Feeding Your Bengal Cat

Best dry food for bengal cats

Your kitten will need a high quality, high calorie, high protein kibble to stay healthy and active. They should stay on a kibble specially designed for kittens until they are a year old. Some foods specify that they are meant for adults and kittens which is also fine. Once they have reached a year old you can switch them to a regular cat kibble as long as it's still high protein.

First of all the first ingredient is meat. When deciding what brand of food to feed your kitten you should always look at the ingredients and make sure the very first ingredient is meat. Cheap brands of cat foods have fillers and often the first ingredient is corn, rice, by product, etc.

Kibble with fillers makes a cat have to eat more of the food to get the nutrients they need. So, if you buy the cheap food you're going to be buying more of it, thus spending more money.

Second, cheap cat foods with fillers make it a lot smellier when your cat goes to the bathroom. Who needs that?

And lastly, your cat is a member of your family. Would you feed your child hot dogs every meal of the day their whole life knowing that it's not even real meat and not enough nutrition for them? Absolutely not! So why would you feed anything but the best to your beloved kitty?

Best wet food for bengal cats

Wet food used to be thought to cause dental issues in cats but we know know that this is not the case. It's very important to feed bengal cats wet food in addition to the dry food because if you don't your cat will stay in a constant state of being slightly dehydrated.

Not only does the wet food help them stay hydrated but it's also an excellent source of protein and has more protein than dry food or kibble.

The protein content in wet food can be confusing. It may seem like it has less but it doesn't. We have a short blog post where you can learn about why wet food protein content reads less on the label.

We recommend high quality brands like Wellness, Nulo, Instinct, Blue Buffalo, Wilderness, Tiki Cat, etc.

Feeding bengals raw meat

Bengals do seem to crave meat more than other domestic cats. Some breeders feed a daily ration of very lean red beef in addition to their regular diet, and some feed only raw meat. Ordinary hamburger contains too much fat and can cause stomach upset. Ground round, ground sirloin, or beef hearts is well tolerated and very much enjoyed by Bengals.

If you are going to put your Bengal on a raw food diet please do your research and make sure you are adding things like Kitty Bloom to the meat so they get all the vitamins and minerals they need too. You can NOT just feed cats or dogs raw meat alone without adding the vitamins they need.

If you are serving meat raw, you must take precautions!!! Raw meat can cause food poisoning in Bengals! Do not let it set at room temperature for very long, and remove whatever the cat doesn't eat after 20 minutes.

You can cook unseasoned boneless chicken for your Bengal and they can have it by itself or mixed in with their dry or soft food.

Bengals LOVE chicken! We do feed our Bengals cooked chicken all the time.

Do's and Don'ts when feeding bengal cats and kittens

Don't feed your kitten dog food. Cats require taurine which is not contained in dog food. Without it, they can develop heart disease or go blind.
Don't feed your kitten table scraps, nor supplement his diet with milk (causes indigestion and diarrhea). You will encourage begging habits, and your kitten will fill up on foods which don't contain the nutrients he needs.
Don't feed your kitten liver, canned tuna, or other canned fish intended for humans. These foods can create an imbalance of vitamins A, D, and E, which can lead to serious conditions.
Do feed your kitten a well-balanced premium food specifically designed for kittens. These youngsters need more proteins for building strong bones and muscles, and more calories to keep up with their high energy levels than older cats.

Is it ok to feed your bengal cat human food?

No, no, and no! Unless you cook them unseasoned chicken, beef, fish, etc. This would be for a treat, not their main diet. They must have the proper vitamins in their food or they could get really sick.

If you feed your bengal cat from your plate then I hope your the type of person that doesn't mind a cat stealing food from your plate the second you turn your back or possible right in front of your fact. Feeding them from your plate is a terrible habit and a sure way to have a naughty bengal cat that steals food and jumps on counters. Plus there's all kinds of human food that can make bengals very sick or even kill them.

Please Note

We no longer feed or recommend Royal Canin. A long time ago they changed their main ingredients to rice and chicken by product! They are the only cat food that offers special breeder pricing and kitten packs to send home with clients. I would rather pay double and send some food home in a zip lock than to feed my babies rice and by-product. Bengal cats require HIGH protein. This food is NOT appropriate for a bengal cat!