Cats and Kittens

If your cat likes dry food (some cats, especially rescued ones, tend to not “understood” this kind of industrial food, and refuse to eat it), then you are lucky! On the market there are hundreds of types of dry food available, the only thing that is left is for you (or your cat) to choose one.

Here are few tips:

1. Overly marketed brand or veterinary approved?

When choosing the brand of cat food is it best to go with the ones showed on commercials during TV brakes or not so popularly known, you can only buy in vet’s office type of brands?

Well, every cat owner with experience will choose option nr2. Over marketed cat food brands are the equivalent of fast food for us. NO quality, no vitamins and lots of chemical stuff and by-products.

2. Watch the ingredients

You should carefully look to the ingredients list. Does it contain to many E? Does it have only by-products meat? Does it have a big percentage of ashes? Than is not the right food to keep your cat fit!

Instead, if it is made from meal that you will also eat, and it doesn’t contain dangerous add-ons chemicals and a small amount of ash (like 6%) it may be a good buy.

3. Watch the place from where you buy

Local supermarkets sure features different types of cat food, but not necessarily the best ones. If you are a champion in skiing, would you buy your sportive equipment from a supermarket? Of course not, you would go with specialized sportive store, because they have the best products on the market.

The same thing with cat foods: if you want your cat to look the best, you have to buy her food from special pet stores. The best brands of pet food only sign with pet stores, and not with supermarkets. Vets are also a good place to buy pet food, you can also get advice in what is the best food for your feline back home.

4. Keep in mind your cat age

Good brands of cat food have different assortments of food for different age groups. The necessities in food of a kitten are not the same as for a grown-up cat. So choose the food according to your cat age.

5. Breed does matter!

Certain cat breeds can have special needs in food. So producers developed special food s for them. For example: persians cats have long hair and flat face -> extra care for hairball control and special form for the biscuits so it is easy for them to pick the food from the bowl.

6. SIZE does matter!

If you have 10 cats back home it is ok to buy a big sack of food. But if you have only one maybe it is better to buy a smaller package, so the food, in contact with open-air, does not loose quality. Or, if you want to save money (bigger packages tend to be cheaper) buy special recipient to hold the cat food.

7. Special conditions need special food

If your cat suffers from some sort of disease or condition, check with your veterinary for references of special dry cat foods. They are available on the market different types of cat food for different conditions (for example, after an operation, your veterinary can advise you on a special cat food to help your cat recover; or if your cat suffers from obesity, special diets may be available). Just keep in mind: those types of foods are special diets, the vet must recommend them to you, and usually you should feed the cat like this for a limited amount of time.

Choose a ready prepared, nutritious, complete food for your cat and serve.

What could be simpler?

A walk down to any local supermarket for a can of cat food begins a daily conundrum for many a virgin cat owner. With shelves packed to the brim of brightly colored cans and packets of all shapes and sizes, how on earth can we decide which food is best for our cat? Sadly the answer for many people is ‘the label’ or ‘the advert I saw on TV.’ The real truth of the matter is that there is a wide range in the quality of cat foods available and not all of them could by any means be considered to provide optimal nutrition for your pet.

With a little research it is easy to find a great deal of shocking information on the ingredients which are regularly included in the standard, mainstream can of cat food. Protein sources such as euthanized animals killed with toxic chemicals, chicken faeces with a minimum allowed straw content, diseased animals and animal carcasses – designated not fit for human consumption and treated with toxic chemicals are commonly used in food available on the market. Indeed a recent mass recall of cat food hi-lighted the risks of poor quality ingredients. Wheat gluten imported in vast tankers from China was sold to cat food manufactures in the US and incorporated in many pet food varieties sold all over the world. The wheat gluten had traces of a toxin, (identified by the presence of melamine), which has now been estimated to have killed or caused kidney disease in thousands of domestic pets.

So how can we choose the best and safest food for our cat?

To answer this question we must look at the dietary needs of the cat and how the various ingredients of the food available today meets these requirements.

A cat is first and foremost a carnivore and as a result derives its nutrient and energy requirements from eating animal prey. Carnivores cannot live on a vegetarian diet because they have the inability to produce certain amino acids which are only found in meat, eg. Taurine. In fact the only source of carbohydrate a wild cat would eat regularly would be from the contents of the stomach of its prey. From protein and not carbohydrate, (as in herbivores and omnivores), the cat derives an energy source and synthesizes Vitamin C.

It seems an obvious conclusion that to provide a healthy diet for our pets we should try to as closely as possible mimic the natural diet to which our pet has evolved to survive on.

Let’s first look

Cats are the most curious pets! They like many different things, and many different things attract their attention. Given this one would think buying toys for a cat would be a snap! Not!

Ask any cat owner. It is a chore of love. Every cat owner has that box somewhere of discarded cat toys, rejected by Fluffy as unworthy! What works?

Know your cat. Different cats like different types of toys. I have found the best way to find toys they like is by knowing their personality. If you have a more sedate type cat, (like my Isis was), it’s a real challenge. Catnip toys seemed to work best for her. The idea of a “treat” she couldn’t reach, kept her interested. Not only that the catnip appealed to her mor cerebral nature.

If you have an active cat,(Athena), toys that provide a lot of motion are good. There’s a gizmo that suctions on the door and has a dangling object on a bungi cord. This is good for the cat and owner. The cat can play whenever and the owner doesn’t get worn out playing with the cat! Cat owners can tell you, when a cat is taken with a toy they can play with it for very long periods of time.

Active cats also like balls. Buy balls of multiple sizes. I buy balls that will and won’t fit under samll spaces. This gives them a challenge, to get the small one out, and they are able to continue the game, (with the larger one).

Some cats like bells, beeps and whistles. Most cats don’t, especially if the sound is loud. Of all the toys my cats have not liked it was the ones that made sounds.

All cats seem to love soft furry toys. My mom has one for Chester, that is a cat’s face and a long furry tail attached to it. You can hold the head part and swirl the tail around the floor and let the cat chase it. If he/she is willing of course!

Cats like feathery toys as well. Some that have little animal bodies and feathery features likes eyebrow, tails, etc. some come with catnip and others without.

Just a word on size: cats tend mot to like really big toys. They want to be able to get it between those front claws and kick it with the back ones! Be sure you’re not buying toys too big for your cat!

The best cat toys are often the ones you don’t buy: The brown paper bag, a hole cut in a box,a ball of foil, a sock or a shoe, the fish in the fish tank! Cats are curioys creatures and you never know what will catch their eye.

Experiment. Buy some inexpensive toys from the dollar store or Walmart. Determine which ones your cat seems to play

For the most part, the only basic things you need to do to keep your cat healthy is provide shelter, healthy and nutritious food, and plenty of water. Of course, like all living things, cats will get sick sometimes no matter what.

As a cat owner, you’ll you need to make sure you provide your beloved feline with only the best food.

Premium cat food is ideal, as the food is designed to keep your pet happy and healthy for many years.

You also need to pay attention to your cat’s behavior, so you’ll recognize symptoms of sickness and can take her to the veterinarian immediately. Most of the more common ailments and sicknesses are minor, although there are some cases where a vet can be the determining factor between life and death for your cat.

Your cat’s behavior will be one of the most critical factors when you are trying to determine whether or not she is feeling under the weather. Acting sluggish, laying around, lack of energy and refusing to eat are all signs that you must rush her to the vet immediately. Her coat is a good thing to keep an eye on also. If you notice that her coat is dull and patchy, or if you notice abnormal shedding, you need to contact your vet as soon as possible.

Diarrhea and vomiting are fairly common, even with basic sickness. On the other hand, if your cat seems to be doing either one of the two for more than a day, you should contact your veterinarian. Coughing is also pretty common, as most cats have hairballs from time to time. If your cat seems to be coughing for another reason, you should have her checked out as soon as you can..

To ensure that your cat isn’t exposed to various diseases, you need to make sure that she stays up to date with her vaccinations. There are several diseases out there that require vaccinations, including rabies and feline distemper. Feline distemper is one of most devastating diseases a cat can get, yet it is also one of the easiest to prevent. The disease strikes cats very quickly, and leaves you as an owner very little time to find treatment.

Feline leukemia is another fatal disease, but can also prevented early on with the proper vaccinations. Although the disease isn’t possible for humans to contract, it can be spread very quickly among cats. There are vaccinations that can treat the disease these days, although you’ll still want to be careful to not expose other cats around a cat with feline leukemia.

Another problem that is most common with outdoor cats, is worms. A cat with worms will typically have a lackluster coat and little to no appetite. There are many different kinds of worms, including hookworm, tapeworm, and ringworm.

Worms can come from fleas, lice, or even the organs of dead rodents that cats consume. Normally, the cat will digest the eggs which will later mature and attach themselves to the intestinal walls.

If you take proper care of your cat, chances are she’ll be healthy for years to come. You should always make sure she has high quality food, and never misses any scheduled checkups with the vet. If she gets the proper vaccinations when she is required to get them, she should be safe against numerous pests and diseases. Take the proper steps with your cat now to prevent anything from happening in the future.