Switching from Kitten to Adult Cat Food

What does switching or transitioning from kitten to adult cat food mean?

When switching your kitten's food from a kitten specific formula to an adult cat food, it’s important to do so slowly.

Vets usually recommend doing this over 1-2 weeks (2 weeks is better), regardless of what type of diet your kitten is on. This is because the natural processes and good bacteria in your precious kitten's gut needs time to adapt and change, to cope with digesting the different food.

What's the impact on my kitten if I don't transition them properly?

Not transitioning properly can impact overall digestion. Your kitten’s stomach capacity, the enzymes that break down their food and the movement of food through their gut all need to be consudered. Even the good bacteria that lives in your kitten's gut can be overwhelmed.

During this transition phase it's also important to follow the feeding guides on pack, because if these aren't followed and a transition period isn’t allowed, the entire system can be overwhelmed. What does this mean?

This is likely to result in temporary diarrhoea.

It is likely and largely unavoidable that your kitten may have softer stools during the transition period, and this isn’t usually anything to worry about. It should resolve itself by the end of the transition period.

So, how should I transition my kitten's food?

Below is our recommendation on transitioning your kitten from Black Hawk kitten food to adult cat food.

Black Hawk takes the same approach to the creation of all of our pet foods - across both our kitten and adult cat foods. The benefit of this for your cat is that the raw materials are very similar, as well as the priority we place on digestibility.

If things go wrong...

If your cat is continually experiencing a digestive upset, with diarrhoea or soft stool, vomiting or going off their food and appearing generally unwell, then we suggest you see your veterinarian.

Importance of Feeding Guides

When it comes to feeding any cat - kitten or adult - it's important to use the feeding guidelines that are printed on our packs.

These recommended portions show how much to feed per day. So depending on the number of times per day you plan on feeding your cat, just divide the total daily portion evenly across those meals.

If you have questions about Black Feeding guidelines or general pet care, have a browse through our website or feel free to get in contact with us.