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First,
read the labels of any and all food carefully. Avoid foods
that list anything with the words By-Products in the top 5-10
ingredients, preferably at all. By-Products are generally
the leftover junk that are not considered fit for human consumption,
such as chicken beaks and feet, animal entrails, hooves and
such; also, sometimes the term by-products is a stand-in for
animal rendering road kill and even worse. Now, do you really
want your pet to eat that?
Ideally,
the best brands of food are Wellness and Pet Guard. No question,
the worst is 9 Lives, with Purina, Whiskas, Friskies and Fancy
Feast close behind. One of the easiest ways to tell if the
food is worth looking at is whether you can buy it in the
local grocery store; if you can, (with the exception of Iams)
you don't want to buy it at all. I know that sounds ridiculous,
but generally grocery stores will only carry the lower quality
pet foods.
It's
best to buy a high quality food. Your cat will eat less, use
the litter box less, and the litter box will smell less unpleasant.
Granted, pet stores will probably also have some of those
same grocery store brands on their shelves, but you will be
able to discern which brands you CAN'T buy at the supermarket
and start comparing from there. Pet store brands are significantly
more nutritious. Iams is on the high end of supermarket pet
food. However, keep in mind that as you read the labels, you
will find that even some of the better brands occasionally
will produce a type of food that contains things you don't
want. Therefore, always read those labels. Note: If your cat
will only eat Fancy Feast try switching to Nutro gourmet.
It is basically a high quality Fancy Feast, same size can
and comes in many flavors.
With
regard to dry foods specifically, one basic rule to remember
is that if the food comes in multiple colors (i.e. Deli Cat),
you don't want it. All that food dye is completely unnecessary,
does nothing to make the food more appealing to Kitty, and
means Kitty is ingesting excess chemicals she doesn't need
or want. Also, don't be fooled by dry foods claiming to be
lower in ash content and thus aid in the reduction of urinary
tract problems. Ash content and urinary tract problems are
completely unrelated; it's the amount of magnesium in the
food that affects the urinary tract. Ash is just the amount
of dust left over when you burn the food. Instead of checking
the ash content, check the magnesium content and go for the
lower amount if you are concerned about your cat's urinary
tract health.
Take
into account your cat's individual personality, whether she
exercises a lot or just lays around like a lump. Also factor
in any treats you may sneak her during the day and remember
that those treats count as calories. Take away some of the
food from her food bowl if she's getting a handful of extra
yummies here and there and be wary of your own habits of giving
her snitches from your plate: even the most active of cats
can easily get overweight if you spoil her with scraps. Remember,
you can serve a less active dry food and a regular moist food
to satisfy Kitty's needs, as long as you regulate the total
amount of food and calories she is getting. Also, keep away
from flavors containing fish.
HOW
MUCH TO FEED
Remember, kittens must eat 3-4 times per day (as much as they
want -- you CANNOT overfeed a growing kitten!), both canned
and dry foods. For kittens feed portions of a 6 oz. canned
food 3-4 times daily. Adult cats get half of a 6 oz. can twice
a day. Leave out a bowl of dry food for both adults and kittens
at all times.
WATER
Cats need about 1 oz of fresh, clean water per pound of body
weight per day. They need more during hot and humid weather.
Some
cats do not like to drink out of a deep bowl because they
have poor depth perception. You can try to help this problem
by using bowls that have some sort of design on the bottom.
You
should have at least one decently-sized (i.e. 6-8 oz) bowl
of water available for each cat in your home (or fewer much
bigger bowls) at all times. Make sure you empty out the old
water every day and rinse the bowls with very hot water before
refilling them with clean, fresh water. Once a week, wash
bowls with a non-toxic disinfecting dish soap and thoroughly
rinse off all the soap carefully.
BOWLS
FOR SERVING KITTY
Metal, stainless steel and ceramic bowls are better than plastic,
as plastic harbors germs longer, grows mold faster, and some
cats have allergic reactions to the plastic in the form of
pimples on their chins (cat acne). Plastic (as well as some
ceramic dishes) will possibly develop tiny cracks that can
serve as a breeding ground for bacteria. Also, plastic bowls
are lighter and your cat may tip it over.
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