In order to cover the topic of feeding cats in the most capacious way, we present several articles related to feeding cats. Just a few opinions from various people related to cats, veterinary medicine and felinology will help you better understand the issue of feeding your pet and choose the optimal diet and menu for him.
Feeding cats and kittens
NATURAL FOOD
1. Raw frozen beef. For a kitten, at least 30 grams, for an adult cat — 100-120 grams every day, for about 3.5 to 8 months, eating beef can be 50-150 grams per day.
2. Boiled boneless chicken is possible every day. For kittens, chicken breasts. From about 3.5 months, you can give chicken legs.
3. Chicken or beef offal (heart, lungs, liver, kidneys) frozen in boiled form. The heart is not more often than 1 time a week (boiled), the liver is boiled too, since the liver is a filter of any organism, in ungulates, too, cats with a light color cannot be carried away with it, the coat may turn brown or yellow. Lungs and kidneys are optional, but few cats eat them. All frozen meat products must be scalded with boiling water.
4. It is better not to give fish at all!
5. Chicken egg yolk, raw or boiled in pure form, or you can grind it with cottage cheese, you can give it 1-2 times a week. Quail eggs can be fed whole raw.
6. Fresh raw or boiled milk only for kittens under the age of 3 months, since milk in an adult cat is not digested and causes indigestion, and the kitten needs it.
7. Milk porridge can be given to kittens under the age of 3 months, sometimes they give oatmeal, a small amount with a natural method of feeding, but this can be omitted and replaced with vegetables.
8. Fermented milk products: kefir (it is good for kittens to add gluconate and glycerophosphate, ground into powder), bio-yogurt, cream (a little) you can every day. All medium fat, as well as cheese. Cheese is given to grown kittens (4-5 months) more often as a reward or a treat when training.
9. Fresh and non-acid cottage cheese (also with the addition of gluconate and glycerophosphate, ground into powder) can be mixed with sour cream or raw egg yolk. Kittens are given 3-4 times a week, adult cats 1-2 times a week.
10. Cereals: oatmeal (steamed), rice, buckwheat — mixed in a 1:2 ratio with boiled meat (1 cereal : 2 meat). Few times a week.
11. Several times a week, you can give raw or boiled vegetables: carrots, cauliflower, dried seaweed, pumpkin, tomatoes, cucumbers (a little), what fruits will be, etc. They must be mixed in a 1:2 ratio with meat.
12. Greens (wheat germ) can be grown on a windowsill. NO grass from the street! It is not necessary to add to food, because the cat burps the grass. Grown kittens are given a paste to remove hair.
13. Powdered brewer's yeast is contained in all complex supplements (B vitamins). A set is given daily + trace elements + top dressing.
14. Cats are not given vegetable oil, only petroleum jelly if they have problems such as constipation. Oily vitamins can be put into your mouth daily. With normal nutrition, kittens should not have constipation.
15. Mineral and vitamin supplements are given every day, the dosage depends on the age of the kitten. The rest is just a treat.
16. Fresh water purified through a filter or boiled should ALWAYS stand! Do not teach cats to boiled water, then if you drink raw from the tap, you will have stomach problems. No need to raise a greenhouse and frail animal!
Cat food is not salted, sweetened, or seasoned.
Meat and meat by-products, which are given raw, must first be frozen in the freezer, followed by scalding before feeding. You cannot feed the kitten only meat and fish, or only porridge. In general, you should not get carried away with fish, its excessive consumption leads to inflammatory diseases of the kidneys and urolithiasis. Fish should not be given to castrated animals.
Food should be slightly warm or at room temperature. Food that is too hot or cold (from the refrigerator) should not be given. All food for a kitten is very finely chopped, large and small bones are carefully removed. For an adult cat, food is cut into small pieces. Don't give big pieces! It is better to immediately teach the cat to eat in only one place (it should be a quiet, calm place, not in a draft, where no one walks, not at the door, as you can accidentally hit the kitten).
Raw meat is given in its pure form (you can add raw carrots with a drop of refined oil), boiled meat must be mixed with vegetables to avoid constipation.
Kitten 1.5-2 months feed about 5 times a day (or make free access to food). By six months, gradually reduce the number of feedings to 3 times a day. From 8 months feed like an adult cat 2 times a day. In general, feeding a cat is difficult to reduce to several times, since cats eat several times. If you want a well-fed, growing animal, you should not limit food: cats do not overeat if they do not have health problems.
Remember:a cat is a predator and does not have to eat borsch, pasta, or cabbage salad. A cat has its own, special diet, and you should take this into account when feeding your pet, and not try to accustom him to what we eat — this is HARMFUL for cats and leads to various diseases.
CATS CAN'T! (any age)
1. Bones of chicken, fish. A kitten or cat can choke, besides, bones damage the esophagus and stomach, and clog the intestines.
2. Pork and poultry meat (except chicken and turkey): goose or duck meat. In its raw form, this leads to infection with worms, in some cases to dangerous infectious diseases, which leads to the death of the animal. Such meat is very fatty and poorly absorbed by the cat's body.
3. Fatty, spicy, salty, smoked foods such as sausages and canned food for humans. Fried foods. Cause upset of the gastrointestinal tract and disrupt metabolism. As a result, the animal looks bad, chronic diseases appear.
4. Sugar, chocolate, candy, cakes and everything sweet. It disrupts metabolism, gives weak immunity, dull hair, dental diseases. CHOCOLATE contains theobromine, which is poison for cats, causes severe poisoning, death of the animal.
5. Potatoes, since starch is not digested by the intestines of a cat, potatoes are absolutely useless for her, can cause upset.
6. Legumes (soybeans, peas, beans) are not absorbed by the body, cause bloating and fermentation in the intestines.
7. Salt, spices. Food for cats is not salted and spices are not used, this does not bring benefits to its body, only harm.
8. Medicines, vitamins intended for people. A cat has its own special balance of substances in the body, vitamins for humans are not suitable for them. In addition, many medications for people cause severe poisoning in them, kidneys can fail, which leads to death.
READY (INDUSTRIAL) FEED
Feeding ready-made feed is more convenient, because saves time on cooking, it is balanced, and the cat receives all the necessary nutrients. You can feed dry and canned food (canned food) (only an adult animal!).
Dry food must be chosen of high-quality, good manufacturers: Royal Canin, Eukanuba, Hills, Nutro, Eagle Pack, Purina Pro Plan, Iams. Good feeds are usually labeled "Premium" or "Superpremium".
Cheap food such as Wiskas, Kitty-Kat, Friskas CANNOT be given! They are of poor quality, contain too many mineral salts, and not meat and high-quality offal are used as protein, but bones, skins, feathers. Their use leads to various diseases and does not satisfy the needs of the cat. There is also a great risk of developing urolithiasis.
From canned food, good food from dry food manufacturers recommended above, as well as Gourmet.
A kitten up to 8-10 months, sometimes up to a year, is fed with special food for kittens, both dry and canned. This is very important for proper development. Then the kitten is transferred to adult food. Also, kitten food is given to pregnant and lactating cats. When feeding a cat (male) with dry food, especially a castrated one, the packaging should be marked "prevention of urolithiasis" (these feeds have a special formula with a low content of ash, phosphorus and magnesium). For a cat, this is not so important, just high-quality food is enough. Dry food can be poured in for the whole day, it does not deteriorate. Canned food is given as much as the animal can eat at one time. The following ration is recommended (based on the daily dose): 75% canned food and 25% dry food, and for exhibition animals and for the rest — 50 to 50.
It is NOT RECOMMENDED TO MIX PREPARED FEEDS FROM DIFFERENT MANUFACTURERS, BECAUSE EACH FIRM DEVELOPS ITS DIET (SET OF PRODUCTS, VITAMINS, MINERALS). IF THE FEED IS MIXED, IT DOES NOT HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE FOOD BALANCE.
Author: Irina Mukhina. Source: http://www.vetspas.ru
Why do cats drink little?
Firstly, all the many breeds of cats are descended from the common domestic cat through special selective selection, and the domestic cat, in turn, is descended from the wild African cat that lives in the arid places of northern Africa. Nature has taken care of the survival of cats in these extreme conditions through the body's unique ability to concentrate urine. Thus, compensating for the loss of fluid and preventing dehydration. Our modern cats have retained this unique self-defense mechanism and the habit of drinking little water.
Secondly, cats, unlike dogs, drink at night, when the owner may not see it. Therefore, a cat's access to water must be free and constant.
What problems can arise for a cat who drinks little?
Low water intake can lead to even more concentrated urine, struvite crystallization, and urolithiasis. If the cat eats only dry food and drinks little, this may alert the owner.
The same cats that are fed with canned food really do not drink much, since the water content in canned food is up to 75%, and the cat's body replenishes its water reserves through the food — this is another advantage of canned food over dry food, in which the water content is only 7.5-10%.
Therefore, free access to water increases its excretion in the urine and reduces the risk of urolithiasis.
Feeding pregnant and lactating cats
The food intake of any cat after mating begins to increase. With regard to energy consumption, it also rises to 90 kcal/kg body weight. Weight gain in a cat depends on the number of kittens in the litter. The best start in kitten life should start with proper nutrition for a pregnant and lactating mother cat.
Of course, a cat during this period needs a complete food, namely food intended for lactating cats, in my case it is the Royal Canin Queen. The daily allowance for the cat can be offered immediately, especially when the cat is alone in the house during the day. Cats, like kittens, rarely overeat, unless they are neutered and spayed animals. This is due to the peculiarity of their stomach, which does not stretch during meals, unlike, say, dogs. Thus, the cat will eat the amount of food that it needs, and the owner can easily set the right amount by offering a little more than the cat eats.
During lactation, the energy consumption of a cat is even higher than during pregnancy, because you also have to feed kittens. Therefore, the lactation period serves as a litmus test in the correct feeding of the cat. The amount of food offered to a lactating cat depends on the number of kittens in the litter, the age of the cat and its own weight.
A cat's energy requirements remain very high until the kittens are sucking milk — this is about 8 weeks of age. After this period, the cat begins to restore its own body reserves.
Food for pregnant and lactating cats can be both dry and canned, but canned food stimulates milk formation to a greater extent than dry ones, since they contain more water and these foods are more high in calories and digestible.
It is known that during childbirth, cats lose up to 40% of their weight, which consists of the weight of the fetuses and afterbirth. During lactation, the cat's weight continues to decline, gradually reaching the value it was before mating. In the case when the weight of the cat after lactation remains below normal, feed the cat with this food until the normal weight is restored, and only then switch to the diet recommended for adult cats.
Remember! Fresh water must be available at all times, as most of it will be lost with the milk produced.
If the cat receives a balanced food, then vitamin and mineral feeding is not added to its diet.