Indy’s kitten rotation diet was key to setting up his success as an adult cat. Now across a multitude of brands, textures and proteins, Indy can pretty much eat anything. This is an example Indy’s historic kitten diet.
Food brands and Types
Indy was on a rotation diet composed of various brands of wet and dry food. His kitten diet included 4 brands of wet food (Wellness Core – Kitten Pâté, Feline Natural – 3 flavours, Meat Mates – 3 flavours, and Fussy Cat – Kitten Mousse) alongside one brand of dry food (Wellness Core Kitten). To see out where we source his food from, check out – where to buy cat food.
He rotated between his main foods (Feline Natural/Wellness Core/Meat Mates) alongside a can of Fussy cat kitten. Over time, his rotation has continued to expand as he reached adulthood.
While Indy has always eaten both wet and dry, his diet is primarily based of wet food with a bit of dry food. This is in-line with most recommendations that cats should primarily be fed a moisture rich diet. Cats prefer to obtain most of their water through food and have a low thirst drive. The added moisture is a huge benefit that will help prevent future health problems such as kidney issues and urinary tract diseases. Eating dry food as their primary food can be one of the root causes of these issues and are highly preventable by establishing a wet food diet.
As we review more foods, we’ll continue to show that wet foods tend to have a better macro-nutrition profile with less fillers and carbohydrates than dry foods. It’s probably not a stretch to say that the worst wet foods are often still better than the best dry foods.
Feeding quantities
The key to the question, “how much?” is fairly easy as a kitten if you measure your portions, calculate the calories and weigh your kitten weekly. For the most part, you can let kittens eat as much as they want until their growth slows down.
Until month 6, Indy would eat everything without leaving any leftovers. Eventually, the amount of food we were giving exceeded his appetite. That’s a good place to stop and reduce their food until they are comfortably finishing most of their food. As he grew, we increased his wet food intake to develop his primarily wet food diet.
In terms of calories, he peaked at about 350kcal a day and slowly dropped calories as he approaches adulthood. For example, Indy typically consumed 2 small cans of cat food (85g) along with some dry food (~30-40g)(of course these quantities will vary depending on the type of food you feed) and 40-60ml of added water. Wet food cans should provide how many kcals are in every can, whereas dry foods may require some measurement and conversion based on their guidelines.
We recommend using a calorie chart to get an appropriate range of what a typical cat may consume and adjust accordingly. If the kitten continues to gain weight, while maintaining their ideal body shape, that is a good indicator that you’re at the the right quantity of food. As they approach adulthood (this will vary depending on the breed), their metabolism will slow and they will require less kcal to maintain their weight. If you notice they’re starting to grow sideways, that’s a time to reduce servings and continue to monitor their weight 😉
Tip:
We highly recommend tracking food quantities (kcal) and adding water to each of your cat’s meals. Doing this will help establish the habit as he/she grows older where water intake is even more critical. Cats are more susceptible to kidney issues which is often related to their low thirst drive.
Feeding Frequency
Indy transitioned to two meals a day at approximately 6 months with an optional mid day snack mid day. When he was between 4-6 months, he was on 3 meals a day, splitting each portion to the same size. As your kitten’s metabolism slows down, you’ll find the need to reduce the calories to prepare them for an adult diet. Similarly, Indy gradually reduced his dry food intake to suit a primarily wet food diet.
In addition to food and water tracking, we were also tracking Indy’s litter patterns and weekly weight during his first year. As a new cat owner, we would highly recommend it even if they are only estimates. As kittens are in their critical growing phase, it helps to identify any abnormalities in their patterns and tracking/journalling is a huge help. Once he is an adult cat, they will reach an established baseline and it will be easy to monitor any changes from it.