Can kittens eat human food or treats? Is it safe for young cats?

Too much human food adds extra calories a cat doesn't need. In addition, it can make them picky, as they tend to like human food better and then won't eat their cat food. It's fine to give as an occasional treat, but I actually never give my cats human food at all. For a treat for them, I give them Temptations or canned food. I hope this helps!

Yes, it is OK to give kittens treats, but make sure that they do not make up more than 10% of her diet. If you decide to change brands of food, make sure to transition slowly over a period of a few days to a week to make sure that she does not get any GI upset due to a diet change. I rotate my cats' food regularly and they do not have any GI problems, but until you know about Callie, I would take it slowly. I think rotating brands is a good idea as long as she tolerates it well. We normally recommend changing from kitten to adult food around 6 months of age. I hope that was helpful and answered your question. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

It is not ideal to feed your pets people food like bread however a small amount should be ok and should not harm your cat. If you do decide to give people food as treats, do so in only small amounts. Use foods that are bland and easily digestible (like a small piece of bread) and have low calories. One of the biggest problems with feeding people food to pets is that it can cause them to become overweight. It can also make them picky eaters in the future.

I recommend keeping table foods to 10% or less of the diet. All the foods you listed are not toxic and could be offered: onion, garlic, and fatty foods would be the main ones to avoid. I don’t think supplementing with KMR would be necessary for your other cat - you would be better off offering canned cat food mixed with water as it is nutritionally complete for an adult. While petroleum jelly would be okay you may have difficulty getting your cats to eat it.

People food is just that – food for people. Cats are obligate carnivores, and as such, have a delicate balance of protein, carbohydrates, fat, and vitamins and minerals that must be maintained. Cats should eat a balanced high quality diet in order to meet all of their nutritional needs. Unbalanced diets with vitamin/mineral imbalances risk a variety of health problems. Home cooked diets are not as commonly recommended, but are preferred by some cats and pet owners. If you opt to go down this road, a carefully crafted recipe by a specialist in veterinary nutrition should be used with proper vitamin and mineral supplementation. Even with a commercial diet, occasional treats of boiled white meat chicken, turkey, salmon, or tuna can be perfectly fine in small quantities.

By 8 weeks old, you can absolutely start to give your kitten dry food. If they are accustomed to eating wet food, consider making the transition gradually by mixing the wet and dry foods together over 5-7 days. While it would not necessarily be harmful to eat small amounts of an adult cat food, it would be best to exclusively feed kitten food for the first year of life since these foods are balanced for growth. Some of my favorite brands of kitten foods include Science Diet ( http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=29250 ), Royal Canin ( http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=31886 ), and Purina ProPlan ( http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=31190 ), and I have included a few examples. It would be fine to give an occasional Webbox tasty stick as a treat, but avoid offering too many. I hope this helps and that all goes well!

You can feed her cat treats as long as you only give her small quantities as cat treats are usually much higher in calories which will likely end up gaining a lot of extra weight when she gets a little older.