Can adult cats eat kitten food?


Knowing what your cat can and cannot eat at a certain age is very important. Let’s see if the adult cat can eat kitten food.

Nutrition is a very important factor in a pet’s health. Very often those who live with a feline think that it is easy to feed it, it is enough to simply choose the best brand of cat food and give it to cat, regardless of the age of the cat.

But this is not the case at all, as the nutritional needs of a feline of a certain age are completely different from the needs of a small cat. This leads to the question of whether adult cats can eat kitten food. Let’s find out below.


Can adult cats eat kitten food?

Before answering the question of whether an adult cat can eat kitten food, it is worth knowing the differences between the two types of food.

According to experts, the food dedicated to kittens, when they start eating solid food, is mainly composed of 8% fat and 22% protein, so it is more caloric than food for adult cats.

However, the high percentage of calories is not harmful to the kitten, as the latter in the first place still has to grow and then the calories consumed transforms them into energy, since being small, the cat is very active.

Furthermore, the food for kittens is also rich in minerals such as magnesium, potassium, calcium and phosphorus, which are important elements for the growth of the small fur ball.

While adult cat food contains 5% fat and 18% protein. However, it is recommended to offer the cat food rich in animal proteins, since cats are obligate carnivores.

That said, can adult cats eat kitten food? Being the food of high-calorie cats, it is necessary to pay attention to the conditions of your four-legged friend.

The food for kittens is recommended not only for the kittens themselves but also for pregnant or lactating cats, as they need a lot of energy.

While it is not recommended to feed non-active cats, overweight cats and senior cats with kitten food, as being high in calories could cause damage to the cat’s health, such as:

  • Diabetes in cats
  • Arthritis in cats
  • Hepatic lipidosis.

Why do cats like kitten food?

Although felines cannot feed on kitten food, very often we may notice the kitty looking for kitten food. But why does our feline like kitten food so much?

It might seem strange, yet adult cats may not like kittens’ food at all, but they try to eat it only to have a dominant behavior on the little kitty.

Another reason the cat looks for the kitten’s food could be because they simply like the smell of the food. However, kittens should eat kitten food and adult cats should eat adult cat food.


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