Stray Kitten Natural Diet

Whether they live in houses or outside, cats are obligate carnivores, and need protein from animal sources and moderate amounts of fat. If you're feeding a stray kitten, replicating its natural diet as much as possible will keep it healthy and well-fed.

  1. Calories

    • Kittens' caloric requirements change as they grow. A 10-week-old kitten, whether it's living outside or in a house, needs 100 calories per pound of body weight per day; 47 percent of those calories should come from protein, and 27 percent should come from fat. By six months, kittens need 50 calories per pound of body weight a day, with 51 percent of those calories coming from protein and 33 percent from fat.

    Natural Diet

    • A kitten's natural diet consists of mice, other small rodents, insects and grass. Veterinary internist Deborah Greco suggests thinking about the nutritional profile of a mouse--about 3 percent carbohydrate, 40 percent protein, and 50 percent fat--when feeding a kitten or adult cat.

    No Leftovers

    • A kitten catching its own food eats the entire rodent, including organs and bones. The website PetDoc.com recommends feeding cat food that mimics this natural diet and includes meat from both flesh and organs. Independent pet supply stores sell canned and frozen raw cat food that contains flesh and organ meat.

    Water

    • A healthy cat or kitten needs about an ounce of water per pound of body weight per day. Kittens that eat whole prey or wet cat food get most of that water from their food.