When Do Kittens Start Eating Solids?

Significance

• Kittens are born virtually helpless and will rely on their mother to exclusively nurse them for a period lasting up to five to six weeks. At this time, the kittens will be much more active, their eyes will be open, and they will begin to show an interest in the world around them. This interest will often include a curiosity toward solid foods. Kittens need to begin eating solids in order to grow and develop properly as the mother cat will begin weaning them off of milk at this age. Most kittens do best starting off with a soft cat food, gradually working up toward a solid adult food. The kittens will most often make a mess out of themselves for the first few days, but will eventually learn how to eat the food without covering themselves in it.

Types

• Moist cat food and dry cat food are the two basic types of adult cat food. Moist cat food is normally made up of a mash of ingredients and comes packed in a can. The texture often resembles a pate and is dispensed in appropriate serving-sized containers. Moist cat food also may come in a package as meat chunks or slices. Dry cat food is packaged as small pieces of hard, compressed food material that has been specially formulated as a complete diet for your pet. Many cats are partial to either one type or the other, and either type can be fed as a complete diet. Kittens are normally started on the moist cat food or, on occasion, the dry food softened with a bit of kitten formula. Kittens have very sensitive teeth when they begin eating solid foods, so a soft food is important until their bodies mature.

Considerations

• Kittens should be offered food two or three times a day from the time they reach approximately five weeks of age. They will be growing exponentially at this point and the mother will not have nearly enough milk to support them all. You should offer your kittens food on a low, flat pan such as a small pie pan. This will help keep the food in the dish and will minimize spilling due to messy eaters. You need to offer your kittens fresh food at each meal, and do not reuse old food. Letting kitten mash sit out will expose it to bacteria and can cause serious intestinal problems for your kittens.

Benefits

• Introducing solid food to kittens at an early age will help encourage their growth and will help take some of the strain off of the mother cat. Kittens have very sharp teeth and they can cause the mother severe discomfort while nursing. Feeding your kittens on a schedule will help them associate feeding time and potty time, making housebreaking them much easier. Kittens grow a good deal during the early weeks of their lives and need a sufficient amount of nutrition during this time to encourage proper growth and development.

Warning

• Try not to overfeed your kittens when they start on solid food. Many kittens are intrigued by the new tastes they find in solid foods and will eat a huge amount at each meal. Try and limit your initial feedings to five or six bites per kitten, increasing the amount of food gradually to avoid constipation. Do not change foods suddenly on your kittens, as their digestive tracts are very sensitive and even slight food changes can cause severe diarrhea and vomiting.