Comfort food

To give your kitten the best start in life, give her well-balanced, nutritious food. She'll love you for it. After all, once she’s been weaned, she’ll be looking to you for everything and that means the best possible care and the best possible food.

Special food for a special member of the family

For the first four or five weeks of her life, your kitten will get all she needs from her mother. If she cries or is particularly restless after suckling, it might be that she's not getting enough milk. If this is the case, it's worth speaking to your vet about what you can do to help.

If there are no suckling problems, your kitten is usually weaned by seven weeks old. Even from week four, however, she can get used to eating solids, such as Whiskas® Kitten food. To begin with, spread the food onto a plate so she can lick it and get a taste for it. Then increase the portions gradually and always make sure she has access to a bowl of fresh, clean water.

Small stomach, big appetite

Your kitten will grow 15 times faster than a baby, and as you may have already realised, she has much more energy than an adult cat!

Yet, with a stomach that’s only as big as a thumbnail, she can’t eat a great deal at once. So, feed her small meals at regular intervals (up to six times a day) at the beginning. Whiskas® Kitten food has been specially developed to meet all her specific nutritional needs.

From little kitten to big cat

From about four months old, a single Whiskas® Kitten Pouch is perfect for a single tasty meal. One pouch provides exactly the right amount of calories, vitamins and calcium, and because it has smaller chunks of meat, it's ideal for smaller mouths, smaller teeth and smaller tummies. During this time you'll need to feed her 3-4 meals a day until she's six months old, at which point 2-4 meals should be enough. Finally, between ten and twelve months, your kitten will be ready for an adult diet.

A few tips for successful feeding:

Serve her food at room temperature, she much prefers it.

Make sure she has her own feeding and water bowls and that they’re cleaned after each meal (cats don’t like to eat from dirty dishes).

Make sure fresh, clean water is always available.

Stick to the same food. Changing it suddenly or repeatedly can upset her delicate stomach.

If you do have to change her diet, introduce the new food gradually, a little at a time.

Don't give her uncooked meat or let her eat human food. It could be too rich, or even toxic, for her.

Don’t put her food bowl near her litter tray – cats don’t like to eat where they go to the toilet.

Keep her regular

The best way to keep your kitten in the best of health is to feed her a combination of wet and dry food. Whiskas® Kitten Pouches and Whiskas® Kitten Complete, for example, will give her all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals she needs. It’s especially important that meal times are regular, even if you can’t be there; for example, when you go on holiday. In that case, the kitten’s ‘foster parents’ will need to know when to feed and how much to give her. You might like to make a list, including tips about her habits, likes and dislikes.