You need to feed a weaning kitten on a diet that is 100% complete and healthy. This is because kittens at weaning have several nutritional requirements that need be met.
A weaning kitten needs food that will promote their bone, teeth and muscle development. They also need food that will boost their immunity as well as their brain and vision development. The food should also be gentle on digestion.
Fortunately, there are tons of good kitten foods that you can feed a weaning kitten with. We recommend feeding a weaning kitten with wet kitten food then gradually introducing dry food.
There are several kitten foods in the market that you can choose from. We have narrowed down to form a list of the best quality food you can use to feed a weaning kitten.
Our selection was based on customer feed back from Amazon and what we use with our foster kittens. You can also tell us in the comments section what has worked for you before.
This article contains affiliate links, we will earn a commission if you purchase through our choosen links at no additional cost to you.
Our top picks are
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Generally speaking, weaning can be a tedious venture for both the kitten and you. It is paramount to ensure you get it right from the start. Identifying the most appropriate food to feed your weaning kitten is vital. However, with the right tools and proper kitten food it can be smooth.
Note however that kittens undergo several milestones during the different stages of kittenhood. At weaning, kittens may have very small teeth. As such, they are unable to chew solid food. We therefore recommend starting with wet food then gradually introducing dry food at the beginning of the weaning process.
Review of the best kitten food for weaning
Kitten food has high levels of calories to keep the kittens strong and healthy. They contain high protein content for good muscle development including the heart. Additionally, they contain essential vitamins and minerals to boost the immunity of the kittens.
When purchasing kitten food, ensure that it is specified for kittens.
There are two categories of food that you can use to feed weaning kittens. We recommend starting with wet kitten food then gradually transitioning to dry kitten food.
- Wet or canned food
- Dry food
Comparison table of best kitten food for weaning
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*The ratings are based on amazon at the time of publication and are subject to change
Best wet kitten food for weaning
Wet kitten food is the healthiest starter choice for weaning. It has a high moisture content that helps to keep the kittens hydrated. Additionally, it is soft therefore easy for the kittens to eat.
Note that wet food should be given in several servings that the kitten can finish. Wet food has a tendency to spoil quickly therefore should never be left for too long in the kitten bowl.
There are several wet kitten foods available in the market. Our top picks include:
IAMS Perfect Portion Cuts
9.5% (Min) Crude Protein | 5% (Min) Crude Fat | 1% (Max) Fiber | (Max 78%) Moisture
IAMS Perfect portion cuts is a good wet kitten food that you can use to feed your kitten at weaning.
We recommend this food because it offers a complete and balanced diet to meet the health needs of your weaning kitten.
The second reason is because this kitten food is ideal as it contains essential vitamins. The vitamins offer support to the immune system of your kitten during weaning.
Additionally, this kitten food contains DHA. DHA promotes your kitten’s brain development.
Lastly, this product is grain free and is made from natural products. It therefore has a pleasant flavor that your kitten cannot resist.
Purina Fancy Feast Kitten Canned Wet Cat Food
11% (Min) Crude Protein | 5% (Min) Crude Fat |1.5% (Max ) Fiber | 78% (Max) Moisture
The Purina Fancy Feast kitten wet cat food is specially designed to meet all nutritional needs of growing kittens. It therefore guarantees 100% well balanced nutrition for your kitten at weaning.
We recommend this kitten food for feeding weaning kittens for several reasons.
The first reason is that this product contains real chicken and real milk. It therefore ensures high quality proteins, essential vitamins and minerals to support growing kittens. As such, this kitten food is ideal to feed a weaning kitten.
The other reason is because this kitten food has pleasing flavors. Additionally it comes in a consistency that makes it easy for kittens to eat.
Lastly, this kitten food is gentle on digestion. It will therefore ensure smooth weaning.
There is however discussion on the presence of additives in Purina products, read the ingredients before purchasing to be sure you get what you want.
Purina Pro Plan Kitten Wet Food
12% (Min) Crude Protein | 6% (Min) Crude fat | 1.5% (Max) Fiber | 76.5% (Max ) Moisture
The Purina Pro plan kitten wet food is a well balanced kitten diet. This food is suitable for all kittens throughout their first year of life. It is therefore suitable to feed a weaning kitten.
We recommend this kitten food because it is made with real poultry or fish. As such, it has a savory flavor. It is a favorite for most kittens. Therefore, it is easy to use with even a choosy kitten.
The other reason is because this kitten diet contains DHA. DHA promotes your kittens’ brain and vision development.
Additionally, the Purina Pro Plan contains essential nutrients which help boost your kittens immune system.
Lastly, this kitten food has a moist, tender texture which is soft on your kittens underdeveloped teeth.
Royal Canin Mother and Babycat Ultra mousse
9% (Min) Crude Protein | 4% (Min) Crude fat | 1.9% (Max) Fiber | 81% (Max ) Moisture
The Royal Canin Mother and Baby cat is a wonderful well balanced cat food.
It is specially formulated to meet the needs of growing kittens up to 4 months old and nursing or pregnant queen cat. This product is considered as a first stage food. It is therefore ideal for feeding weaning kittens.
We recommend this kitten diet because it has a fluffy mousse texture in sauce. This texture makes it easy for kittens with poorly developed teeth to eat.
Additionally, this wet kitten food is designed to meet all the nutritional requirements of your kitten. It contains highly digestible proteins and prebiotics. These promote a healthy digestive system.
The other reason is because this food supports a young kitten’s immune system. It does so through the complex antioxidants and vitamins included in its ingredients.
Furthermore, this product is great because it contains DHA. DHA helps build a strong foundation for brain development from a young stage or in the womb if fed to the queen.
Lastly, this product has a flavor that guarantees your kitten or queen will love it. This product contains real chicken, chicken liver and chicken by- products.
This product however tends to be pricy but is worth investing in for a healthy kitten. It also contains wheat gluten which some individuals may be allergic to.
Wellness Complete Health Kitten Chicken Pate
11% (Min ) Crude Protein | 6% (Min) Crude Fat | 1% (Max) Fiber | 78% (Max) Moisture
The Wellness Complete Health Kitten Chicken Pate is one of the highest rated cat wet food.
This product is ideal for feeding weaning kittens for several reasons. The first reason is because it is an excellent source of high quality proteins and essential fatty acids.
Additionally, it contains Taurine which promotes healthy eye and heart development.
The other reason is because this kitten diet is ideal for kittens of all stages up to 1 year old. This is because it has a consistency that makes it easy for kittens to eat.
Additionally, this product contains natural chicken which gives it a pleasing flavor that kittens cannot resist.
Lastly, this chicken pate has a high moisture content (78%) that guarantees hydration for your kitten. It therefore increases your kittens’ moisture intake ensuring urinary tract health.
Hill’s Science Diet Canned Wet Cat Food, Liver and chicken entrée
Liver and chicken entrée: 11.5% (Min) Crude Protein | 5.5% (Min) Crude fat | 1.5%(Max) Fiber | 78% (Max) Moisture
Hill’s science diet, Kitten Recipes is one of the vet recommended cat wet foods. We recommend this kitten food for a number of reasons.
First, the Hill’s Science kitten recipes are made with high quality proteins that help build muscles in young cats. Additionally, they offer balanced minerals for strong bones and teeth.
Furthermore, this kitten diet is made from natural products. As such it has a pleasant flavor that kittens cannot resist.
Lastly, this product offers a money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. Your kittens will love it so there is no chance you will be unsatisfied.
Hill’s Science therefore guarantees you high quality kitten recipe to promote the health and well being of your kitten during weaning.
Blue Buffalo Healthy Gourmet Natural Kitten Pate Wet Cat Food
11% (Min) Crude Protein | 7.5% (Min) Crude Fat | 1.5% (Max) Fiber | (Max 78%) Moisture
We recommend feeding a weaning kitten on Blue Buffalo Healthy Gourment Kitten Pate for many reasons. The first reason is because it is favorable for kittens up to 20 weeks of age.
The second reason is because this product contains natural chicken which gives it a savory flavor that kittens love.
The other reason is because it ensures high quality proteins that support the muscle development of your kitten.
Additionally, this kitten food contains DHA that supports brain (cognitive) development.
Lastly, this kitten food has a smooth texture that makes it easy for kittens to eat.
Best dry kitten food for weaning
Dry foods have seemingly higher protein content than wet food. This may not be so because the only difference is the moisture content. You would have to compare them on a dry matter basis.
Some kittens may prefer dry food over wet food. Be sure to pick the healthiest kibble when selecting dry kitten food.
If you feed your kittens on dry food only, make sure to provide a fresh bowl of water at all times. You may even add some water to the dry food to increase your kittens moisture intake.
Our top pick dry kitten foods are;
Purina ONE, Natural dry kitten food
40% (Min) Crude Protein | 18% (Min) Crude Fat | 2.5% (Max) Fiber
The Purina ONE, Natural dry, Healthy Kitten formula is a vet recommended dry food for kittens. We recommend this kitten food to feed a weaning kitten for several reasons.
The first reason is because this kitten food is made from natural chicken. Additionally it contains no additives or flavors. It is therefore safe for feeding kittens.
The second reason is that this kitten food has a high protein content. This helps support strong muscle development including the heart. Additionally, this kitten diet contains DHA which promotes the brain development and vision of your kitten.
Additionally, this kitten food contains essential vitamins and minerals that boost the immune system of your kitty.
Lastly, the Purina One Healthy Kitten formula is suitable for kittens between 3 weeks and 1 year. This is because it comes in the form of kibble with tender meat morsels that make it easy for kittens to eat.
IAMS Proactive Health Kitten Dry Cat Food
33% (Min) Crude Protein | 21% (Min) Crude Fat | 3% (Max) Fiber | 10% (Max) Moisture
This product is manufactured with kittens needs in mind. It contains nutrients similar to those in mother’s milk which makes it perfect to use to feed a weaning kitten.
We recommend this kitten food because it ensures 100% complete and balanced nutrition. It includes essential vitamins such Vitamin E that boost a kitten’s immunity.
Additionally, this product also includes Omega 3 DHA to promote your kittens brain development.
Furthermore, this dry kitten food has Tuarine that supports vision and eye development.
Lastly, this product contains chicken as the first ingredient. This gives it a savory flavor that is pleasant to kittens. Additionally, it comes in the form of small kibbles that are suitable for small kitten mouths and are easy to pick up.
Hill’s Science Diet Dry Cat Food, Kitten, Chicken Recipe
33% (Min) Crude Protein | 19% (Min) Crude Fat | 3.5% (Max) Fiber | 8% Moisture
We recommend the Hill’s Diet dry kitten food because it is a vet recommended product made with natural ingredients. As such, it is safe for kittens.
This kitten food is ideal for feeding weaning kittens because it ensures high quality proteins for muscle development. Additionally, it contains essential vitamins that support the bone and teeth development of your kitten.
The other reason why we recommend this kitten food is because it contains DHA. DHA supports healthy brain and eye development.
Additionally, the high protein diet in this food is easy for your kitten to digest.
Lastly, this kitten food gets its flavor from chicken which is pleasant for kittens and does not contain additives. It also comes in the form of kibbles that are easy for kittens to pick and it.
It however contains wheat gluten that some individuals may be allergic to.
Instinct Original Kitten Grain Free Recipe Natural Cat Food
42.5% (Min) Crude Protein | 22.5% (Min) Crude Fat | 3% (Max) Fiber | 9% (Max) Moisture
We recommend this food for use to feed a weaning kitten for several reasons. First, this dry kitten food is made with natural ingredients. It is therefore safe for kittens.
The second reason is because this kitten food contains raw meat and whole food ingredients. It is made from chickens raised Cage free as the first ingredients. Raw ingredients ensure minimal processing making this product safe for kittens.
The other reason is because this product ensures high quality proteins that are easily digestible for your kittens. The proteins support your kittens muscle growth.
Additionally, this kitten dry food contains DHA from eggs that support brain and eye development. It also includes omegas for healthy skin and fur.
The other reason is that this kitten food contains probiotics for digestive health.
Lastly, the Instinct Original kitten food has a pleasant flavor that even picky kitties love. Additionally, It comes in form of kibbles that are easy for kittens to pick and eat.
FAQs on weaning kittens to dry food
What age do you start weaning kittens?
Normally, the weaning process begins at 4 weeks for kittens raised with the mom. The kittens will slowly begin to eat mama’s food. When taking care of orphaned kittens, you can start the weaning process early. Mostly between 3 and 4 weeks.
Note however, that kittens can be very sensitive to premature weaning. Unless it is really necessary to wean them early, we recommend weaning at 5 weeks. Observe changes in energy levels after you begin the weaning. Revert back to bottle feeding when there is a decrease in energy level.
You will know if the kitten is ready for weaning when they start biting or chewing on their bottle. The weaning period can last up to 8 weeks. We recommend that you continue feeding the kitten at intervals with the milk replacer during the weaning process.
You can start weaning using kitten gruel then gradually moving to dry kitten food. Read our separate article on how to make kitten gruel to find out how.
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