🍛How Often Should I Feed My Cat?

     How frequently should cats and kittens eat? There is no simple solution because the age and relative health of your cat, the number of cats you have, your living environment, and the sort of food you offer will all influence how you approach feeding.

     A stay-at-home caretaker, for example, can serve canned food to kittens or senior cats multiple times each day. A single, working owner or a two-income family, on the other hand, will rely on dry cat food with canned food added in the morning and late at night.

How Frequently Should You Feed Kittens Canned Food?

     Kittens require approximately twice as much nutrients as adult cats for growth and energy.1 Obviously, their stomachs can't tolerate enormous amounts of food. As a result, they require frequent feedings at initially, which gradually decrease as they develop. During this stage, it is critical to weigh the kittens on a regular basis to ensure that they are gaining weight without getting overweight. Their hunger level is usually a reliable indicator of whether they are getting adequate nutrition.

     As a rule, kittens under 8 weeks old should stay with their mother cat.2 If this is not practicable, a kitten can be bottle-fed as early as two weeks of age. Alternatively, from five weeks old, the kitten can be progressively introduced to a high-quality canned kitten food mixed with equal quantities of a "kitten formula" such as kitten milk replacer. Note: I do not recommend giving kittens full milk because many cats are allergic to it. As the kitten reaches 6 weeks of age, the amount of KMR can be gradually lowered until the kitten is eating canned food exclusively.

Please keep in mind that these principles apply to the feeding of canned food:

At six weeks old: three or more little feedings spread throughout the day. To monitor the kitten's development, weigh him or her on a regular basis and record the results in a dated chart.

At 12 weeks old, increase the size of each meal and eventually spread them out to three meals each day.

Around 6 months old, you can start spacing out your meals to twice a day.

     If you purchase a feeder, you can set the time and number of servings per meal so you don't have to worry about your cat starving during your absence.

How Often Should You Feed Adult Cats?

     A kitten is considered an adult at one year of age, unless he is gaining too much weight. During the next nine years or so, he can be fed canned cat food or adult "maintenance" food once or twice a day, with dry food supplements as mentioned below when necessary.

What About Dry Food?

     According to veterinarians, providing dry food to a cat for convenience can satisfy its nutritional needs as long as it is full and well-balanced.3. Cats that only eat dry food have lived long, happy lives. Adult cats who have caregivers who work might be fed canned food for breakfast and dinner, with dry food available for "grazing." To suit all cat types, a range of high-quality dry food options is provided.

Geriatric and Special Needs Cats

     If an older cat hasn't developed a condition that calls for a different diet, they can follow the same feeding regimen as adult cats. It is best to feed these cats according to the feeding instructions provided by your veterinarian, including the amount and kind of food.