Raising healthy kittens

Particular issues to bear in mind when raising young kittens’

Dr Birgit Leopold-Temmler

‘I recommend including specially selected nutrients in controlled amounts in the diet of baby cats because of their high and specific nutrient requirements.’ Specialist veterinarian Dr Birgit Leopold-Temmler

Young kittens have specific nutritional needs while they are growing, i.e. more or less until the end of their first year of life. If baby cats do not receive the right feed, this can have negative effects on their physical and mental development. From the 6th week of life, the Kitten Paste from GimCat’s Expert Line, which is recommended by vets, in combination with special kitten feed supports healthy, harmonious growth.

Baby cats grow remarkably quickly

Kittens grow very fast in the first 6 months of life in particular. The weight of newborn kittens varies according to breed, but is on average about 3% of the weight of their mother. Within 4 weeks the kittens have already reached 10% of their eventual weight, and within 10-12 weeks this has risen to 30%. From this point on, young tomcats are already growing at a different rate from female kittens. They are heavier than female kittens in absolute terms. At the age of 5 months, kittens have reached about 60% of their eventual weight, and at the age of 6 months this has risen to over 85%.

Rapid growth - specific nutritional needs

As a rule, cats are specialist feeders and so need specific nutrients at all stages of their lives. This is particularly true of kittens, which, because of their fast growth and other factors, need special feed. They require essential combinations of nutrients in order to grow up healthy.

Specific nutrients are vital for feeding kittens

High-quality proteins: are vital to almost all growth processes, and so are particularly important for the healthy development of the growing kitten.
Calcium and phosphorus: are critical to the development of the entire motor apparatus and teeth, and kittens need to receive not only sufficient amounts but also the right proportion.
Vitamins and trace elements: are essential to the healthy development of the immune system and also vital for many processes in the metabolism of young kittens, which is running at full speed while they are growing.
Taurine: is anamino acid that cats cannot produce themselves and so has to be ingested with their feed. It is vital to the development of the nervous system, sight, and cardiac function.
Omega fatty acids: protect the cells of the growing kitten from cell damage. Omega 3 arachidonic acid, contained in egg yolk among other foodstuffs, is an important source of docosahexaeionic acid (DHA). DHA stimulates brain development and learning ability.

Feeding kittens - tips and tricks

A feed specially designed for baby cats with the right energy content is generally a good basis for enabling kittens to grow up healthily. In contrast to puppies, young kittens can be allowed to eat as much as they want. While puppies that are overfed soon become overweight (and remain so throughout their lives), there is no risk of this in kittens. Moreover, kittens sometimes develop diarrhoea if their feed intake exceeds their digestive capacities.

Young kittens have very specific dietary requirements. The properties of their feed are very important as well.

Feed for baby cats should be as easy to digest as possible. But it is not always easy to tell straightaway from reading the label whether a particular feed is digestible; this is only found out when giving it to the kitten. If kittens eat a lot of the feed, this is a good sign that they tolerate it well. Another even more important indicator is the volume and smell of the droppings in the litter tray. If they do not smell too bad and are fairly small and solid, this indicates that the feed is quite digestible. A very important point to bear in mind is that young kittens easily become fixated on a particular feed. In the case of dry feed, this can also include a particular size and shape of pellet. So it is important to offer as many different types of feed, different flavours and textures, and in the case of dry feed, different pellets as possible so as not to raise a cat that will only eat one type of feed.

Expert's tip!

Baby cats benefit from a good, digestible kitten feed supplemented by essential nutrients. Kittens can be allowed to eat as much feed as they want without becoming overweight. As kittens very easily become fixated on a particular feed and a particular type of feed, you should vary the feed you offer frequently to avoid feeding problems in the future. From a vet’s viewpoint, a Kitten Paste is ideal not only for supplying essential nutrients.

Providing specific additional nutrients for kittens

Because of the high and specific nutrient requirements of baby cats, the addition of specially selected nutrients in controlled amounts can be recommended. Choosing a paste for this purpose, such as the Kitten Paste from GimCat’s Expert Line, which is recommended by vets, offers several benefits.

The GimCat Kitten Paste is ideal not only for providing growing baby cats with nutrients that are important to their development, but can also help them become familiar with routine activities and strengthen the bond with their owner.

As well as providing the essential nutrients referred to above, which baby cats need, the kittens also get used to the texture of the paste. Pastes are also ideal in later life in order to administer certain nutrients or from time to time a medicine. Kittens that are used to a tasty paste will therefore be much more likely to accept medication or essential nutrient supplements in later life if these are contained in a paste. GimCat's Kitten Paste also has a reward effect and so can be very useful in getting kittens used to routine activities. Kitten Paste can be used to get kittens used to care procedures like being brushed, having their teeth, eyes and ears checked and cleaned, to being held (important when seeing the vet!) and to the transport box. Giving a small portion of a tasty paste also strengthens the positive bond between the kitten and ‘its’ owner. A good kitten feed and GimCat’s Kitten Paste are therefore from a veterinary point of view a very good choice for ensuring that kittens grow into happy, healthy cats.