The Diamond Naturals Kitten Food is a growth food for kittens and for queens feeding a litter, at 34% protein and 22% fat - the richest cat food in Diamond's range.
Key Features
- Built for the fastest growth a cat ever does. A kitten roughly quadruples its birth weight in the first two months.
- 22% fat and 460 kcal a cup, which is what a nursing queen needs - she can burn two to three times her normal intake.
- DHA at 0.05% minimum from salmon oil, for brain and vision development.
- Taurine guaranteed at 0.15% minimum, the highest in the range. Taurine deficiency causes irreversible heart and retinal damage in cats.
- Cage-free chicken first, with superfoods and dried chicory root.
- 80,000,000 CFU per pound of live probiotics, which is worth having around weaning.
Guaranteed Analysis
- Crude Protein 34.0% minimum
- Crude Fat 22.0% minimum
- Crude Fibre 2.0% maximum
- Moisture 10.0% maximum
- DHA 0.05% minimum
- Taurine 0.15% minimum
- Omega-6 3.5% minimum, Omega-3 0.5% minimum
- Total Microorganisms not less than 80,000,000 CFU/lb
- 4,052 kcal/kg (460 kcal/cup) calculated metabolizable energy
Available in: 1 kg, 3 kg and 7.5 kg.
Good To Know
- Kittens should be moved onto an adult food at around twelve months. Left on kitten food, a neutered indoor cat gains weight quickly at 460 kcal a cup.
- Kittens under four months eat little and often - leave dry food available rather than restricting it to meals, and weigh weekly.
- Cats evolved to take most of their water from prey and are poor drinkers. A cat on dry food alone takes in far less water than one eating wet food, so if yours has any history of urinary trouble, talk to your vet about adding wet food rather than relying on the bowl.
- One cup is about 460 kcal, which is the figure to use if you are counting calories or working to a vet's weight plan.
- Change food gradually over about a week - a little of the new mixed into the old, increasing the proportion each day. Diamond suggests up to 14 days for a sensitive animal. A sudden switch is the commonest cause of loose stools.
- Diamond guarantees 80,000,000 CFU of live probiotic cultures per pound. Live cultures fade with heat and time, so buy the size you will finish in a month or two rather than the biggest bag.
- Keep it in its own bag inside a sealed container rather than tipping the kibble loose. The fat in dry food goes rancid on contact with warm air, and in a UAE kitchen that happens faster than the date on the bag suggests.
- Diamond states that the facility which makes this food also makes food that may contain other ingredients. If you are avoiding a specific protein for a diagnosed allergy, that cross-contact statement is worth knowing about.
- A food change is not a treatment. If your pet is itchy, losing weight, vomiting or has ongoing loose stools, see a vet before you switch - changing diets repeatedly makes a diagnosis harder, not easier.