Kittens also need vitamin H, which increases immunity and prevents the development of infections and inflammatory processes (found in the liver, kidneys, egg yolk, dry yeast), and vitamin K, which has a beneficial effect on the state of the blood.
In some cases (for example, in the process of recovery, with a lack of nutrients and impaired growth), the level of vitamins in food may not be high enough; then you have to introduce them into the animal’s body in an artificial way. But, adding any elements to the kitten’s food, it is always recommended to follow the advice of specialists.
The diet of a kitten is significantly different from feeding an adult cat.
At the age of 3-4 weeks, babies begin to lack mother's milk, and the owner must take care of their additional nutrition. From this moment, kittens need to be fed a mixture of oatmeal, whole cow's milk, cream and chicken eggs. Over time, boiled beef, passed through a meat grinder (when the kids are still a little older, can be replaced with raw one), fish and dry yeast are added to the feed. It is very important from a young age to teach a kitten to a variety of foods.
Raw fruits and vegetables (finely chopped or grated), spinach, bone meal will provide the body of a growing kitten with the necessary amount of vitamins and minerals. When the babies reach the age of 1.5–2 months and the time comes to take them away from the mother, the diet of kittens should already fully correspond to the diet of an adult cat in the ratio of all components. Only in this case you can avoid the problems associated with a sharp change in the feeding regime, and your pet will always receive a full and balanced diet, without changing his habits.
When a kitten is completely deprived of mother's milk, digestive disorders can occur.
In this case, whole cow's milk should be excluded from his diet, replacing it with fermented milk products (for example, cottage cheese).
Experts have calculated that the daily energy balance necessary for a kitten should be 838 kJ. Based on this, you can calculate the daily ration: to find out how much energy is in the feed, you need to multiply by 4.19 a number indicating the number of calories (this information can be found in any cookbook).
The kitten should have its own bowl.
Usually a kitten is weaned from its mother at the age of 10-12 weeks. At this time, he should be fed at least 6 times a day, provided that the daily norm does not exceed 150 g. When the kitten reaches 5 months of age, the number of feedings is recommended to be reduced to 4. Moreover, it should be borne in mind that an older baby needs the same amount of food like an adult cat. At the age of 9 months, your pet is already considered a mature individual, and it should be fed no more than 1 time per day.
Make sure that your kitten receives food in a certain place at the same time of day. A normalized diet promotes better digestibility of food and regulates the functioning of the digestive system. In addition, compliance with the regime is very useful from the point of view of education: if in the future you are going to let your pet out for walks, he will always return home on time.
It is necessary to ensure that the kitten always has water.
The kitten should be given ground food. Both cold and hot food are harmful to the animal’s health, so food should be at room temperature. If for some reason the kitten could not eat everything that you have prepared for it, remove the remaining food after 30 minutes. Remember that your pet’s cup should have fresh boiled water at all times of the day.
The right choice of dishes for feeding the animal is very important. First of all, it should be comfortable: a difficult meal can harm the health of the kitten. For solid food, it is better to use a shallow stable dish, for liquid - an ordinary tea saucer, for dry food - a deeper container. Of course, after each meal, the dishes should be washed thoroughly.