When, How Much & Where Cats Eat
Like its wild cousins, the domestic cat is considered to be a true or “obligate” carnivore. Practically speaking, this means that your kitten’s diet must include meat to support optimal growth and health. Because of the cat’s strictly carnivorous history, its dietary requirements include nutrients that can only be supplied by meat products. Specifically, these include the need for dietary taurine, arachidonic acid (an essential fatty acid), and preformed vitamin A, along with an unusually high protein requirement. What these special requirements signify is that your cat should always be fed a food that has been specifically formulated for cats (not dogs). This will ensure that your kitten receives all of his needed nutrients to ensure healthy growth and development.
When to Eat?
Most house cats readily adapt to different types of feeding schedules. Kittens can be fed free-choice (i.e. having food available all day), or using portion-controlled meals. When using portion-controlled meal feeding, two or three meals per day are preferable to one meal per day. Because of their small stomachs and high energy needs, growing kittens should be fed at least three to four times daily until they reach six months of age. Here are a few feeding tips for your new kitten:
If you provide food to your kitten throughout the day, a fresh bowl of food should be offered daily. Any cat food that remains in the bowl after 24 hours should be discarded before cleaning and refilling the bowl.
If you are meal-feeding, your kitten should be fed at approximately the same time each day. While your cat is eating, respect his right to eat in peace and do not disturb him. Make sure that you give him at least 20 minutes to eat before removing his bowl.
How Much to Feed?
The feeding instructions on the cat food package provide general guidelines that will help you to estimate an initial volume of food to offer to your kitten. Divide that amount by the number of meals per day to calculate the volume per meal. Here are some tips for monitoring your kitten’s food consumption:
After you measure the estimated amount of food into his bowl, allow your kitten 15 to 20 minutes to eat. Any food that is not eaten within that time should be taken up. Offer food again later in the day, again noting the amount that is fed and whether or not your kitten leaves some of the food.
After a few days, you should be able to determine an approximate quantity that your kitten requires to maintain a normal body condition. This usually entails slightly increasing or decreasing the recommended amount on the package guidelines.
As your kitten grows, the total amount of food that he needs each day will gradually increase until he reaches adulthood. His energy needs will stabilize and then decrease slightly once he is an adult. Caution: It is easy to over-feed young adult cats. Be careful not to over-feed your cat once he is mature.
Provide a quantity of food that supports growth and muscle tone, but does not cause your kitten to be overweight. When in proper body condition, your kitten's ribs should not be visible, but should be easily felt without a heavy layer of fat under the skin.
While some cats are able to maintain normal body weight and a healthy body condition when given unlimited access to food (free-choice feeding), other cats tend to over-consume and gain weight when they know that an endless supply of food is available. Moreover, some pet owners find it difficult to feed their cat free-choice because of competition between pets within the household or because they are providing different foods to different pets. In these cases, feeding two or more pre-measured meals per day is the best feeding approach.
Where to Eat?
Because cats are highly territorial, a sense of “place” will be quite important to your new kitten. This is even true in terms of where he eats each day. Most cats prefer to eat in a quiet place that does not experience a lot of household traffic. Your kitten’s eating spot also should not be close to his litter box or favorite sleeping spots. As soon as your kitten is settled into your home, introduce him to his eating place and begin his regular feeding schedule.
Selecting a Food for Your Kitten
Today, most cat owners prefer the reliability and convenience of feeding a commercial pet food. When selecting a food for your kitten, food characteristics to consider include nutrient content and ingredient quality, energy density, palatability, and the reputation of the manufacturer. Select a food that is formulated for your kitten’s age and activity level, and that your kitten finds to be appealing and satisfying. When fed, the food should support normal gastrointestinal tract functioning and produce regular, firm, and well formed stools. Most importantly, the selected food should support vitality and health, good coat quality, healthy skin condition, and proper body physique and muscle tone.
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