If you are reading this it probably means that you are about to welcome a kitten to your home or you have recently done so; huge congratulations to you! Welcoming a kitten into your home is an exciting time and you have a plethora of fun to look forward to!
When bringing a kitten into your home, it's important to consider what to feed them so let’s talk kitten food! As you probably know, your kitten has higher nutritional needs than adult cats because they are growing and developing quickly to become healthy and happy cats. We know how important it is to find the perfect food for your kitten so you know you are giving your kitten the best start in life.
Kittens feed on special nutritious milk from their mother in the first weeks of their life and can then start weaning from 4 weeks old which is also when they start to have more energy and be awake for longer. At this point, you can begin to feed them small amounts of Thrive complete kitten wet food. Our kitten foods are real chicken breast or tuna fillet, with a splash of sunflower oil so they have all of the protein, vitamins, minerals, and other elements that your kitten needs to grow, develop, build a healthy immune system, and thrive! Because we don't add sugars or indeed anything that your cat does not need, they will not overeat and become overweight. It is the same with us humans that there is a limit to how much steak we can eat whereas there is no limit on doughnuts (is this making you hungry?). Because all kittens are individuals, some will eat more and some will eat less, our feeding guide is exactly that; just a guide. With this in mind, you can feed them as much as they want to eat.
If your kitten is a little older than this and was eating a different food before coming to you, you can switch to Thrive immediately. Other brands suggest that you can transition to a new food by gradually mixing the new food in with the old food over a week until they are enjoying just the new food. They say that because their new foods aren't very palatable; whereas Thrive is irresistible.
We also make up to 90% MEAT dry foods which are fantastic for kittens because we know that our feline friends are quite independent creatures so are more than happy to be left alone during the day, unlike much more needy dogs, which may eat twice a day, a kitten and cat likes to graze and eat many times a day. Thrive dry foods are complete foods too. Thrive complete dry foods are of such high-quality ingredients that they are suitable for both cats and kittens too.
You may ask ‘Does my kitten need both wet and dry foods?’ and the answer is that each kitten is an individual. It’s a good idea for your kitten to experience different flavours and textures as they develop their tastes into cathood (did you know that’s the word for being a cat?) and it’s important that the majority of what you feed your kitten is wet food as it contains more water which keeps your feline companion hydrated and happy. Cats aren’t great at drinking lots of water so wet food is ideal for them and in turn good hydration supports long-term kidney health.
Perhaps you don’t know what ‘complete’ food is so let us just tell you. ‘Complete’ is a phrase used that guarantees our pet food has all the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients your pet requires for a balanced diet. Others may instead use the phrase ‘complimentary’ which means that it does not have any vitamins or minerals added and is really just a treat.
All Thrive dry and wet foods are complete, so whether you feed them together or on their own, you can be sure that you are giving your pet a nutritionally balanced diet.
All domestic cats are obligate carnivores which means they are dependent on a meat diet so they cannot thrive or survive on carbohydrates. Cats have several special dietary requirements for example; amino acids (such as taurine, methionine, and cysteine), essential fatty acids, the perfect amount of vitamins (such as vitamins A, D, and B3), and high protein, so it is important that you feed your cat a properly balanced meat diet - this is why our wet and dry foods are both COMPLETE. That way, we can be sure that your cat has everything they need from their food to Thrive.
We also produce our amazing range of irresistible Thrive treats. These are simply small pieces of 100% chicken breast, or tuna, or white fish or salmon fillets, chicken liver, or whole shrimp, which have absolutely no added anything in them. All just really gently freeze-dried.
YOU will love the reaction you get when you shake the pack and they come running! Cats being independent creatures makes them hard to ‘train’ but with Thrive you can get them to give you a high five! Send us a video, we love to see this. What else can you get your kitten to do for a Thrive treat?
