Kitten food or adult food?

Question

I have a 6-month old cat. At what age should I start feeding him "adult" cat food?

Answer 1

i would suggest kitten food until the cat is a year of age...they needs lots of kitty nutrients...

Answer 2

We start our kittens off with kitten food for the first 8-12 months. But we start to add in cooked boneless chicken breast....and they love it. The protein in the chicken is also great for their health and digestion.

Many blessings, Patti

Answer 3

Since he was born you should have been feeding appropriate food for the species





Nutrition since there are so many bad things out there is very important to your cat’s health

Contrary to what you may have heard; dry foods are not a great thing to feed a cat.

Please read the label on what you are feeding? What are the ingredients? Do you know what they mean? Is the first ingrediant a muscle meat like chicken or meal or other things?

http://www.catinfo.org/#Learn_How_To_Rea...

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04...

Dry foods are the number 1 cause of diabetes in cats as well as being a huge contributing factor to kidney disease, obesity, crystals, u.t.i’s and a host of other problems. Food allergies are very common when feeding dry foods. Rashes, scabs behind the tail and on the chin are all symptoms

The problems associated with Dry food is that they are loaded with grains and carbohydrates which many cats (carnivores) cannot process.  Also, Most of the moisture a cat needs is suppose to be in the food but in

Dry, 95% of it is zapped out of dry foods in the processing. Another thing, most use horrible ingredients and don't use a muscle meat as the primary ingredient and use vegetable based protein versus animal. Not good for an animal that has to eat meat to survive.

http://www.catinfo.org/#My_Cat_is_Doing_...

You want to pick a canned food w/o gravy (gravy=carbs) that uses a muscle meat as the first ingredient and doesn't have corn at least in the first 3 ingredients if at all.    The best food for cats does not contain any grains at all.

Fancy feast is a middle grade food with 9lives, friskies  whiskas lower grade canned and wellness and merrick upper grade human quality foods. I would rather feed a middle grade canned food then the top of the line dry food.

Also, dry food is not proven to be better for teeth. Does a hard pretzel clean your teeth or do pieces of it get stuck? http://www.felinefuture.com/nutrition/bp...

Please read about cat nutrition.

                               http://www.newdestiny.us/nutritionbasics...

                               http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.ht...

      http://maxshouse.com/feline_nutrition.ht...

Vetinarian diets  The reason your vet thinks so highly of the pet food they sell probably has more to do with money than nutrition. In vet school, the only classes offered on nutrition usually last a few weeks, and are taught by representatives from the pet food companies. Vet students may also receive free food for their own dogs and cats at home. They could get an Iams notebook, a Purina purse and some free pizza.  http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring04...

Answer 4

Kitten, senior, adult… it matters not, it’s just a marketing label that allows manufacturers to charge more for that particular food.

For example… you pick up a can of Wellness kitten (chicken) and a can of Wellness Chicken) adult. Compare the percentages. The kitten food has 1% more protein and 1% more fat, which is what all kitten food manufacturers tout that growing kittens need more of. Well then where is it, because 1% is certainly not worth noting any comparable difference? And it’s like that across the board. Dry cat food has even LESS of a difference.

The main objective when feeding kittens is to feed more of a high quality food, more times per day because they burn it so fast even when they are doing nothing because they are growing. Kittens pretty much need to eat as much as they want… whenever they want it.

Kittens don’t need “kitten” food. Mother Nature did not make “kitten” mice and “adult” mice and “senior” mice. It’s the same mouse. The only difference is how much each cat needs to eat daily to thrive.

Cats were never meant to eat dry food, also known as cereals or kibble. We, humans, make them eat it for convenience to us. It has nothing to do with them or their nutritional needs. It's completely species inappropriate.

All small domestic cats descended from desert cats. In the wild, desert cats derive their entire liquid intake from their prey. They do not have a thirst mechanism because they don't need it when eating a species appropriate diet. They get all they need from what they eat. Additionally water was usually not available to them in their desert climate. So they do not often drink water. Regular ol' house cats have descended from those same wild desert cats.

So in a home environment, your kitty does not get the moisture it needs from dry food and it’s almost always in a constant state of dehydration. Water fountains are encouraged to TRY to get your cat to drink more and your kitty may even enjoy it, but it will never meet its water intake needs drinking from a bowl.

Deadly feline illnesses such as diabetes, kidney failure, obesity, allergies, Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD), bladder stones, kidney stones,  urinary tract blockages and Urinary Tract Infections (FLUTD), with and without deadly crystals run rampant these days. Cats are not taking in enough water to stave them off. Proper water intake through a species appropriate diet alone can prevent most of these conditions.

Overall,  wet is all around better for any cats diet, be it canned or Raw and they should never be fed dry cereal kibble if we wish to most closely match their wild nutritional and dietary needs. Kibble meets our needs… not our cats.

I recommend varying the diet with a constant rotation of accepted canned foods that your cat enjoys. If you do this, and allow your cat the same assortment they would have in nature when eating mice, bugs, birds and rabbits, your cats’ digestive system won't be so sensitive and you won't have to run around looking for a specific brand when your store is out. You will have a nice variety to choose from instead.

Canned foods I recommend for your rotation:

Nature's Variety - http://www.naturesvariety.com/content.la...

Wellness Grain Free Formula’s - http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/cat_welln...

By Nature Organics - http://www.bynaturepetfoods.com/productp...

Organix -  http://www.castorpolluxpet.com/store/org...

Evanger's Holistic Pheasant - http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/20089...

Evanger's Organic Braised Chicken - http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/50103...

Evanger's Turkey & Butternut Squash - http://www.evangersdogfood.com/cat/50111...

Answer 5

You must feed him kitten food until he's a year old, then gradually - over a week or so - add the adult food. There tummy's are too delicate until that age to be able to cope with adult food.  

Answer 6

Normally, kitten chow up to one year, and transition him to adult food.  But if he goes a bit longer on kitten chow to finish a bag, no big deal, and if you run out a bit before and give him adult food, no big deal either.

Kittens have been doing fine for centuries without any special 'kitten' food.  In fact, two of my kittens refuse kitten food, and they are now over one year old, having eaten adult food and are fine.

Answer 7

Niche marketing has arrived in a big way in the pet food industry. People like to feel special, and a product with specific appeal is bound to sell better than a general product like "kitten food." But the reality is that there are only two nutritional standards against which all pet foods are measured (adult and growth/gestation/lactation)—everything else is marketing.

With that said, there is no clear distinction between kitten food and adult food with the exception that kitten food has about 1% more protein than adult food - which makes no difference at all when you are already feeding a balanced and nutritional food.

So, there is actually no time frame to switch from kitten to adult, etc. Just be sure that you are feeding high quality food with little to no cheap fillers such as corn, wheat, soy and known source of protein such as chicken, fish, lamb and not by products or meat meal.  

Answer 8

Kitten food for the first year, then you can switch to adult food, but do it gradually so she doesnt get the poopies

Answer 9

keep feeding him kitten food until hes about one year, then gradually change to adult. Mixing in a little food at a time can help him get used to it and wont be such a drastic change.

Answer 10

Between 12 and 18 months.

Answer 11

Well when it is a kitten, it should be feed food specifically for its age group.  

Answer 12

adult at one year

Answer 13

  My foster kittens and my two new fourth-month old kitten eat the same food as the "senior" cats in my house (16, 14, 13).

I would like someone here to respond JUST WHAT is in "kitten" food that is not in a wholesome diet for any cat of any age.

Answer 14

Kitten food until it's one year old.