Cats | Pet Lover Blog

Cat Food Fact #1 Cats must get their Protein

Protein is crucial for your cat’s health, and generally comes from fish, meat or poultry. Advertisers will often say their brand is beef, turkey or mackerel flavoured, but it may not actually contain those products, meaning it may not be rich in protein. Always ensure the food you buy but your cat has a sufficient amount of protein in it, irrespective of the flavour.

Cat Food Fact #2 Cat Food with Taurine

Taurine is an important amino acid for your cat, and you should also check that the food you buy contains this supplement. Cats control their own levels and indicate these with their appetite. If you cat is eating a lot, the food you are buying may not have enough nutrients for a balanced diet. You can watch your cats weight by buying a nutrient rich food as your cat will eat less and you might even save money.

Cat Food Fact #3 Canned or Dry Cat Food?

Cats require a varied diet, including a mixture of canned and dry food. Contrary to opinions that it doesn’t matter, buying only one type of food because of convenience or price is a mistake, and can harm your cat’s health. When the cat is alone or unattended for a period, carbohydrate rich dry food should be left out for your cat with a supply of fresh water. Tinned food is higher in protein due to the meat content, and contains higher water levels. Both are essential for a balanced diet, and a combination of both dry and canned food will keep essential variety in the diet and prevent the cat from seeking food elsewhere.

Cat Food Fact #4 Avoid fillers in cat food

Protein is essential for your cat as part of a balanced diet. Ensure the food you buy is rich in protein, and not overly full of carbohydrates, common fillers used by manufacturers to build out volume. Always read the label, and check for overly high levels of carbohydrate and other by-products in the cat food.

Jay Moncliff is the founder of http://www.catfoodcenter.info a website specialized on Cat Food, resources and articles. This site provides updated information on Cat Food. For more info visit his site: Cat Food

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Well what can I say about feeding your cat. If your cat will eat it then generally let them eat it but there are some foods that you should keep away from your cat, chocolate being one of them but more of that later.

What does my cat like, well most things especially if I have spent my money on it for him. He’s like that. I mainly feed him on a famous brand cat food, which provides him with a balanced diet, and he tends to concentrate on his favorite flavors which are fish or chicken based. He has his favorites and as such I don’t tend to waste my time buying stuff he doesn’t like.

He also likes me to cook, as he knows there will be lots of spare food. He likes prawns and other shellfish which have been shelled, chicken and virtually any meat, raw or cooked although I refuse to give him raw meat. He doesn’t like vegetarian, which is not that surprising for an animal which is basically a hunter.

What you need to remember is that your cat will let you know what he likes so that’s what you should feed to your cat. There are exceptions though and one of those is chocolate. It may be OK for you, but is it OK for your cat. It is not any good for me as it just tends to move from my mouth to my waistline, but then again that is like most foods I eat.

So what about chocolate and cats? Well chocolate speeds up the heart beat of a cat; it acts as a diuretic and as you well know it is loaded with calories. Don’t make your cat a heavy weight, as that’s bad for them as well.

My cat, Tigger, loved chocolate but I found out early on it was bad for him so I used to buy him a special chocolate developed for cats. It was sold by a major cat food manufacturer so I assumed it was safe and I have since found out that these companies which sell cat chocolate either produce a vegetable based substitute which looks and tastes like chocolate or they take out a substance in the chocolate called theobromine, which is what causes the problems for cats. Just be careful when you are buying chocolate for your cat. Make sure it is safe as apparently the treatment for chocolate poisoning in cats is not nice for the cat and the owner.

Apart from that give then what they like but don’t give them too much. I always bought Tigger a special Christmas Stocking full of cat treats. The first time I ever got him one I wrapped it up and placed it under the Christmas tree. When he came into the room he sniffed a little, went under the tree and rummaged round all the presents till he found his present. There wasn’t any waiting for Christmas, he ripped it open and ate everything he found. As for the squeaky mouse and the flea collar, well if I hadn’t moved them they would still be there today. He was too much a real cat to play with a squeaky mouse. He liked the little plastic balls with the bells in though and played for hours chasing those. I suppose that burned a lot of the calories off that he had gained eating the treats.

Just be careful, but in general feed you cat the food it likes. It will soon let you know what it doesn’t like and what it does, just like a child will.

Ric Wiley is an established writer and Internet author. His latest site about his relationship with his cat, Tigger, can be found at http://www.love-your-cat.com

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“Where’s the harm? My cat seems to enjoy chocolate and it’s only a small piece.”

Just because certain foods, such as chocolate, are enjoyed by us humans and are perfectly safe for us, it does not mean they are suitable for cats. Chocolate contains chemicals which rarely cause problems for humans, but for cats and other domestic pets, these chemicals can, in rare cases, be deadly.

One problem is that cats in general find chocolate very tasty and so, it is important not to feed it to them, otherwise they will eat what you give them up to the point where it poisons them.

Chocolate contains the compound theobromine which is a diuretic as well as a cardiac stimulant. This can cause the pet’s heart rate to increase or it may cause the heart to beat irregularly, both of which can be dangerous to the animal. The level of theobromine present in chocolate varies depending on the type of chocolate. For example, dark chocolate contains higher levels than milk chocolate and so could pose a greater risk to your pet.

There are many problems that can result from feeding a cat chocolate. Chocolate is relatively high in calories so it can contribute to the development of obesity in your cat. A cat can lose its appetite for it’s normal food if it eats chocolate. The largest problem is though the fact that chocolate contains the chemical theobromine as mentioned above. If this chemical builds up in the cats system, it can be potentially lethal, and one reason for this is that cats cannot clear theobromine from their bodies as quickly as people can.

Many cat owners would simply expect their pet to develop an upset stomach after eating a large amount of chocolate but few realize its lethal potential.

Further problems which can arise from chocolate poisoning are Diuresis (increased urine production), diarrhea, lethargy, vomiting, depression, and muscle tremors. These are signs which must be recognized by any cat owner so that the cat is not fed too much chocolate.

Treatment for chocolate poisoning in its advanced stage can be very unpleasant for both the cat andthe owner of the cat, so it is much better to be safe and to cut down chocolate consumption of your cat to a minimum. If you do have worries that your cat has consumed large quantities of human chocolate it would be wise to consult your vet - pronto. Spotting the symptoms early on can be very beneficial and can give the cat a much better chance of surviving any poisoning which may have occurred.

If you wish to feed your cat chocolate, there are alternate “chocolate” treats for cats which are produced by some pet food manufacturers. They will either use a vegetable substitute made to taste and look like chocolate, or they will take out the theobromine, or use greatly reduced, safe levels in the chocolate treats they produce. While a very small amount of chocolate may not be harmful to some cats, it is always safest to avoid giving any to them at all.

About The Author

If you have a pet related web site and you wish to reproduce the above article you are welcome to do so, provided the article is reproduced in its entirety, including this resource box and live link to http://www.best-cat-art.com. Cat art posters, art prints, cat calendars and cat collectibles. Great cat gifts for yourself or your cat loving friends. Larry@best-cat-art.com

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