The basics of Nutrition for cats:

I love to eat, boy do I love my food, yumm, my human has certainly got it right when it comes to yummy in my tummy, so I want to share my thoughts from a cats perspective so that you too can make sure your cat has the best nutrition. Here I want to talk a little bit about the basic of nutrition for us cats.
We cats are known as obligate carnivores. An obligate carnivore means that we must eat meat. You cannot just turn us out to graze in a pasture. The digestive tract of cats has been shortened and optimised for proteins from meat.

We cats simply don’t have the dental or digestive apparatus to process plant materials. It’s therefore surprising, given our physical inability to process plants, that you will still find us cats nibbling on plants from time to time. There are many theories for why we cats would nibble plants. Our human guardians believe we may be trying to balance an upset digestion or add missing vitamins and minerals. Perhaps we simply like the taste. Maybe it’s a combination of factors. The jury is still out on this matter and it’s a top cat secret 😉 There is an interesting book you might like to read called Small animal Nutrition, click on the links or on the picture below to order now.

Fortunately these days, our humans don’t have to go out and hunt for food to feed us cats. There are a large number of very good, nutritionally balanced foods available in pet stores online and in stores to satisfy any cats’ tastes, even the most fussiest of cats can find something tasty. Try to feed good quality food. It really does make a difference in our health and appearance and your pet cat deserves the best. Pick one that your cat likes and stick with it. We cats don’t actually need a lot of variety. Changing our food constantly tends to make us picky eaters and cause us digestive issues, the last thing we cats want are the runs 😉 Royal Canin Feline Sensitivity Control is a good quality option and an excellent brand in my opinion for sensitivity. Click the link or the picture for more information.

Our nutritional requirements as a cat vary by age and size. What we need as a kitten will be very different than what we will need as an adult or indeed as a senior cat. Be sure to follow the instructions on the bag and from your vet to avoid feeding us too much or too little. The average adult cat will need about one cup of food a day. We cats appreciate consistency in our feeding schedules.
Try to feed us at the same time each day. Also, try to keep our bowls out of high traffic areas. It’s hard to eat our dinner when people are stepping on you!

You should also consider weight management as weight is a very important factor for us cats, especially going into old age. As a bit of a senior cat myself, I enjoy the Hills Science Plan for weight management. Click the picture or the link for more information. You can order here.

I would not recommend feeding us cats human food, a cat needs special food designed for us specifically, we like to feel special remember and having our own cat food helps us feel that extra bit special and stay healthier for longer and in turn we live longer. Some things, such as chocolate and raw liver, are actually toxic to us cats. Others cause digestive upset. It is not actually necessary to feed us meat that you might eat yourself, but if you do decide to feed us meat you also eat please remember to remove the bones from any cooked meat you might want to give to your cat. Poultry and pork bones, in particular, are given to splintering and can injure us.

Occasionally we might need to have our food changed for medical reasons or as we grow into an adult and senior cats, so when you need to switch from one type of food to the other, do so in a gradual process. Shifting gradually from one to the other over the course of a week will help prevent digestive upsets. You may need to switch foods because your store may stop carrying the brand. Do the changeover slowly and we cats will thank you for it.

We all love a treat, yum, but us cats can gain weight quite easily so feeding us treats is something for you to decide for us. Some of our cat guardians are dead set against them. Others lavish treats on us cats at every opportunity. There are many good cat treats on the market today, one of my absolute favorites is the Felix Cat Treats Snack Box. My human buys them in bulk here so I always have a tasty teat at paw 😉 yumm. Read their directions carefully. You don’t want to overindulge us and turn your cat into a furry beach ball with legs.

The only other thing that us cats require is water. Do your best to keep a nice fresh supply of water available for us at all times, better still consider a water fountain. After trying many of these and spending a small fortune only to be disappointed, the ball ones, for example, corroded very quickly as I live in a harsh water area, I have stuck with this one, I have two in different places, I even sit with my paws in it, my human thinks its because im hot bit actually I just enjoying playing with the water 😉 I have PetSafe Drinkwell Platinum Pet Fountain – Automatic Drinking Fountain and it is amazing, it gives me many days of freshwater and it is great fun to play with the water. Before I had this I only use to drink from the bath taps, now I much prefer my water fountain, it has filters so filters any nasties out of the water for me and keeps it nice and fresh, it is quiet too, a bonus for my human. With a little thought and planning, you can keep your pet Cat healthy and happy for a long time to come. Click on the link or the picture and make sure you cat stays hydrated in this heatwave and always has access to fresh water.

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#TheMrSparkles writes about life from a cats perspective. Full of fun stories, information and much more.

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