Kitten growth rates

Kittens grow at different stages and it’s during this time that they build their future health.   It’s very fast growth from birth to sixteen weeks – a kittens skeleton develops and she’ll increase her birth weight by five to seven times.   A baby kitten has very high energy needs during this time.   We feed Baby Cat complete to our tiny tots – this miniature kibble is easy to eat.  We’ve tried every make of kitten food and found this to be the best and safest.    It’s extremely palatable too, they love it and it doesn’t upset their digestion.  A kitten’s digestive system is immature at birth and only develops as she grows.   She will be suckling from her mother and this will form her only nutrition to begin with.  When she does start to eat her food must ensure maximal digestive safety.   You need to make sure the feed dishes are always clean and are shaped to encourage her to eat.  You can’t beat a shallow china saucer!   Plastic dishes are o.k. but we’re depleting the earth’s resources to make them, store them, promote them, transport them and get them to supermarket or pet shop shelves.   Most households have spare saucers or you can pick them up for a few pence from carboots or flea markets.   Plastic is easily scratched and then can harbour germs.   Pottery is safer.

The danger period for kittens is between the 4th and 12th week of life, this is when the immunity that’s been transmitted to her from her mother’s milk (the colostrum) gradually decreases.   Her own immune system is still developing but is not fully functional.   A kitten is particularly vulnerable at this time.   Baby Cat Complete, which is made by Royal Canin, has L-lysine as an ingredient, this has been shown to improve health and limit viruses.     It also has highly digestible proteins and antioxidants – and these help promote the production of antibodies.  When the kittens are eating well, we offer kitten pouches, mum has these too while she is pregnant and nursing.   We never give adult cat food to the kittens as it is not nutritionally balanced for them and can upset their tummies.      When your kitten reaches four months old, it’s on to the next stage.

We’ve had a lot of pregnant cats brought in recently and three litters of kittens born this week.   We urgently need cat food and kitten pouches also blankets and towels.   Any help with the care of these waifs and strays would be much appreciated.   [donate]

Pick up a Kitten Care leaflet from ‘In the Dog House’ or s.a.e. and we’ll post one out to you.    We keep Royal Canin Baby Cat in stock – available to collect or we can post out.