This is a specific conversation about Kitten food — the right nutrition from the start — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
A 9-week-old British Longhair with that gorgeous dense coat just starting to come in — you're at exactly the right moment to get nutrition locked in properly. Kittens have completely different nutritional needs from adult cats: higher protein to build muscle and bone, more calories per gram to fuel all that growth, and critically, the right omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids to support skin and coat development. For a breed like the British Longhair, that coat is a real feature — and what you feed right now genuinely shapes how it develops. Can I ask: is your kitten on anything at the moment, and do you know if they came from a breeder who was feeding something specific?
She came from a breeder who was feeding Royal Canin but I'm not sure which one. She's been with us four days and I've just been continuing with what the breeder sent us home with, which is nearly finished now. She seems healthy, eats well, no digestive issues.
inparticular.ai
That's a really solid start — good digestion, eating well, no stress reaction to the move. That tells me her gut is in good shape, which makes this the ideal time to transition properly rather than scrambling. Given she's already on Royal Canin and tolerating it well, I'd actually recommend staying within that family rather than switching brands and risking unnecessary disruption. The specific product I'd point you to is Royal Canin British Shorthair Kitten dry food. I know the name says Shorthair, but it's the closest breed-specific formula Royal Canin makes, and the nutritional profile is genuinely well-matched for British-type cats — high-quality protein, an optimised omega-3 and omega-6 ratio specifically designed to support dense coat development, and a kibble shape suited to the British cat's broader muzzle. For a longhair, the omega fatty acid content is what matters most for coat texture and density, and this formula has it dialled in. It's widely available on Amazon UK, usually in 400g or 2kg bags.
Should I be adding any supplements on top of that, like a fish oil or something?
inparticular.ai
Honestly, no — not at this stage, and especially not unsupervised with a 9-week-old. The issue with adding fish oil on top of a complete kitten food is that you can tip the omega balance the wrong way, and fat-soluble nutrients like vitamin A and D can accumulate if the diet is already supplying them in the right amounts, which Royal Canin kitten formulas are calibrated to do. At her age, a well-formulated complete food is genuinely all she needs. If you're still concerned about coat condition in a few months and it's not developing as you'd expect, that's the time to have a conversation with your vet — but right now, the food itself is the best tool you have. Supplements become relevant later, and usually only if there's a specific deficiency or health issue flagged.
That's really helpful. One more thing — wet food or dry, or both?
inparticular.ai
Both is fine and actually a nice approach at this age. Dry food is good for dental health and convenience, and the Royal Canin British Shorthair Kitten dry formula is where the breed-specific coat nutrition is most concentrated. But adding a good quality wet food once a day — either the Royal Canin wet pouch equivalent or another complete kitten wet food — helps with hydration, which matters for skin health too. Cats are naturally low-thirst animals and kittens can sometimes underdrink on an all-dry diet. Just make sure whatever wet food you use is also labelled 'complete' for kittens, not 'complementary', and keep the total daily calories in check so she's not overfed. At 9 weeks she'll self-regulate reasonably well, but it's worth keeping an eye on portion guidance on the pack as she grows.
