Is my 7-week-old kitten getting enough nutrition from homemade food?

Properly balancing a home cooked diet for cats is extremely difficult, and is nearly impossible for growing kittens. Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning that they require meat as the staple of their diets. They are also require a careful balance of amino acids, particularly taurine, to maintain optimal health. Nutritional deficiencies can lead to dilated cardiomyopathy, abnormal bone growth, or a host of other problems. I strongly recommend exclusively feeding Pelly a commercial kitten food to provide a proper nutritional balance for optimal growth. Royal Canin kitten food is a great option! You do not need to add additional foods or vitamins while feeding commercial diets. If you decide to feed more home cooked foods, try to wait until she is fully grown, and then only do so under the guidance of a board-certified veterinary nutritionist (including the recommendations found on www.balanceit.com). I hope this helps and that all goes well for Pelly!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Ron. I recommend feeding a well researched kitten food such Royal Canin, Purina ProPlan or Hill's Science Diet. If you do prefer to home cook his food, then you will need consult with a veterinary nutritionist. The website www.balanceit.com is a great resource. Ron is growing quickly at this stage and it is important to ensure he receives proper nutrition. I hope this information helps!

Yes, cooked chicken is fine but Bella needs to be eating a commercial cat food. Cats have specific nutritional needs and a homemade diet is always LACKING in proper nutrition. I recommend to feed Bella Royal Canin Kitten food or Purina ProPlan Kitten food. These are balanced diets that contains all the amino acids, vitamins, minerals, fat, fiber and DHA that she needs to develop normally. I hope this helps.

Kittens do the majority of their growth in the first five to six months of life but continue to grow until they are around one year old. During this time of rapid growth and maturation of their bones, it is very important to choose a complete and balanced diet with the appropriate levels of nutrients. Diets formulated for growth include those labeled for kittens or “all life stages.” Canned foods promote increased water consumption in cats, and feeding dry food exclusively or in combination with canned is also acceptable. Offering a kitten with a variety of textures early in life can be helpful in minimizing the chance of having a picky eater. Regardless of diet selection, always make diet changes gradually by mixing the old and new foods together over five to seven days and make sure to carefully measure the appropriate portions of your cat’s food. Abrupt changes have a greater likelihood of resulting in vomiting and/or diarrhea.

Picky eaters can always be frustrating! By 7 weeks of age, Ryoko does not need to nurse from her mom, so any nursing may be delaying her need for kitten food. If possible, try to separate the mother cat from all kittens for several days. During that time, offer canned kitten food mixed with finely shredded chicken to try to tempt Ryoko to eat, then gradually decrease the amount of chicken mixed with the kitten food. If she does not care for canned food, you can try offering dry kitten food. She won't starve herself! I hope this helps and that all goes well!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Raw beef is missing other key vitamins and minerals that kittens need to develop so I do not recommend feeding that alone. I would try canned kitten food and put it on a plate so she can stand in it and eat it. If she goes 24 hours without eating, I would take her to a vet to make sure there are no physical problems causing her not to eat a balanced diet. Good luck and kisses to Reena!

Hi there. I would recommend feeding her a high quality kitten food until she is 9 months old. You can feed her canned food and dry food. There are several great brands of kitten food available, I like Royal Canin kitten food, Natural Balance and Wellness. I hope that helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.