Nutrition

There are a huge number of cat foods available, all of varying degrees of quality and expense. You will be pleased to know the most expensive is not necessarily the best. We recommend a complete dry diet. Our recommendation is to pick a good quality fixed formula complete food such as Hills and stick to it. We recommend the Hills Vet Essentials range which combines several of the Hills prescription features and is balanced to provide all the nutrition your cat needs in a highly digestible and palatable diet. 

Kittens while growing and maturing require very different levels of nutrients to adult cats. They require more energy, calcium and protein than an adult and so it is important to feed a kitten formulated diet until they have reached adult size. This normally happens from 6 months to a year of age. 

Once your cat reaches 7 years of age it is considered to be a mature adult and should be on a food designed to meet its changing nutritional needs. Diets for older cats contain lower levels of protein and have a higher fibre content. This is important for maintaining gut health and reducing workload for the kidneys.

Kittens have small stomachs (about the size of a walnut at 8 weeks old) but large appetites, so feed small amounts on a frequent basis. Where feeding regularly is not an option some people use a timed feeder to provide meals when they are away from the home. 

Diet changes should be kept to a minimum and similarly it is not advisable to feed your cat a lot of treats as these can upset the balance of nutrients achieved in a complete diet. Where necessary a change in diet should be done gradually; mix the new food in increasing proportions into the old food over a period of 7– 10 days.