Tuesday

Feeding Your Cat

What you feed your cat is very important for your kitty's health. You should give your cat the most nutritional food available. Avoid any cat food that is made with by-products like bone meal or animal digest. High sugar and/or carbohydrate content is also unhealthy. Any cat food that has these ingredients is just like a human living on junk food.


Cats require protein to survive. This means lots of fish, chicken or other meats. My cat adores turkey and avoids fish, strange as that may sound. Most cats go crazy for fish. This is very healthy and gives them lots of protein. Cats require taurine to survive. Never feed your cats dog food because taurine isn't an ingredient in dog food. You should feed your cat a low carbohydrate diet, though they need some carbs. Avoid feeding them "people food" or table scraps. High sugar/carb content can lead to your cat becoming sick. They could get cystitis, diabetes or a urinary infection. At the very least, they will become overweight and this will cut down on their quality of life.


Dry food or wet (canned) food? Dry food has it's advantages. It's inexpensive, even the higher quality brands don't cost that much. It's easy to clean up. You just pour the kibble in your cat's dish. You can leave it out during the day and the cat can eat it when hungry. Some cats are "grazers" and nibble all day long. The downside is it can lead to health issues. Cats that live on a dry food diet are more susceptible to diabetes and urinary infections. In fact, diabetic cats should avoid dry food because it will affect their blood sugar.

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Wet food is more preferable to cats. They love the taste and it is a real treat for them. It is more expensive than buying kibble. You should refrigerate unused canned food to avoid it going bad. If you feed your cat all canned food, there is a risk of your cat becoming overweight. A happy medium is blending both foods. You can mix the kibble with the dry food at every meal. You can also feed wet food once a day and give kibble the rest of the day. Whatever option you decide, your cat's diet is an important part of his overall health.