Puppies and kittens can start taking PET Plus as soon as they are tasting solid food. This will be a few weeks before weaning as they suckle as well as eating solids for several weeks.
Why Choose Pet Plus For Kittens And Puppies?
It is really helpful for these young puppies and kittens to start on Pet Plus as early as possible as it supplies the nutrients they need to support their development. In the wild, their mothers would be bringing them freshly caught herbivores to eat, so that is what we need to replicate for our pets.
In the wild, after their mother’s milk, puppies and kittens would get fresh herbivores to eat
The immature immune system of young puppies and kittens is supported naturally by their mothers’ milk (colostrum at first) until they are 12-16 weeks old, but we tend to wean them at 8-10 weeks old, denying them that support. It is essential that we provide a top quality nutritional supplement to support them through this extremely stressful stage.
Stressful Times For Puppies And Kittens
Puppies and kittens are often vaccinated at 6-8 weeks (a complete waste of time!), again at 10 weeks (another mistake), then taken away from their litter mates their mother and the home they have known all their lives, wormed with some noxious chemical and taken to a new environment and expected to sleep in the dark in an unfamiliar environment alone. What a terrifying experience that must be!
That is super-stressful, isn’t it?
The very least we can do to support these babies is give them decent nutrition, so start them on PET Plus as soon as possible.
What’s The Best Food For Puppies And Kittens?
Raw food from the very start is absolutely the best. Always remember what they would have had in the wild and do your best to do the same.
They would eat little and often, so start off with about 6 small meals a day of minced meat and bone with a little liquidised greens and a pinch of PET Plus in each meal.
Feed PET Plus as soon as they start on solid food
As they get older and bigger, you can offer more at each meal. Remember how tiny their stomachs are and give appropriate amounts of food.
Gradually reduce the number of feeds per day and increase the quantity until by the age of about 6 months, you are giving 2 meals a day.
I would reduce to one feed a day if you want to at about 9-12 months old. Have a look at my diet sheet.
Does My Puppy Or Kitten Need To Chew?
Puppies and kittens love to play and chewing is a large part of this. You can provide them with the small end of raw chicken wings from about 12 weeks old. They love chewing them and are rewarded by actually getting some nutrition from their activities!
You can also get dried pigs’ ears, tripe sticks and neem chew sticks which are not raw, but chemical free and not overly processed.
Try to find chewy treats that are not overly processed
There are various knotted rope toys of a size appropriate for your puppy or kitten, but be sensible! Do not give a large, boisterous puppy a toy that might disintegrate and be swallowed, resulting in an obstruction!
Why Feed Raw Meaty Bones?
The advantage of using raw meaty bones to chew is that they are digestible and so will not cause an obstruction. This only applies to raw meaty bones. The moment you cook them, you’ve destroyed the enzymes and made them into something dangerous, brittle and indigestible!
So do not cook any meaty bones and do not give your dog or cat any cooked meaty bones left over from your own meal. The only meaty bones that are safe for dogs and cats of any age are raw, natural meaty bones.
Remember to give your puppies and kittens access to fresh, chemical-free water at all times. Use a bowl or dish that they can reach without risk of falling in and drowning. Wash the bowl every day and refill with fresh water.
Should My Puppy Or Kitten Drink Milk?
The only milk that is suitable for puppies and kittens is their own mother’s milk. No one is designed to drink the milk of another species and cow’s milk is particularly inappropriate.
Giving cow’s milk to immature puppies and kittens is a quick way of making them allergic because their gut wall is relatively porous.
Never give cow’s milk to a dog or cat – because it’s milk specifically made for a different species.
If you have very young puppies and kittens that for some reason cannot access their own mother’s milk, you can buy artificial milk powders specially made for them.
It would be a good idea to mix a tiny pinch of PET Plus with this to help them to digest and absorb this artificial milk because it would otherwise be completely devoid of enzymes, antioxidants and other heat sensitive micronutrients.