Is it ok to feed a kitten adult food occasionally?

Question

I have two 11 week old kittens who I of course feed kitten food since they have specific dietary needs. However, kitten food seems to only come in 1 variety: chicken. So every day, for the 4 or 5 meals they have, its chicken with turkey, chicken with liver, chicken with gravy, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken.

So to spice it up I started giving them a more interesting adult pouch once a day. So thats chicken for breakfast, chicken for brunch, chicken for lunch, chicken for dinner and *gasp* 75% real tuna flakes for afters!! Because I am paranoid about the nutritional deficiancies they might suffer as a result I also feed them 1,5 cm of Nurish-UM each to make up for the adult pouch having less calories.

What is your opinion on this? Am I depriving them of their deserved 5 portions of chicken a day? Or is this ok to do?

PS: they also get kitten dry food whenever they want and kitten milk.

Answer 1

It won't kill them say for a day or two til you can get to the store.   Just keep in mind that the kitten's little body is not getting all the nutrients in the correct amounts and you probably upset it's stomach by abruptly swithching foods on it.

Answer 2

i don't think it would cause harm especially if its the tuna, some good trace minerals and vitamins as well,  

Answer 3

I'm not sure, but when I had kittens i fed them so much i was not supposed to and they were fine. So go for it, I recon they will like the verity.

Answer 4

I think it would be ok, but only a little bit or you could mix it in with the kitten food. The kitten food has special nutrients tailored to a kitten's needs because it needs more nutrients to grow properly.

Answer 5

It will be ok to feed a kitten adult food about 1 out of 7 days in a week.

It would not harm the kitten. But I would not give him very much. I hope i helped you

Answer 6

No, kittens stomach are very sensitive to diet change (tuna is actually not good for them straight). Switching different types of food whether its the same flavor or not will give your cat diarrhea which will dehydrate the cat and risk it's health/life. They need the bland same food every day.  

Answer 7

You can feed it to them 24/7 if you prefer.  There's very little difference between them.  If anyone doesn't believe me, I suggest they read the labels.

Do kittens need to eat "kitten" food? Jul 12, '07 8:36 AM

for everyone

No, kittens do not need to eat "kitten" food. This is because most of the kitten foods on the market differ from adult food in very few, unimportant ways: The kibble bits are smaller (that's nice), they have a little more protein (but probably not meat-based protein), and they're higher in calories (that's nice, but.....)

Kittens do not need anything that adults don't, and vice versa. Kittens will not be harmed by eating adult foods, but they may not be getting their caloric requirements unless they're fed enough of it.

The best thing to feed a kitten, if you're willing to learn about it, is a raw meat diet. If you want to learn more, search for raw feeding at Yahoo Groups. There are several very good groups out there.

Or you can select a good commercial canned food and call it a day. The What to feed link offers many suggestions. Even though they don't market themselves as "kitten" foods, they are appropriate so long as you feed according to the guidelines.

http://www.maxshouse.com/feline_nutritio...

Energy Requirements for Kittens and Adult Cats  

Age  kcal/lb body wt  

Kittens: 10 weeks  113  

20 weeks  59  

30 weeks  45  

40 weeks  36  

Adult Cats: Inactive  18  

Active  20-30  

Pregnant  45  

Lactating*  56--145  

This site has another table showing the minimum protein allowances for cats v. kittens. It boils down to kittens needing 4% more protein than adults. There were other items in there, but it didn't vary widely at all.

One word of warning - if you're feeding an adult cat dry food from the grocery store, then I would probably stick with the kitten food for the kitten. Because the adult's food is inferior, I think it would be better for the kitten to get the questionable benefits from the kitten food. But of course a better idea would be to feed both of them a better food.