Ragdoll Nutrition

From birth until three to four weeks, our kittens receive only milk from their mother. Starting at four weeks, the mother cat’s milk production starts to decrease and we begin giving them additional food. We begin with pureed chicken, followed by finely ground chicken meat and high-quality canned cat food. We do not feed our kittens or adults dry cat food. 

Kittens have small stomachs and should always have food available. In the wild, they would also eat small meals often, as opposed to lions who eat very large portions at one time.  

Depending on each kitten’s activity level, they will, at times, eat a lot, and at other times only a little. The thinking here is that kittens who always have enough to eat will not overeat when they are older, causing them to be overweight. 

Cats are meat eaters and should be fed accordingly. The main ingredient of the cat’s food should be meat. Ideally, canned cat food will have at least 60 – 70% meat and contain no sugar or grains. Cats can digest high protein, fatty foods very well. They cannot, however, digest starchy foods such as rice or potatoes. 

Amino acids such as Taurine, Lysine, Arginine, and various vitamins must be supplemented. Taurine is especially important, as a deficiency can lead to blindness. We have been feeding our cats a BARF (biologically appropriate raw foods) diet for several years and 

are very pleased with it.  Fresh meat is not enough, unlike canned cat food, which we also give to our cats. A cat’s excrement on a BARF diet is almost odorless and rather hard as opposed to too soft. 

I calculate the supplements that I add to the meat with a BARF calculator that can be downloaded from the internet.  

When picking up your kitten from us, we provide you with a list of websites where you can find BARF recipes, frozen food, and the appropriate supplements. We also provide you with the types of canned cat food we recommend, as well as our nutrition guidelines with all of the most 

important nutrition information.