25 February 2021
Wondering when and how to transition your kitten onto an adult cat food? Unlike dogs, which can vary hugely in size and therefore grow and reach adulthood at very different rates, all kittens reach their full adult size at approximately 1 year of age and can be transitioned onto adult cat food at this point. While some kittens start to calm down with age, others keep that “kitten energy” for a little while into adulthood. If this is the case for your kitty, we recommend starting them on adult food once they reach 1 year of age, while following the feeding recommendations for a more active adult to supply adequate calories for the energy they are burning. As your cat matures, monitor their energy level and body condition, and switch to the normal adult cat feeding recommendations when your cat starts to have a calmer behavior (is burning less energy) or gains excess weight.
It is important to gradually transition your kitten from one food to another. Start with a proportion of 25% adult food to 75% kitten food. Slowly change the proportions over the next 5 to 7 days by gradually increasing the amount of adult food and decreasing the amount of kitten food. If your cat has an especially sensitive stomach, we recommend prolonging the transition period to 10 to 14 days.
For a complete list of Nutrience cat foods for all life stages, click here.
Nutrience has many options that are suitable for all adult cats. Many have even been recommended as “first pick” by Protégez-Vous.
Our Subzero Fraser Valley, Prairie Red, and Canadian Pacific formulas in the SubZero line contain an elevated level of crude protein, perfect for a cat that is always on the go. Mixed in with our kibble are freeze-dried Nutriboost cubes. Nutriboost is a mix of animal protein and 4 superfoods: pumpkin, for its digestive properties, cod liver oil which is rich in omega-3, green-lipped mussels for their anti-inflammatory properties, and Acadian kelp, rich in antioxidants. These cubes are freeze-dried to ensure minimal nutritional degradation and provide a taste your cat will adore!
Our Grain-Free Turkey, Chicken and Herring, Ocean Fish or Indoor Turkey, Chicken & Duck formulas are a great choice for any moderately active cat. These formulas use multiple different sources of animal protein, providing your cat with a complete and diverse amino acid profile. With a 36% crude protein level, this food will satiate your cat and meet all his or her energetic requirements.
Our Infusion Healthy Adult and Healthy Indoor Adult are best suited for moderately active cats, especially indoor cats, who prefer a grain-inclusive formula. This protein-rich kibble is infused with freeze-dried chicken liver for a superior flavour that even the finickiest cats will crave.
Our new Care line caters to cats with special needs and targets different needs including Weight Management, Sensitive Skin & Stomach, Hairball Control, Urinary Health, and Oral Health.
If your cat is experiencing itchy skin, diarrhea, vomiting, hives or swelling, he or she may have a food allergy or sensitivity. Our Care Sensitive Skin and Stomach formula is a grain-free food suitable for all life stages. Nutrience Sensitive Skin & Stomach is made with fresh salmon and hydrolyzed fish protein concentrate. This recipe is free of all common allergens including chicken, beef, lamb, dairy products, eggs, meat meals, gluten, and grain (including soy, and wheat). Compared to poultry, beef and lamb, fish is the most easily digested animal protein and is the least likely to trigger an allergic reaction. Going the extra step of hydrolyzing a protein ensures that this formula is hypoallergenic and caters to the gastrointestinal sensitivities your cat may have.
Our Care Urinary Health formula is suitable for all life stages and is a great preventative diet even if your cat has never had crystals. Male cats, and those who have already had urinary health issues, are most at risk for developing crystals and can benefit greatly from this diet. Our Urinary Health formula relies on a balanced pH and low levels of dietary magnesium (0.08%) to prevent the formation of both struvite crystals and calcium oxalate crystals.
Long haired cats are especially prone to hairballs. Hairballs occur when cats groom themselves and ingest loose hair. Most of this hair be excreted in the feces, however occasionally it will clump together and form a hairball. Hairballs occur when the ingested hair cannot move easily through the digestive tract and is instead regurgitated. Providing your cat with a diet specifically formulated to prevent hairballs like our Care Hairball Control formula will give your cat all the nutrients it needs in adulthood while keeping your floors hairball-free at the same time.
You may also want to consider putting your cat on a good dental kibble to prevent the development of any periodontal disease, such as our Nutrience Care Oral Health formula. This cat food is designed to promote good dental and oral health for your cat. The Oral Health kibble is formulated using Denta Crunch™ technology: an oversized kibble, made with a unique blend of insoluble fibers, designed to encourage your cat to chew thoroughly. This mechanical action will help clean your cat’s teeth, maintain good oral hygiene, and fight plaque and tartar build-up. Many dental foods rely on sodium hexametaphosphate, a chemical that prevents plaque from calcifying into tartar. Our Oral Health formula does not contain any sodium hexametaphosphate and instead uses Stay-Clean-50, a Vitamin C derivative that inhibits the growth of plaque-causing bacteria. By targeting plaque rather than tartar, Stay Clean-50 is also attacking the root of the problem.
If you’re looking for something other than kibble, you may also be interested in our new Air Dried food, which is available in two flavours: The Rancher and The Farmer. This recipe is showcasing our country’s fresh, high-quality ingredients. Handcrafted in small batches in Canada, we air-dry our foods at low temperatures to preserve all the nutrients & flavours those ingredients have to offer, resulting in a highly digestible, highly nutritious, and, just simply, a really good-for-them food.
Similarly, our SubZero Raw food is prepared with fresh, locally sourced ingredients including sustainably-caught salmon and herring, as well as hormone-free and antibiotic-free chicken and meat. All our raw foods are prepared with human-grade food. Our grain-free raw food is available in two formulas: Raw Praire Red and Raw Fraser Valley.
For a full list of Nutrience adult formulas, click here.
Most of these formulas are available in a wet format as well! Should you need guidance on which Nutrience cat food to choose for your cat, please do not hesitate to reach out to us on Facebook or Instagram.
You can also use our Feeding Calculator on our website is you are uncertain about how much you should be feeding your cat daily.
Happy feeding!
