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The Right Cat Food

July 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What you feed your cat should deserve more attention than you once thought. Take note that what your cat eats will determine how healthy your cat will be or how long it can live.

The components of the meal that you will serve your cat should be complete. For its nutritional needs to be met, you need to ensure that you can provide a balanced meal. The most common nutrient that your cat needs is protein. This is an easy food item to come by. It is recommended that this should be served in every meal your cat has then to be added with other nutrients.

Vitamins, minerals, enzymes, as well as fatty acids are also added in your pet’s diet. Essential amino acids are also included. You can prepare their meals yourselves. Or, you can simply purchase commercially made cat food. You just need to check the product label to see what nutrients it has.

Specifically for buying commercial food products, there are a few things that you should look for in their labels before you decide to buy one.

The first thing that you should look for is a compliance certificate or seal from a governing body in your locality.

This will tell you that the product that you are trying to buy has been certified safe, the components declared correctly, and the ingredients are right for your pets.

There are some pets which thrive better in a certain type of meat that in another. Take note that you have several choices in the kind of meat for your cat’s food. The most commonly used are chicken, lamb or beef. You can try each one and see which your cat will like better.

And just like any food item, before you pick out one, you need to check its expiration date. You wouldn’t want to feed your cat spoilt food.

And if there are things that you should look for, of course, there will be those that you should avoid.

One is avoiding products that state that they contain by-products. By-products represent other parts of the food source other than the meat. This can be bones, internal parts, etc.

Aside from by-products, fillers can also be included in their food. This is not ideal for some as there are pets which are sensitive to the ingredients that are used as fillers. These fillers are mostly grains. These can even bring excess amounts of carbohydrates to your pet’s diet.

Some chemical preservatives have been linked to cancers and other disease conditions in animals. These chemicals that are potentially harmful include propyl gallate, BHA, BHT, and a few more. You need to make it a point to avoid buying items that have these listed on their labels.

Preservatives can come in the safer forms like Vitamin E and C. These are the chemicals that you would want to see in your labels.

Aside from solid food, water is also an important component in your cat’s health. If you live in a warm continent, the more that you should make sure that your cat is well hydrated throughout the day.

Ella Jasmine Hall enjoys writing for Thecatpetshop.com which sells cat scratching post and cat beds as well as a host of additional products.

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Cat Foods: You Get what you Pay for

July 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Feeding your finicky (or not so finicky) feline should not drain your pocket book. Some simple suggestions will leave your kitty well fed and your cash intact.

Quality Ingredients in Dry Foods

While all foods meet the minimum standards for pet nutrition, very few exceed them. Low quality ingredients mean your cat simply must eat more food to get nutrition. Many foods use cheap filler such as corn and by-products. Cats are obligate carnivores, corn has no place in their diet. By-products are beaks, feet, feathers, and other bits that are not recognized as actual meat. To some extend they are non-digestible and offer little value, again this is a filler, of no real nutritional value. A cat who is eating a food containing a lot of corn or by-products simply must eat more food to get any nutrition. They will also poop more too as a result.

Most of these foods spend a lot of money on advertising, therefore the consumer should note that the cost of the food also reflects this, not a nutritional value.

People who feed these foods often think that because they are cheaper per bag, they are saving money. In fact they may be feeding more food than if they bought a better quality food. Sadly too, these lower priced foods are often preserved with cheap preservatives linked to health problems.

By selecting a food that uses only top ingredients, a person can save money, your kitty will actually eat less. Look for the first ingredient to be chicken meal, turkey meal, or lamb meal, never corn or by-products.

While buying the most expensive, holistic food, may be out of your budget, you should understand that buying the more expensive, better quality foods, actually is cheaper in the long run.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jon_a_ross/2635640777/

Buy in Bulk

Buying a large bag of food is always cheaper than buying the equivalent in smaller bags. As long as the open bag can be kept in a sealed container it will remain fresh. A bag of food can be purchased to last as long as 30 to 60 days, which makes far more sense than buying a box of food to last only a week or two.

Look for Programs

Many of the better foods offer programs where after you buy 10 bags you get a free one, this represents a 10% savings over time. Sticking with the same kind of food may sound boring to us, but to pets it is easier on their stomach to remain consistent with a brand of food.

Where to Shop

The foods commonly sold in grocery stores and department type stores are generally the lower quality foods. The chain big box stores do not always sell quality foods either. Instead look for the better foods at independent stores or even groomers. You may find lower prices on pet food by shopping at livestock feed stores.

Canned Foods

The quality variations that exist in dry foods are far greater than in canned foods, as such you can shop a bit more by paying attention more to price than to ingredients. Still some people pay for things that their cat should not have. Avoid foods with gravy as these are fattening, and a waste of money. Remember vegetables are not meat, a canned food that advertises “vegetables you can see” is not going to be a food fit for a cat. Buying larger cans is cheaper than buying several small ones, they can be kept refrigerated with sealed lids for a few days. Young cats, pregnant and nursing cats, should always have canned food a few times throughout the day, however feeding a whole can is not necessary. Since canned food is more expensive, if a person wishes to reduce spending they are wise to leave the dry food out all day, and offer only a teaspoon of canned food per feeding. The canned food can be mixed with water to increase urinary tract health. Some owners may wish to do without feeding canned food altogether.

Coupons

Keep a look out for in store specials and coupons on the brand of cat food you buy. Again it is unwise to switch brands every time you buy food, particularly with dry food, but if you can find a savings on your regular brand why not take advantage of it?

Veterinary Care

Deworming will mean your pet is healthier and able to digest its food better. Keeping the cats teeth in good shape also will mean better fewer problems with eating. Proper veterinary care, and proper care in general will mean your cat will not need as much food. Neutered, and spayed cats, require fewer calories in a day.
Milk and Treats

Cats are actually lactose intolerant, if you have been feeding your cat milk, you can save money and stop this right away. Equally so, while they like treats, treats can consume your budget. Most cats will even accept a piece of dry food from your hand as a treat as much as they would an actual, more costly, cat treat.

Ultimately

Saving money on pet food is always good, but never at a health risk to your pet. Some people might think that feeding less food is a way to save money, but it may jeopardize your pets well being and result in higher veterinary bill. Feed dog food to a cat is also not a good way to save money, dog food does not meet a cats level of nutritional needs.

Litter Box

One other benefit by picking a quality food is that not only will you save money by not paying for things your cat cannot digest, you will also save money on cat litter, because cats who eat better foods actually poop less.

Mice

Letting a cat eat mice does not actually save you money on cat food. In fact cats who eat mice are exposed to a wide range of internal parasites who will actually make it so the cat needs to eat more food to stay alive and healthy.

Related Reading

Feeding Kittens

Care for Stray Cats

Care for Pregnant Cats

Problem Ingredients in Cat Food

Written by Brenda Nelson
Pet and Animal Expert

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Soft cat food online

July 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Article by Guitario Telestrasina

Soft cat food

Cat food is specially made to meet the specific nutritional requirements of cats. One element that should be paid attention to in their diet is that cats need the amino acid taurine. Make sure your cat food has little or no grains and only a small amount of vegetables. The right cat food is critical in keeping your cat happy and healthy!

Adult

The ingredients in kitten, adult cat, and senior cat food is really all alike. Adult cats (1 year) may be given food once or twice a day. Most adult cats are lactose intolerant and drinking milk will give them diarrhea. Kittens and aging cats need more food than the adult cat. Also, kitten nutrient needs are greater than an adult cat’s because they are growing SO very fast!

Balance

There are many nutritionally balanced cat foods that you can get in both the canned and dry forms. August, 2007: The FDA recalled several foods under the Natural Balance Eatables product line due to botulism toxin contamination. It’s really simple to get the nutrients out of balance and seriously compromise your cat’s health. Try to use cat-treats that are nutritionally balanced so as to minimize any disruption in your cat’s overall diet.

Foods

While the Menu Foods recall was the largest pet food recall in the history of commercial pet food, don’t think that this was the first time that many cats and dogs have died after eating commercial pet foods that have been contaminated with chemicals, bacteria, and bacterial or mold toxins. Foods like Science Diet, although more expensive than the average, are usually better for your cat.

Kittens

Kittens have other special food needs, so be sure to get a kitten formula for kittens. Give them food that’s dry as soon as the kittens teeth are strong enough to chew hard food (8 to 10 weeks). Kittens will need supplemental food as early as 2-1/2 weeks after birth and surely by 4 weeks because mom’s milk isn’t going to be an efficient nutrient food source. Kittens should only be given kitten replacement milk (like KMR), never cow’s milk.

Nutrition

Your cat’s nutritional needs will change as she grows from a kitten into an adult. Giving her a premium cat food formula for each stage of her life gives her nutrition that will help her stay fit and healthy. My cats are very special to me and I feel it is important for them to eat a diet that is equal in nutritional quality to what I would eat myself. Purina one cat foods are formulated with high-quality ingredients to give your cat all of the nutrition he needs. Nutro natural choice cat food contains the finest natural ingredients with essential vitamins and minerals for superior nutrition, taste and performance. Evo cat and kitten food was created to supply the key nutritional benefits of a raw food diet in a safe and convenient manner. Diamond cat food gives your pet high quality nutrition at an affordable price. This is important, since every pet is unique, and has different nutritional needs. Over the years we are glad to have witnessed an increasing trend of caregivers becoming more participatory in understanding their feline companions’ dietary/nutrition needs.

Owners

In reading the survey results, it seems that many cat and dog owners don’t know quite as much as they think they know about the food they are giving their pets to eat. Many cat owners are turning away from commercial pet foods and are feeding their cats homemade organic pet food. The quality of ingredients in cat food has become more vital than ever in many owners’ eyes, especially following the pet-food recalls of last recent yeras. Today cat owners are being tortured by the uncertainty of it all.

Problems

Even though bones are the most natural and optimal source of calcium, one of the most common problems that people run into in their cats when starting to feed a raw diet is them getting constipated. In theory, we should not need to remove any bone when using chicken thighs but if your cat is experiencing some problems with constipation, try removing 20% of the bones and see if that helps. Do not use canned fish as a protein source for cats that are prone to urinary tract problems. Did you know that wheat and corn can cause skin problems and diarrhea and vomiting in cats and dogs. Whole brown rice (not rice gluten) is about the only grain that provides some good nutrition for a cat or dog and doesn’t cause allergies or digestive problems for your pet. There are variations for cats with kidney problems (lower protein), cats with weight issues (more bulk like wheat bran and water-filled veggies), etc. Forget about buying anything for “Urinary Tract” problems because these are still the same old cheap pet foods with a fancy name so people will buy the product.

Soft

The three main types of cat foods are dry, soft-moist and canned products. Soft-moist cat foods generally offer higher palatability as compared to dry diets, are convenient to serve and store easily. Soft cat food is also sometimes the only alternative to feeding your cat because that’s all they really enjoy sometimes!

To learn more about soft cat food then be sure to visit the Soft cat food web site at http://www.betinis.com/soft-cat-food.html

KING CRIMSON – CAT FOOD Lady Supermarket with an apple in her basket Knocks in the manager’s door; Grooning to the muzak from a speaker in shoe rack Lays out her goods on the floor; Everything she’s chosen is conveniently frozen. “Eat it and come back for more!” Lady Window Shopper with a new one in the hopper Whips up a chemical brew; Croaking to a neighbour while she polishes a sabre Knows how to flavour a stew. Never need to worry with a tin of ‘Hurri Curri’: “Poisoned especially for you!” No use to complain If you’re caught out in the rain; Your mother’s quite insane. Cat food cat food cat food again. Lady Yellow Stamper with a fillet in a hamper Dying to finish the course; Goodies for the table with a fable on the label Drowning in miracle sauce. Don’t think I am that rude if I tell you that it’s cat food, “Not even fit for a horse!”

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