Once your cat reaches maturity, at 12 months, it's time to settle into a regular feeding routine. To maintain an optimal body condition, your cat's diet needs to include the right balance of the six major nutrient groups; proteins, fats & oils, minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates and water. Any, good quality, manufactured pet food should provide your cat with this basic nutritional balance. Whether you serve canned or dry, or a mixture of the two, is really a matter of personal preference - yours and your cat's.

Advances in pet nutrition mean there is now a wide range of commercially produced cat foods designed to match more accurately your cat's specific needs. If your cat spends the majority of it's time indoors, for example, it may benefit from a special indoor formula with high levels of indigestible fibre to help ease swallowed hair through the digestive system without forming hair balls. Less active cats require less fat, so feeding a 'light' formula could help to avoid weight gain.

Some cats develop sensitivities to food groups. Your vet can recommend an alternative formula to help. Special diets are also available to treat certain health conditions or aid recovery.

But unless your cat's circumstances change dramatically, there is no reason to break your regular feeding routine from the early days of adulthood, to the end of the seventh year as your cat reaches seniority.

What to feed?
You can feed your cat on wet or dry food, or a combination of both. Some cats prefer to be fed wet food in the morning, for example, but have dry food left out during the day to snack on. Unlike many dogs, cats prefer to crunch on their dry food and generally find it less attractive when soaked, so keep it dry.

If you choose a dry food, you can expect your cat to chew it more actively and take longer to eat; to drink more water; and to return regularly to the food rather than eating it all at once. Dry food will stay fresh all day, so it can be left out for your cat to eat whenever it wants. Store dry food in a dry, clean environment. Re-sealable packaging or an airtight container keeps it tasty by sealing in the aroma.

If feeding a moist food, by contrast, your cat will eat more in one sitting rather than going back and forth, and will drink less. Serve the food at room temperature to ensure your cat can taste and smell it properly. Warming up an opened can may take up to two hours from being taken out of the fridge - alternatively, you might consider microwaving canned foods for a short time, but be careful of hot spots. In general avoid serving food that is either too hot or too cold. Don't keep wet food opened for longer than 24 hours.

Fresh water - not milk
Make sure fresh drinking water is always available for your cat, but don't give cow's milk. Contrary to popular belief, cow's milk isn't good for cats, as most cats lose the ability to digest lactose shortly after weaning. Only feed specially formulated 'cat milk'. And because milk is a food and not just a drink, it's a good idea to reduce the amount of solid food you feed your cat if you do serve a special cat milk.

Meat-eaters
Unlike dogs, who can live quite happily on a balanced vegetarian diet, cats will go blind, suffer other debilitating conditions and ultimately die if fed on a vegetarian diet. Cats are obligate carnivores - meaning they must eat meat to survive!

Treats and snacks
Scraps from the dinner table or a small piece of food fed by hand are seen by many as a way of showing affection. However, human foods are high in calories and lack many essential nutrients, so you risk overfeeding or upsetting the balance of your pet's diet.

Generally speaking, manufactured treats are a far healthier alternative. Carefully formulated to taste great and complement main meals without upsetting the nutritional balance, many even include nutritional 'extras' with benefits like improved dental or digestive health. Remember, when you do treat, always reduce your cat's main meal by an equivalent calorific amount, and feed according to manufacturer's directions.

How much?
Follow the feeding guide on the back of the pack, but remember the guide is only there to give you an idea. Every cat is an individual, so the most important consideration is to feed enough to maintain a lean, healthy condition. For more information on monitoring your cat's body condition, click here.

Ensure you provide plenty of clean, fresh water at all times, in a large metal or ceramic bowl.

When and how to feed
If cats had their own way, you would be feeding them 13-16 small meals a day, each one providing about the same amount of calories as a mouse. Of course, this is a little inconvenient for owners. And whilst dry food can be left down for several hours, canned food should never be left to go dry in the bowl. Ultimately cats are creatures of habit, so it's best to feed them away from where you eat and in the same place and at the same time each day.

Choose a reasonably quiet area, away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. It's always a good idea to feed on a surface that is easily cleaned, like a tiled floor or a mat. Place feeding bowls away from the litter tray and, if you have two cats, keep the bowls a reasonable distance apart to avoid confrontations or bullying.

Ensure you provide clean, fresh water in a large metal or ceramic bowl. This helps to keep the kidneys healthy and reduce the risk of Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD). Some cats will often ignore their water bowl in favour of a dripping tap, a puddle in the garden, or even the toilet bowl! (which should be quickly discouraged as, on top of the dangers of falling in, toilet-cleaning chemicals can be toxic to cats).
 
Changing diet
Cats have a very different digestion to ours, which can be easily upset when you change their food, whether from canned to dry or between different brands. Make the transition gradually, slowly increasing the amount of the new food over a period of at least seven to ten days, so your pet can adjust. But don't worry if your cat has an upset tummy at the beginning. This is normal.

Overweight cats
Adult cats have a natural tendency to put on weight. Indeed obesity is the most common nutritional disorder in cats, affecting one in four in the UK. Overweight cats are more likely to develop diabetes, heart and respiratory problems, bladder stones and arthritis.

If weight is a growing concern, consider trying a specially formulated 'light' product.
Light cat food is lower in fat but still contains all the necessary vitamins and minerals your cat needs, so you can reduce the amount of calories you feed without cutting down on portion size or nutrients. Light diets not only help overweight cats return to their correct weight, but can also help less active cats maintain a healthy body condition thereafter.