Feeding Kittens 101: How Much To Feed Kittens, How Often, and More

Bringing home a new kitten is an exciting time. And without a doubt, one of the most important aspects of kitten care is feeding. Food is something kittens need multiple times a day, every day. But how do you know how much to feed kittens, and how often to feed kittens?

There are many factors to consider when feeding kittens. Here’s everything you need to know.

When To Start Feeding Kittens

The best time to introduce kittens to solid food is when they’re still nursing from their mother.

Kittens are naturally curious, and their food preferences tend to follow those of their mother. You may set out both wet and dry foods around 5–6 weeks of age to allow kittens to explore solid food at their own pace.

If kittens are bottle-fed, 5–6 weeks of age is also an important time to begin to replace some of their formula with solid food.

Kittens are typically ready for an all-solid food diet by 7–8 weeks of age. Over the next few weeks, you can incrementally increase the amount of solid food available to the kittens while reducing their time nursing.

A kitten’s mother may also instinctually remove herself from her kittens to encourage this process. You can also reduce the amount or frequency of formula to encourage kittens to explore and taste solid food.

What To Feed Kittens

Whether you decide to feed kittens wet food, dry food, or a mix of the two will depend on their preferences and the health benefits you want to achieve.

Kittens inherit much of their diet preferences from their mother (in utero), so the food their mother was eating during pregnancy and nursing will likely influence the type of food your kitten will eat.

Wet vs. Dry Kitten Food

Feeding kittens both wet and dry food has benefits, including the following:

Wet food benefits for kittens include:

• High moisture content. Wet food can increase the amount of water in your kitten’s diet to ensure they stay well-hydrated.
• Mixability. Wet food is useful for being able to mix supplements like fish oil and probiotic powders into their diet.
• Increased palatability. Wet food is easy to warm up in the microwave to increase the aroma if your kitten has nasal congestion or has had any changes in their appetite.

Dry food benefits for kittens include:

• Dental health support. Dry food is helpful for dental health because as your kitten chews the hard kibble pieces, the rough edges scrape against the teeth to help remove plaque and tartar buildup.
• Mental and physical activity stimulation. Dry food can be used as treats for training or it can be placed in puzzle toys or food-dispensing toys for mental enrichment.
• Cost-efficient. Feeding dry food can also be a more economical option for cost-conscious pet parents.

The Best Kitten Foods

When choosing the best food for your kitten, it’s helpful to look at major pet food brands, such as Purina®, Hill’s®, Royal Canin®, or Iams®. These companies offer research into their diets and conduct feeding trials to ensure their diets perform as intended.

When looking at the label on the cat food, look for the nutritional adequacy statement from the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). This ensures the kitten diet is complete and balanced for specific for their life stage.

The best kitten foods should have appropriate protein and fat levels for growth and development, as well as omega-3 fatty acids like EPA and DHA for brain and eye development. Good kitten foods also typically contain vitamins E and C for immune health.

Below are some dry and wet kitten food options, but your veterinarian can help you choose the best food for your kitten.

Dry kitten food:

• Hill's Science Diet Kitten Healthy Development Chicken Recipe Dry Cat Food: Contains all the necessary nutrients of most kitten foods, has prebiotics for digestive health, and is highly digestible for sensitive kitten stomachs.
• Purina Pro Plan Kitten Shredded Blend Chicken & Rice Formula Dry Cat Food: Also contains live probiotic cultures for digestive health and meaty pieces mixed in with the dry kibble for a highly appetizing taste.

Wet kitten food:

• Hill's Science Diet Kitten Healthy Cuisine Tender Chicken & Rice Medley Canned Cat Food: Ideal for urinary tract health and contains taurine for optimal vision and heart function.
• Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition Thin Slices in Gravy Wet Kitten Food: Formulated with prebiotics and has a texture that’s formulated to be easy to eat.

How Much To Feed Kittens

How much to feed your cat depends on their age and weight. Your kitten’s weight helps determine approximately how many calories they need daily.  

Feeding Chart For Kittens

The feeding chart below outlines how many calories kittens need daily for proper growth and development. Keep in mind that the total volume of food per day will depend on what kitten food you are offering, whether the food is wet or dry, and the food’s calories-per-cup amount.

For example, the Hill's Science Diet Kitten Healthy Development Chicken Recipe Dry Cat Food has 568 calories per cup, while the Purina Pro Plan Kitten Shredded Blend Chicken & Rice Formula Dry Cat Food has only 409 calories per cup. A 10-pound kitten would eat less of the Hill’s diet per day (about 1 cup) versus the Purina Pro Plan (about 1⅓ cup) to reach the same calorie intake.

Please note that breed and body frame size can affect your kitten’s weight at any age, so the numbers in the feeding chart may vary from kitten to kitten and should serve as a general guide only. Talk with your veterinarian to determine the proper food portions for your kitten.

How Often To Feed Kittens

When kittens are 4 months of age or younger, they will ideally eat three times per day. After 4 months of age, their feedings can be reduced to two per day.

Pay attention to your kitten’s appetite throughout the day. They may prefer their entire daily calorie allotment in one sitting to nibble on throughout the day, or you may need to split their meals in smaller portions throughout the day.

How To Transition a Kitten to Adult Cat Food

Most kittens will be ready for adult cat food around 12 months of age.

The transition process is fairly simple and begins with replacing a small portion of your kitten’s daily food intake with the new adult cat food diet.

Most kittens will do fine with 25% new diet and 75% previous food to start with. So, if you were feeding 1 cup of dry kitten food, you would replace ¼ cup of that with adult cat food and feed in that proportion for a couple of days.

You can then increase the percentage of adult cat food you are feeding every couple of days until you are feeding 100% adult cat food after six days or so.

If your kitten is particularly sensitive, you may start with 10% adult cat food and increase in 10% increments, or you may spend longer at each stage of the transition process to allow time for your kitten to acclimate to the new diet.