Can nursing mother cats and their kittens both eat kitten food?

It is perfect to feed the mama cat kitten food as well as long as she is feeding her kittens. This is correct! This should provide her with the energy needed to stay in good condition and also give enough milk to raise her kittens well. Please leave the kittens with their mama until they are 12 weeks old, as she will teach them everything necessary to become good cats (cleaning, toileting, hunting, etc.).

I would feed her wet/canned kitten food during the last three weeks of pregnancy so she hass enough nutrition for making her babies grow properly. Oncee she has given birth you can keep feeding her the kitten food, so there will be an easy transition when the kittens will start to eat solid food at around 6 weeks. Find homes for them now, but do not give them away before they are 12 weeks old, as they will still need mama to teach them to be good kitties, to hunt, what is safe, what is not, etc. They will also need their siblings to play and play hunt and get coordination.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Habla. I agree that she needs to eat a high quality kitten food to meet her nutritional needs. The other cats can eat this food as long as they do not suffer from kidney disease. It may, however, lead to weight gain due to the increased calories this diet will provide. I hope this information helps!

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.

Yes you are correct about your thoughts. It does hurt when they nurse now with their little teeth, and after three weeks they are old enough to start eating solid food. I’m glad you are starting to feed them. You can give wet kitten food now four times daily and add warm water to it to make it very wet. Usually having them lick it off your finger by the dish will teach them to eat. Just let the Mom go in and out as she wants and she’ll gradually wean them herself. Once her milk is dried up it’s a good time to spay her as she can get pregnant again soon afterwards. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for your kittens.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Goldie. At 4 weeks of age, the kittens can start eating kitten food. You can offer wet food or dry kibble softened with warm water. This can supplement their nursing. Goldie will need to see her veterinarian if her nupple does not heal soon. I hope this information helps!

It is normal for a nursing queen to require more calories and I typically recommend feeding kitten food that is higher in calories. It's also possible that she contracted intestinal parasites when she got outdoors, or even that she has another disease like diabetes. I would recommend taking her to a veterinarian. She could be examined, and you may want to discuss vaccinating her and the kittens as well - when cats escape once sometimes it happens again and it would be safest to have her vaccinated.