Kittens need an average of fifteen percent more protein to get the proper muscle development.
The proper muscle development is important because that includes their heart.
Kittens also need about twenty percent more fat in their diet.
If you are feeding your kitten homemade food (this is advisable) make sure that the fat they are getting is uncooked.
Cats can not digest cooked fat and in fact it can cause problems in the future.
Almost all cats are lactose intolerant so keep your cheeses and dairy to a minimum.
If you have a recipe that calls for a lot of dairy try using lactose free milk.
My cats love lactose free milk.
Lactose intolerant means that an enzyme in their stomach is missing so they can not properly break down the sugar (lactose) in regular milk.
Cats are mainly meat eaters but adding some vegetables to their diet is recommended.
Just be careful what vegetables you add.
Stay away from garlic, onions, and cherry tomatoes.
Foods from those food groups are poison to cats.
Another one to avoid is bell peppers.
Cats, like out in the wild, need raw food without preservatives to get the proper nutrition.
For the most part if you feed your cat homemade food, use raw everything.
The exception is potatoes and eggs.
Both of those need to be slightly cooked.
The average store bought food does not contain the proper nutrition that cats need.
When my cat was about three years old he got crystals in his urinary track (this can be deadly if not caught in time).
My vet told me that the food I was feeding him was the cause.
Now this confused me because I was using an expensive name brand food.
My vet told me that most of the store bought food was the equivalent, nutrition wise, of Twinkies.