What should you feed your cat as she is nursing kittens?

Answer 1

For kittens, any high quality cat food is the best. Kittens eat exactly the same food as an adult cat - the only difference is quantity. Brands will advertise kitten food as a clever marketing ploy, although in reality, the difference between the kitten and adult foods are often minimal. For many high quality brands, kitten and adult food are exactly the same, so are complete for all ages. Just be sure to feed a kitten small but frequent meals. 3 to 6 meals per day for a kitten is ideal, although this factor will greatly depend on age and size.

Never give a kitten cow's milk as many cats are lactose intolerant and can make them sick.

Cats are carnivores so they derive all the nutrients from meat, so it makes sense to find a food with a high (50% or over) meat content. This should be the FIRST ingredient (listed as Chicken, Turkey, Lamb, Tuna, etc.). Foods that are free of grains, corns, and wheat gluten are highly recommended as these are cheap "filler" that bulk up foods - but have no nutritional value for your kitten. Wet food with these specifications are much easier to find than in dry food.

For high-quality cat and kitten food there is: Wellness, Blue Buffalo, Eagle Pack, Felidae, Orijen, Grau, Animonda Carny, Bozita (from zooplus.co.uk), HiLife (60% meat), to name a few.

Answer 2

A nursing mother cat should be fed high-quality kitten food to provide the extra nutrients needed for milk production. It's important to ensure she has access to plenty of fresh water at all times. Consult your veterinarian for specific recommendations on feeding a nursing cat.

Answer 3

She should be eating a high quailty kitten food, dry and/or canned such as Iams, Science Diet, Nutramax, etc. The kitten food (rather than adult cat food) will give her extra calcium and protein to replace what she loses in her milk. She will be thin by the time the kittens are weaned, this is normal. You do not need to supplement her with milk or kitten formula (liquid) as long as she is eating a good quality food. Store brands are generally NOT considered good quality. When the kittens are about 4 weeks old, have canned kitten food available for them to begin eating. They will be ready to add in dry kitten food about 6 weeks old and that's when you can start to wean them and get them ready to go to new homes. NOTE: always charge at least $10 for your kittens if they are going to strangers. You do not want to know what unscrupulus people want with free kittens. If they don' t have $10 then they can't afford to feed your kitten anyway.