What food and protein does a mother cat need while nursing kittens?

Yes please continue to feed Icy a good quality dry cat food and you may add some all meat wet food twice daily. There is no specific protein requirement as all quality dry foods have enough, and adding canned food will increase her protein intake also. I like to leave the dry food out all the time so she can free feed. She will need extra calories to have enough milk for the kittens. Once the kittens are three weeks old I start offering them kitten canned food, teaching them to eat by putting a little on your finger and having them lick it off. You also can soak kitten dry food until soft and try them on that. The sooner they start eating on their own the less it will strain Icy to feed them. Enjoy her babies, kittens are fun to see grow up. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you get answers to your veterinary questions.