How much should I feed my kitten? A week-by-week guide from weaning to one year

How much should I feed my kitten is the question every new owner asks in the first week, and the honest answer is "more than you think, more often than you think, and by weight rather than by eye". A kitten multiplies its birth weight many times over in its first year, and the food has to keep up.

Why kittens need a kitten food

Growth needs roughly twice the energy per kilogram of an adult cat, more protein, more fat, and higher levels of taurine, calcium and DHA for the eyes and brain. Adult food is not dangerous, but a kitten on it will grow more slowly and may fall short on the nutrients that matter most. Bitesy Essentials Cat wet food includes a chicken chunks recipe formulated for kittens, complete on its own, with taurine and vitamins A, D3 and E in every can.

Week by week

• Up to 8 weeks: mother's milk, then softened food from about four weeks. A smooth texture helps: the Bitesy Platinum kitten mousse is designed for weaning as a complementary food alongside the main kitten diet.
• 8 to 12 weeks: four small meals a day of a complete kitten food. Follow the feeding table on the pack for the kitten's current weight, and expect the amount to rise every week.
• 12 to 26 weeks: three meals a day. This is the fastest growth phase; a kitten that seems permanently hungry usually is.
• 6 to 12 months: two meals a day. Growth slows; watch for the moment the kitten starts leaving food, and stop increasing portions.
• 12 months: move to an adult complete food over a week. Large breeds such as Maine Coons keep growing until 15 to 18 months and can stay on kitten food longer.

Wet, dry or both

Wet food is the easier start: kittens accept it readily and it delivers the water they need. Many owners add a complete dry food from 12 weeks for convenience and dental variety. If you feed both, treat them as one ration and reduce the dry portion when you add a can.

Do's and don'ts

• Do weigh the kitten weekly and feed to the pack table for that weight.
• Don't give cow's milk; most kittens cannot digest lactose after weaning.
• Do keep fresh water available at all times, in more than one place.
• Don't free-feed a kitten that will be sterilised; the habit of grazing is what makes sterilised cats overweight.
• Do introduce any new food over five to seven days.
• Don't panic about a skipped meal, but see the vet if a kitten refuses food for more than a day or has diarrhoea for more than 24 hours.