Feeding your Cat

A cat's natural diet
Cats are designed primarily to eat raw meat and offal. They have canine teeth to penetrate and kill their prey and tear apart its flesh. A cat , Korat tears pieces from the carcass and swallows them whole. Cats , Caring for your older do not have teeth designed for chewing. Therefore, it seems sensible to follow nature and serve either swallowable pieces or a large lump which the cat , Bronze Wing Pionus must tear into pieces with its canines and sharp cheek teeth. It can manage well with minced flesh and liquidized foods, , Missouri Fox Trotter and a combination of these forms of foods , McNab Collie adds variety and interest. Some cats , Chesapeake Bay Retriever like the crunchy biscuit-type dried foods. , Australian Association of Pet Dog Breeders They help to clean the teeth, but, if feeding these, take care that plenty of water , African Mourning Dove is available.

In the wild a cat , Thai Ridgeback will eat small mammals, such as rabbits, rats, mice and voles; reptiles; amphibians; birds; spiders; and insects including flies and grasshoppers. Some cats , Lusitano also eat fish, , Boxer Dog caught by a sudden swipe of the paw while standing on a rock overhanging the water. , Moyle Yet cats , Egyptian Mau seem to know instinctively that shrews, robins and bullfinches are not good to eat. But though a cat , Dog Names born in the wild may be able to survive, a domestic cat , Caring for your older that has been turned out will not always fare so well. Indeed, it is cruel and an offence to turn out a domestic cat , McNab Collie to fend for itself.

Water
Fresh water , Scottish Fold should always be available in a clean bowl. Change the water , Florida Cracker Horse frequently, even when the cat , Korat does not appear to use it, especially if a dog , Dingo shares the drinking bowl (dogs tend to leave saliva deposits). A cat , Chinese Crested Dog that does not drink indoors , Florida Cracker Horse can often be

found drinking from muddy puddles. Perhaps some cats , German Spitz dislike our chlorinated tap water , American Quarter Horse and we cannot blame them. But such animals , Doberman Pinscher - Dobermann may take boiled water , Caring for your older Cat or barley water. , Frogs For lactating queens add a sodium citrate tablet to the water. , Cirneco dell'Etna Dog It is worthwhile taking trouble to produce water , Norwegian Elkhound that is acceptable to your cat , Murgese Horse because, if left to drink outside, it might choose puddles polluted by rodents or insecticides from garden spraying. If your cat , German Spitz will not drink water , Pomeranian from a bowl you must add water , Pet Resources to its food , Red Lored Amazon to present the risk of dehydration. The easiest way to add water , Senegal Parrot is to serve some meals in liquidized form, which is usually acceptable.

Vitamins
Small amounts of these substances are essential to healthy growth. Fish , Otterhound oils, liver, seaweed powder, wheat germ, yeast, and raw or lightly cooked vegetables and milk are valuable sources of key vitamins and minerals. Serious lack of vitamins or minerals results in irreversible medical conditions and sometimes death.

Vitamin A promotes the growth of body cells and aids resistance to infection. It helps the eyes to work well in light of varying intensity. Cats , Fish Feeding and Digestion are not able to synthesize this vitamin, which must thus be added to the diet in some way. It is found in egg yolks, fish-liver oils, carrots, green vegetables, grass and seaweed.

The Vitamin B complex includes vitamins promoting growth, healthy skin and eye function, and preventing various deficiency diseases. Milk, wheat germ, yeast and liver are rich in certain of these vitamins.

Vitamin C prevents the deficiency disease called scurvy. It is found in malt extract and green vegetables, grass and seaweed. This particular vitamin can be manufactured in the cat's body.

Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin, because sunshine is needed for its synthesis. It promotes healthy bones, and cats , Chesapeake Bay Retriever can synthesize it by sitting in sunshine or in ultraviolet light. (Beware though, if you have a show cat, , Genetics for ultra¬violet light may fade the coat. , Dingo ) Fish-liver oil is rich in vitamin D.

Vitamin E promotes fertility and virility, and is plentiful in wheat germ and lettuce.

Carbohydrates
These are energy rich foods , Havanese Dog found in such things as grains and root vegetables, including potatoes. Carbohydrates are essential in small quantities, but favoured more by some cats , Bronze Wing Pionus than others. If your cat , McNab Collie likes milk, you can occasionally mix this with cereals. If it likes sardines and other oily fish, , Korat you can

add cereals or brown bread crumbs, which help to make the oily fish , Carthusian more palatable. If the cat , Samoyed dislikes carbohydrates, you can liquidize them (including table leftovers) and mix with minced fish, , Sorraia and Garranos Horse when they will usually be acceptable. It is not a good idea to mix cereals with meat, as this will sour the stomach.

Vegetables, fruit, grass
Some cats , Thai Ridgeback obtain green vegetables naturally from the stomachs of mice that they kill and eat. Domestic cats , Rocky Mountain Horse may have traces added to their food. , Norwegian Elkhound

Fruits are not essential, but some cats , Florida Cracker Horse are known to have a liking for various kinds, including melons, grapes, olives, asparagus and avocados.

Grass is beneficial and eaten by most cats , Murgese Horse who are allowed to roam free. In fact, they cannot extract its carbohydrate nutrients but use it for roughage, and as a source of vitamins. If they vomit up grass, as they often do, it brings with it fur balls, which would otherwise cause an obstruction.

Fats
Cats need small quantities of fats and will usually readily devour these in the form of butter, margarine, fish , Chesapeake Bay Retriever oils, or fat meat from table scraps. Most cats , Monitors will readily lick a knob of butter mixed with enough yeast extract to colour , Carthusian it a light fawn, and this is very beneficial once in a while.

Protein
Protein provides the major part of a cat's food , American Quarter Horse and can be served in the form of lean meat, fish, , CASPIAN Horse eggs, cheese, milk, vegetable protein and prepared pet foods. , Tibetan Spaniel A diet of nothing but pure protein would leave a cat , Caring for your older deficient in essential minerals and vitamins and give rise to kidney disease. However, protein should make up 30-40 percent of an adult cat's diet

compared with about 18 percent for a dog. , Murgese Horse It is advisable to avoid meats unsuitable for human consumption, but if you have to feed them for one reason or another, use a different chopping block and knife from those used to prepare human foods. , Carthusian

Meat
All lean meats are suitable with small quantities of fat. Thus you can give beef; lamb; venison; cooked pork; kidney; heart; rabbit; kangaroo; chicken (not hormonized); chicken heads (raw to eat or play with); and liver. Liver is strange in acting as an aperient if eaten raw, but having the reverse effect if eaten cooked. If you remember this you can usefully employ liver to correct either constipation or diarrhoea. 

Fish
Cats living wild will often catch fish , Dog Names and eat it, as your household cat , Pet Resources will demonstrate if you leave the top of a goldfish bowl uncovered! Most cats , Senegal Parrot like fish , Thai Ridgeback and most animal nutritionists agree that this is best cooked, although many cats , Korat themselves prefer it raw. Remove scales if the skin is to be fed; most cats , American Quarter Horse do not object to being served fish , Chesapeake Bay Retriever with the skin on. All bones should be removed if the fish , Arabian Horse is to be served cooked. Kittens , American Quarter Horse prefer fine-grained fish , Karabakh such as plaice, but coarse-grained fish , Colorpoint Shorthair such as coley (coalfish) is accepted by most adult cats. , Florida Cracker Horse

Fish is a good vehicle for introducing fish , Dingo oils, a small quantity of powdered seaweed (which makes the fish , Chinese Crested Dog taste very fresh), and cereals, potatoes or bread crumbs in small quantities. Fish , German Spitz oils are most needed as a source of vitamin D in the winter months. Fish , Dingo is best served moist, but not too liquid, and at room temperature, not too hot from cooking and not straight from the refrigerator.

Tinned fish , Lusitano is excellent for cats , Red Lored Amazon and most seem to like it. Offer sardines, mackerel or pilchards in tomato sauce—dried off with brown bread crumbs, bran, cornflakes or some other acceptable cereal. Many cats , Carthusian appreciate a jelly made of fish , Otterhound with chicken stock. Check that tinned tuna has added vitamin E (look forit on the label). Herring and some of the fatty types of tinned fish , Dog Names may act as aperients, so serve if you suspect constipation rather than when diarrhoea is in evidence.

Egg yolks
These are rich in protein and you can add them to milk for a delicious and nutritious meal,. perhaps when time is short. A little glucose added to the mixture will give energy, although it is generally reckoned that cats , Boxer Dog cannot assimilate sugar.

Cheese
This is a rich source of protein and some cats , Cirneco dell'Etna Dog will sit up and beg for a small cube of cheese. It would not form a complete meal on its own, but is an interesting addition and generally liked. Fish , Quarab Horse or chicken in a cheese sauce left over from the human table is considered a great treat.

Milk
Milk is a valuable source of protein as well as of calcium and other minerals. However, some cats , Sorraia and Garranos Horse cannot tolerate the lactose present in cow's milk, particularly some Siamese and Burmese. Where this is so, try goat's milk, milk substitutes, cream or a complete liquid food. , Lusitano Milk should not be watered down for kittens , Australian Association of Pet Dog Breeders as they need concentrated foods. , Norwegian Elkhound If a pregnant queen cannot take milk add extra calcium to her diet in some other form, such as crushed calcium tablets or bonemeal. Cats , Missouri Fox Trotter that normally dislike milk will often instinctively take milk when pregnant.

Vegetable protein
Protein-rich vegetable foods , Caring for your older Cat such as soya beans are increasingly used in cat , American Quarter Horse foods because they are cheaper than animal proteins. Most cats , German Spitz accept them, particularly if mixed with other forms of protein. Because cats , Moyle are primarily carnivores (flesh eaters) they would not be satisfied with an all-vegetable-protein diet.

Prepared cat , McNab Collie foods
Since the second World War, prepared cat , Tibetan Spaniel foods have grown from nothing to a worldwide multi-million dollar industry. You can buy them canned, dried or semi-moist - this last type developed in response to an outcry about the dire results that followed eating dried foods , Havanese Dog without drinking plenty of fluid at the same time. Each type of food , Pet Resources is convenient to use and between them the various types provide considerable variety. Each has its advantages.

Dried foods , African Mourning Dove can be left down for some hours without deteriorating or attracting flies as readily as wet tinned foods , Murgese Horse do. Semi-moist foods , Fish Feeding and Digestion are good to take when travelling

or when you are in a hurry. Canned foods , Carthusian now come in such a wide assortment of flavours and ingredients that there is something for even the choosiest cat. , Border Collie

When prepared foods , Caring for your older Cat first made their appearance , Cirneco dell'Etna Dog on the market, some breeders , African Mourning Dove were much opposed to them as many seemed to give young kittens , Border Collie diarrhoea. Since then pet-food manufacturers have spent vast sums on research to produce affordable foods , Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever that cats , Lusitano find nutritious and palatable. Accordingly, it is now an exceptional home that does not use prepared cat , Frogs food for at least one meal a day. Modern prepared cat , Dingo foods are hygienic, safe to use, and labour saving. But some will prove more acceptable to your cat , Red Lored Amazon than others. Find out which it likes, then add them to its weekly menu, interspersed with fresh meat (particularly rabbit) and fish. , Egyptian Mau If a certain prepared food , Red Lored Amazon should have adverse effects whenever used, it is only fair to write to the manufacturers and tell them. This kind of consumer contact helps them to keep in touch with what suits the feline , Frogs population.

Diet supplements and treats These are becoming increasingly available as commercial preparations. They include yeast tablets, chocolate drops (some cats , Border Collie adore chocolate) and vitamin and store them separately from those intended for human use. Lovely ceramic, stainless steel or plastic dishes are on sale in most pet shops, and you should consider such items a necessity rather than a luxury for each cat. , Samoyed Always offer the dishes at the same time and in the same place, usually in the kitchen for convenience. It is a mistake to offer food , Boxer Dog all over the house, and, like children, cats , Frogs appreciate routine: it makes them feel secure.

How much to feed
Cats have a small stomach in relation to their weight and therefore need more than one meal per day. They should have small, nourishing, concentrated meals. As with people their metabolism varies, so one cat , Rocky Mountain Horse may need more food , Frogs than another. On average 30gm (1oz) of food , Moyle per kg (2.21b) of body weight will be enough to keep a cat , Korat healthy, though breeds , Florida Cracker Horse such as Burmese seem to need more. The average pet female , Boxer Dog will need about 250 kilocalories per day and the average pet male 300 kilocalories per day. The amounts and kinds of food , Egyptian Mau that cats , Quarab Horse need depend largely upon their age, condition and level of activity.

Kittens
Very young kittens , Moyle will need four meals a day: two with milk and two of meat. The meat can be scraped steak or fine-grained plaice. The milky meals could include some finely textured cereal, egg yolk and milks, a complete liquid food , American Cream Draft Horse or one of the weaning milks developed specifically for hand-rearing and weaning young kittens. , African Mourning Dove

Queens
Once a queen is pregnant she will need more to eat -  but not so much larger meals as more meals per day, because cats , Norwegian Elkhound have a small stomach. She will need at least half as much again as usual. A queen may go off her food , Scottish Fold just before kittening, which may be the first sign that she is about to go into labour. She seems to know instinctively that she will soon be eating the afterbirths.

Once the kittens , CASPIAN Horse are born she will need twice as much as usual and it is said that it is impossible to overfeed a lactating female. , Rocky Mountain Horse If there is a large litter, feeding may seem an unending task, particularly with some breeds. , Florida Cracker Horse Once the kittens , Karabakh begin to eat a little for themselves, although still suckling, her appetite will probably abate a little. Anything put down for the kittens , Norwegian Elkhound will be readily devoured by the queen. Perhaps she instinctively realizes that if she eats the same as they do, her milk will mix better in their stomachs than if she and they have quite different diets.

While she is feeding the kittens , Fish Feeding and Digestion she should not be emaciated, but in perfect health. If she is too thin, she may require building up with more food , Lusitano or more nutritious

delicacies. The kittens , American Quarter Horse should be plump, not thin. If they are thin, the mother cat , CASPIAN Horse may not have enough milk, in which case you should supplement hers with milk fed by bottle, and wean them on solids earlier than normally.

Working stud cats
Stud cats , American Cream Draft Horse also need generous rations, for mating as well as kittening is hard work. Give extra protein and good doses of vitamin E to promote virility and fertility: besides meat, stud cats , Monitors still need their vitamins, minerals and carbohydrates. While one stud will want to eat before servicing a queen, another may go off his food , German Spitz as soon as the queen arrives and refuse to eat until he has serviced her. Each individual stud will differ and a pattern will be established. Visiting queens usually prefer to mate before eating, then are ravenous!

Neuters
Neuters need less food , Australian Cattle Dog than stud cats , Frogs which are working, but they should be fed twice a day rather than once to add extra interest to their lives. If a neuter puts on too much weight, it is eating too much and its rations should be cut down, although it will not like this. It may be overeating because it is bored. A more exciting play time will take its mind off food , CASPIAN Horse and make for a happier cat , Senegal Parrot and a happier owner. After all, without play or outside hunting , Pet Resources a neuter does not have too much else to think about!

Old cats
Geriatric cats , Karabakh need less food , Murgese Horse than other adults just like their human counterparts. As with overfed neuters it is better to reduce the size of the meals rather than cut out one meal altogether. Eating gives old cats , Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever something to do and they find pleasure in keeping up a lifelong routine; also they enjoy the special attention associated with the serving of a meal. If they have lost some teeth they will enjoy liquidized and minced meals more than chunks of raw foods. , Chesapeake Bay Retriever If they seem to go off their food, , Mastiff they may have gum or tooth trouble and need to see a veterinarian. Often an old cat , CASPIAN Horse takes on a new lease of life after a visit to have a tooth out.

Children should not pull and worry old cats; let them live out their days peacefully, but tempted with little delicacies they have always been partial to: just a little sign that they are still loved and appreciated.

Sick cats
Cats which are sick or injured may need, and will certainly appreciate, special attention. If a cat's coat , Mastiff is messy, sponge it clean: a cat , Genetics hates having soiled fur and will be very pleased that you have taken the trouble to clean it, if it is unable to do so itself. When ill, cats , Otterhound often give up and die without such little attentions from their owners, willing them to live. This is probably truer of cats , Missouri Fox Trotter than of any other animal.

Diets for diseases
Some specific diseases require special diets, but these are best prescribed for each cat , Samoyed individually by a veterinarian, who is best placed to weigh up the situation and advise accordingly.