper nutrition.
Don't forget about water
Your baby should never feel very thirsty. Water is the most important factor in ensuring the normal functioning of the digestive system and good overall health. In this regard, he should always have clean water. The kitten should not be allowed to drink from containers in which dirty water accumulates.
Feeding regimen and norm
At the age of eight-ten weeks, it is advisable to feed the kitten more often, but the portions should be small. To do this, the daily norm is divided into five or six parts. The total weight of the daily menu, as a rule, is within one hundred and fifty grams per kilogram of the kitten’s weight; more accurate information can be obtained from a specialist. Breeders with extensive experience in this matter recommend regularly diversifying their food.
It is not enough to regularly feed your pets properly. Proper nutrition is a key issue in animal care. Veterinarians never tire of repeating: what you feed is what you get; What is the diet, so is the health of the pet. What does “correct” mean?
The menu for cats/cats, since we are talking about them, differs significantly at different ages. What is beneficial and vital for a kitten (for example, milk) will most likely cause harm and cause stomach upset in an adult. Therefore, from a good hundred recommendations from specialists, we will select only those that relate to the “tender age” - a 2-month-old kitten.
Why is it so important to feed a 2-month-old kitten properly?
- This is the age when the baby no longer has enough mother’s milk to live a full life. Healthy babies are more and more energetic, inquisitive, and playful. They spend more and more energy and calories, which requires compensation.
- The body (skeleton, internal organs, muscular system) of purrs is formed around the first year of life. And a healthy “complete set” directly depends on what the kitten eats. What your cat eats will determine how often you will need to see your veterinarian later.
- Immunity in cats, like in children, is acquired through mother's milk. So, if you feed the mother cat correctly, the question of what to feed the kitten at one month, as a rule, does not arise. Mom copes with this task herself. The transition to self-feeding is usually stressful for a small organism. And at first, nutrition should be less traumatic, more similar to delicious mother’s milk and just as rich and balanced. In addition to nutrients, include a complex of vitamins and minerals necessary for the formation of immunity.
If feeding is correct, the baby will grow healthy, look happy and gain weight day by day.
First, decide what you want to serve: natural food or professional food? Mixed food, according to feline nutritionists, is a bad option for a cat. By sprinkling healthy oatmeal “for flavor” with aromatic “crackers” of ready-made food and feeding it to your pet, you will most likely get two or even three problems. The fact is that the cat’s body adjusts to one way or another, that is, the diet. The mixture often causes a negative reaction: gastrointestinal upset, diarrhea and pain, loss of appetite. The transition from “artificial” food to natural food is often accompanied by the same (temporary, admittedly) problem.
If you want to understand what to feed a kitten for 2 months and how to feed it, let’s look at the features of each of these diets, natural food and specialized food.
Features of specialized feeds
Such nutrition has many advantages, if you do not save money and focus on professional food - premium and super-premium class. A high-quality manufacturer takes into account many cat characteristics - age, physiological, psychological; constitution, lifestyle and even gender. The gradation of dry food is very fractional. Food for purebred cats (Persian, etc.) and others. For active and neutered animals. For the elderly and young. Not a single line is complete without dry and wet food for kittens 2 months and older. It contains more calcium, protein, and its own vitamin and mineral complex. Moreover, there is more than one feeding option for kittens. You can find dry food for kittens up to one year old; food for kittens from 1 month to 4 months, there are even dry milk formulas for babies in the transition period. Nice job! There is no concern about what to feed a one-month-old kitten, let alone a 3-month-old kitten.
There is no need to fuss with cereals and broths, calculate calories, buy supplements and vitamin preparations, or come up with a menu for tomorrow. Others did everything for you. Just follow their advice on how much your pet should eat.
How much should you feed a kitten?
On the back of the package you will always find a table with the daily intake. Standards may vary from one manufacturer to another, as may the composition of the feed.
By the way, about the composition. Be sure to watch it. The inventors of cheap mass-produced food use almost no meat. Its “analogue” is minced meat made from bones, skin and even feathers. They do not disdain dyes and flavors. In addition, our pets are fed too many mineral salts. The benefits of such nutrition are questionable, but the harm is obvious. Low-quality food has little nutritional value, it is worth feeding once, the animal requires more and more food, but most importantly, a bad product causes kidney and liver diseases. By saving on food, you will splurge on the veterinarian.
So, how much specialized food should a kitten eat per day? The quantity depends on the weight of the cat. The recommended diet is 75% dry food, 25% wet food. There will be no harm if the amount of wet food (pouch or jar) is half the daily dose. Often, racking their brains about what to feed their 1-month-old kittens, owners mix dry and wet food in one plate. We do not recommend doing this. Better give it separately. Ideally, wet food should be at a comfortable warm temperature. If you warm it up a little (up to 38-40 degrees), it becomes more fragrant.
For feeding, it is better to use a low, wide container that is comfortable for the kitten. Vitamin-mineral complexes, no supplements needed. Only in individual cases, on the advice of a veterinarian.
Important! Your pet should always have access to a container of clean, not cold water. Dehydration is a deadly enemy. If a kitten eats dry food, its body definitely needs four times more moisture. Sometimes you hear that animals are smart! – find the liquid themselves. They climb into the bathtub or kitchen sink, lick water from the walls... Moisture with residues of household chemicals - is this really what you should feed your cat?
How many times a day should you feed?
Often, on average 5-6 times a day, in small portions. By six months, reduce to three times. Adult cats are recommended to be fed twice a day. In general, the diet is considered correct if the kitten is well-fed, but the skeleton is easily palpable, looks healthy, the coat is shiny, and the weight increases with growth.
Natural food: how to feed it correctly?
The saddest misconception when it comes to natural feeding is pieces from the master's table. Our food is unacceptable for animals, especially children. Salt, in the amount we are used to, will be a fatal blow to their kidneys. Pepper, spices, without which almost none of our dishes are complete, is a dangerous trick for a small liver. Smoked, salty, spicy, sweet - should not be present on the kitten's table. This is a slow poison or a gun that will definitely fire in a few years - urolithiasis, enlarged liver, and more.
Are you leaning towards natural foods? Approach this like an adult. A cat should grow up to be an omnivore, try different things, and not be stuck on one product. The argument that wild cats are mono-feeders in nature does not hold water. If rural hunters who catch mice meet the body's needs for protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals, then where will you get a fresh mouse for a city dweller?..
What can/should a kitten 3 months and younger eat?
- Meat, daily. Lean beef, chicken, turkey, rabbit. Boiled, raw or scalded. Cut into small pieces or ground into minced meat.
- Meat by-products: heart, liver, lungs, chicken stomachs. Ground or finely chopped, boiled or scalded.
- Milk, of course, every day. This is the basis of a child's diet. Later there will come a time when the body begins to poorly absorb this product. The teenager himself will refuse it. And for up to four months, this source of calcium is simply necessary.
- Fermented milk products: fermented baked milk, kefir, cottage cheese diluted with milk, low-fat sour cream.
- Fillet fish occasionally, no more than once a week. And only boiled. Raw fish (worms) and in large quantities (fluoride) are contraindicated.
- Eggs, quite often. Raw (whole, beating the yolk and white, or just the yolk) or boiled. Alone or with milk.
- Liquid porridge with milk or meat broth with the addition of meat. Oatmeal, oat flakes, buckwheat, rice, millet.
- Vegetables, raw and cooked. The kitten, of course, won’t bite the carrots, but you can crumble a little bit into meat pates and porridges. By the way, it is better not to use potatoes: starch is difficult to digest.
- A drop of vegetable oil a day to improve digestion.
- Ready-made vitamin and mineral complexes for kittens.
By the way, about the kitten, 1.5 months old. What to feed this baby? You can use ready-made baby food in jars - a mixture of meat and vegetables. Pates without salt, with vitamin supplements, are made from quality products.
What should you not feed your kitten (cat)?
- Pork (risk of contracting worms), fatty meat in general.
- Sharp, tubular bones (risk of injury, choking).
- Salty, spicy, smoked, fried, sweet, homemade canned food and sausage.
Delicious recipe from Vaska the cat
Milk, raw yolk, cottage cheese. Mix the ingredients by eye to get a thin porridge. A very useful, tasty little thing for a 2 month old kitten.
Useful video