A Cat's Diet Is The Key To Their Health

By Madeleine Innocent

Your cat's diet is key to their health, to their longevity and to their happiness. This means it has a significant part to play in your happiness and in your budget. A healthy, happy cat will need little health care.

There's a quotation that goes something like this "Let thy food be thy medicine". It's an ancient quote probably by someone who knew what they were talking about. Perhaps Paracelsus.

It is probably more true today than it has ever been, with all the hype and spin about commercial cat food, with all the lies and cheating that goes on in the name of profit.

This cannot be stressed enough. Everyone is affected by their diet. And food has never been so unhealthy. From the modern farming methods, to the chemicals used in processing, to the nutrient depleting refining processes, to the chemicals used to flavour, colour, to stimulate appetite, and yes, to create addictions.

Cat and pet food in general, is not subject to the more stringent laws that human food is. Even this falls badly short. So the animal food doesn't stand a chance.

To give you an idea. Formaldehyde, or formalin, is used to embalm dead bodies. It's a highly effective preservative. It's so good, when it is used by the commercial cat food industry, its products will remain unspoilt even when left at room temperature for years.

Do you know of any human food, that allegedly contains meat, that does this?

Do you imagine that the regular intake of formaldehyde will not impact on your cat's health?

Another major problem with modern cat's diets is that it is not based on high protein. Cats evolved to consume a high protein diet, of high quality. Not only is the protein that goes into commercial cat food low quality (all the good parts are sold to the more lucrative human market), but it is scarce.

Protein costs far more to add to a product than does a carbohydrate. Carbohydrates are cheap and in plentiful supply, if you are not too fussed about quality.

But quality aside, cats are not able to digest the quantity of carbohydrates found in commercial cat food, whether it is grain or not. Do you imagine that consuming this poor quality, undigestible, nutrient deficient diet, is not going to have an impact on your cat's health?

It's of little value consulting your vet about diet. Nutrition is not part of the syllabus at veterinary colleges. Amazing though this may seem, bearing in mind the enormous impact food has on health, this vital part of their training is left to - you guessed it - the commercial pet food industry.

You can see the effect this has. Virtually all veterinary clinics are piled from floor to ceiling with commercial pet food. All guaranteed to keep them in a lucrative business.

Become informed. Do your own research on cats diet. Become a thinker, rather than a follower. Your cat gives to you. Don't you think you should do the same?

For more details on a naturally healthy cat's diet and health care, click on the link below.

Three Natural and Economical Feline Treatments

8 Ultimate Cat Food Tips

By Dominic Hough

The cat food myth that many of us believe is that what we give our little fluffy is plenty.

We buy the tins or we buy the dry cat food and then give it to our little fluffy friends. When they don't eat it, we assume that they are fussy. We change the cat food flavor, mix it up even more, or even change the brand.

What we tend to find is that cats are not really fussy. They are just going off their genetics which demands that fluffy is given a certain amount of food groups that is specifically designed for fluffy. So a cat will know if it hasn't got those nutrients and will hunt them out disliking food until it has found "the right combination".

Wrong.

Cat food is balanced for normal, healthy fluffy. It is also wise to know what fluffy is actually eating and what you should do to help your cat have a balanced diet.

Unfortunately in our frenzy to make our cat love us and to make sure that it is getting the best food, we sometimes make mistakes.

Here are 8 ultimate tips to give your cat the best food which will apply to cat health as well...

1- never give fluffy dog food. It is not made for a cat and long term use can cause all sorts of illnesses, fatal and chronic. Some are: night blindness and vitamin deficiencies.

2- never give excess vitamin A. This can cause sterility and loss of hair.

3- never give raw fish. They contain enzymes that break down vitamin B1 and can even carry disease for little fluffy.

4- Canned food provides some water for cats but always give a cat a fresh water source to use.

5- A cat will not eat anything that is by its litter tray.

6- By enlarge, they are solitary animals so they get concerned when anything disturbs their food eating. The location of the food dish, other animals close by, interactions of distraction etc will all determine how much the cat is willing to eat. It is not uncommon for a cat not to eat for a week in a boarding house.

7- Vitamin and minerals are not really needed as supplements (unless the vet says) as long as the cat is eating a well balanced meal.

8- Any treat should not consist of more than 20% of fluffy s intake.

Cat food is a science and a necessity. You can actually make your own cat food so at least you know what goes into it. Find out simple and easy ways here: Cat food tips

Kittens Are Valuable

By Norma Holt

The attitude in many communities appears to be that kittens are free. That is because they are given away, often with good intentions, by those who simply want to get rid of them. They are more than often treated like vermin although the mother cat might be a valuable part of the family. Those who expect to receive them for free surely cannot expect anything more than that the animal is valueless and therefore can be treated accordingly. There are, however, many who will still treat the free kitten with respect and love but, unfortunately, the reverse is more often the case.

As a cat breeder of more than 25 years' experience there is much to be said for selling kittens and stopping the horrible abuse they suffer at the hands of vandals, uncaring people and through situations that might take their lives. There is no control when the animal is offered for free over who takes it or for what purposes.

In a recent case in Sydney a kitten of just a few weeks of age was thrown onto a railway track in front of a train. It survived but had severe injuries that were treated by a caring vet. In another case a kitten had been set alight and it too survived but suffered enormous pain. If these kittens were treated correctly by caring owners they would not be in these situations.

The hundreds of advertisements in papers and web sites for kittens in Australia are full of ads for free kittens. These little bundles of love and joy are then given to anyone who turns up at the door and wants one. o one can ask about the home environment or for what purposes the animal is required, A man said he used them to train his greyhounds. A lady announced that her kitten was torn to pieces by her dogs so she wanted to replace it. Then there are numerous people whose cat was killed on the road or it simply disappeared so they want a replacement.

Free kittens are obviously not expensive to breed which means cheap food, often no food, no vet assessment of their health and certainly no micro-chip. Many free kittens are taken from their mothers before they are even weaned and well before they are stable or secure enough to survive on their own. This often results in disasters whereby the animals are stressed and unable to cope on their own. People do not seem to realise that, like any baby, they have needs beyond what humans give them, especially if they have had little or no human contact. They also need a special feeding regime.

The free kitten may go into a home with screaming kids, savage dogs and violent non-caring owners, all of which causes confusion and stress. When suffering such trauma many may become withdrawn, savage and often hard or impossible to train. That makes them even less desirable. These are the ones most likely to run away and become feral or be killed on the roads.

Well-bred animals are properly weaned onto a good healthy diet. They usually come with instruction sheets to provide information and there is back-up support for their ongoing care. They are rarely allowed to go before 8 weeks of age, a time when they are most likely to have stored enough knowledge and lessons from their mum to help them survive. They are at that time more secure and less likely to be a problem to the new owners. If reared inside the home they should be kept as indoor cats to avoid injuries on the roads or other places.

These animals are usually a lot quieter, non-scratchy, toilet trained and they definitely make the best pets. Unlike many of the free kittens they require very little by way of ongoing vet care unless they are what are termed 'pure breeds'. The latter have major problems that may rise from genetic in-breeding. That is another story.

As a breeder my kittens are well cared for from birth and the mums are properly treated year round. They have their own sites to explain their background and home environment. Star's Kittens is one site and Breeding Kittensexplains the process from a breeder's perspective