Raw food for cats has gained popularity as pet parents are researching healthy options for their pets. It's easy to feed your kitten raw food and Big Dog Pet Foods has over 20 years experience in this area, so we're happy to share our knowledge on raw feeding for kittens here.
Before you welcome your little fluff ball home, you need to have pet food organised for them. It is best-practice to start feeding what your breeder feeds or if you rescued a kitten, what they have been fed on previously. This is because any sudden change in diet can cause tummy upsets, and because you don’t want to overwhelm them with too much change too soon.
You don’t have to feed this diet forever, but if you begin here, you can slowly transition to raw cat food; we recommend 2 weeks is generally a good amount of time to do this.
There’s no ‘one-size fits-all’ model, cats have different tastes, metabolisms, allergies etc., and some breeds require specific feeding requirements; we recommend chatting with an Animal Nutritionist, Holistic Vet or trusted pet food manufacturer for more info on your specific breed.
Transition to raw
We recommend our raw cat food is suitable when kittens reach 1kg of bodyweight or 12 weeks of age, whatever comes first. We recommend feeding kittens 4-6% of their body weight. Keep in mind that feeding guides are general and optimal feeding amounts may vary with age, size, breed, and activity level. With growing kittens, it’s best to slightly overfeed, rather than underfeed if you’re ever unsure. Once your cat is fully grown, you can monitor their weight more closely to maintain their health throughout their life.
If your kitten was weaned onto a raw cat food diet, you can generally transition straight to a 100% Big Dog Diet.
If your kitten was weaned onto a cooked or processed cat food diet (canned food, dry food, cooked rolls) then we recommend to transition more slowly.
A raw pet food diet is very different to a processed cooked diet and any sudden change in diet can create stomach upsets and gradually transitioning helps to minimise this.
Please follow these guidelines, whilst monitoring your kitten's stools. You should begin to notice smaller, less smelly stools as you transition towards a 100% raw cat food diet.
Day 1-3: 20% New Diet 80% Old Diet
Day 4-6: 40% New Diet 60% Old Diet
Day 7-9: 60% New Diet 40% Old Diet
Day 10-12: 80% New Diet 20% Old Diet
Day 12+: 100% New Diet
The younger the kitten, generally the easier they are to transition. If you have an older cat or a particularly fussy kitten, please refer to our transition guide here.
What should I feed my kitten?
Our Big Dog for cat’s range consists of Chicken, Kanga and Turkey flavour, mixed protein diets that provide all the macro and micronutrients your cat needs to be healthy and happy. These include protein, amino acids, taurine, healthy fats (including omega-3 fatty acids), moisture, antioxidants, probiotics, prebiotics, fibre, phytonutrients, active enzymes and essential vitamins and minerals. Mixed protein raw food diets, most closely represent an evolutionary diet and the predominant protein source in each product represents the flavour of that product.
Trusted Raw Feeders Since 2000
We offer fresh, raw meals that are:
• 100% human-grade ingredients
• 100% Australian produce
• Complete and Balanced naturally without the use of synthetic nutrition
You can read our interview with our Quality Assurance Manager here.
Get in touch with any kitten questions you have – we’re always happy to help.
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