Lemmikkieläinten vaihtokulma

Please leave a comment to welcome Amanda Johnson to That Mutt. She has two kitties named Shelly and Sylvester.

Years ago, during my college years, I had a sweet tabby kitty named Boba Fett.

Yes, he was named after the infamous star Wars bounty hunter as a kitten because the fur aligned around his jaw like a helmet and his coloring was a near-perfect match.

He was found in South Austin by a fantastic animal rescue organization during the glaring heat of summer in a trailer park with a few of his siblings.

A scrappy little guy, he stole my heart instantly at first sight, and I took him home to my college house that same day. He would accompany me through the most hectic years of my life in school and on a cross-country relocation from Texas to California.

I have to admit that I was a bit clueless and not very observant in my 20s, so I could have missed some things about his health that may have changed his fate; but I never saw the signs that he was ill.

At only 6 years old, he unexpectedly passed away. There was a awful argument as to how and why, but I always wondered if his diet was partly to blame. I fed him entirely dry food and water and was racked with guilt for not seeing the signs or catching it in time.

Needless to say, when I finally became a cat owner again, I was (heck, I still am) obnoxiously paranoid about their diet, veterinary checkups, sleep, flea meds… you name it.

One of Amanda’s current kitties, Shelly

And of course, the first thing I did upon getting my new fuzzy little bears was to obsess about their diet, do tons of research and hound their veterinarians at every checkup.

So here’s the low down on which food is best for cats:

1. Cats have a low thirst drive

Cats don’t get thirsty in the same way we do. They are developed to get the majority of their moisture from their prey. That implies if they’re an inside cat that eats solely dry food, you’re betting on them to drink lots of water to satisfy what their bodies need in terms of liquid to stay healthy.

Dry food is comprised of about 10% moisture, whereas wet food on average includes 78%. Miksi tämä on tärkeää? because a lack of moisture contributes to chronic dehydration, which can easily turn into feline kidney disease, diabetes and/or urinary tract infections that can threaten your cat’s life.

In fact, in numerous cases where cats have been diagnosed with kidney disease, they’re placed on wet food diets high in water-soluble vitamins, fiber and high antioxidant concentrations. Cambridge university studies have shown that cats fed solely dry food have a lower water intake and lower urine volume than cats on a wet food diet, even if they have constant access to fresh water.

In addition, a study from the national research Council’s committee on animal Nutrition found that regardless of a cat’s total food and water consumption, the proportion of water in the diet is higher for cats fed wet food than for cats fed dry food.

2. often too numerous carbs in a dry-food-only diet

An interesting fact I learned from my vet: cats can’t taste sweetness. That’s got to suck.

This is because they don’t have taste receptors dedicated to tasting sweet like they do for salty, sour, bitter or savory. Their systems are not intended to consume carbohydrates. In the wild, cats only consume carbohydrates through the minute stomach contents of their prey (I know, gross).

They aren’t equipped to metabolize carbohydrates like other animals can, and the carbs really go to their bellies, even much more than they do to ours. With some dry foods including as much as 40% carbohydrate content, you could be opening your cat up to unintentional health issues by feeding them solely dry food.

3. dry food isn’t necessarily evil

When my sweetheart and I first got our black and white tuxedo kitten Sylvester, he had some digestion issues caused by tape worms that chose to burrow in his young tummy. The vet bill was fun.

Amanda’s cat, Sylvester

Our vet instructed us to feed him a premium dry food, specifically developed for gastrointestinal issues. It’s not cheap either, but the specially-formulated crunchy stuff soothed his tummy and helped him to pass normal, healthy stools while his digestive system healed.

Our other cat, Shelly, a tortoise shell female that’s just a year older, started eating on the premium stuff too, and both cats became hooked. Out of paranoia, I called my vet directly to find out if it was alright for both cats to eat, and he said he would recommend it as a source of good nutrition for any cat.

Another reason why a little dry food is a good idea is that some studies show a small dental benEfit kuivata ruokaa kissan ruokavaliossa johtuen plakin luonnollisesta kuljettamisesta heidän ikenistään sen murskaamisessa hampaillaan. Hammaskysymykset ovat yleinen kysymys kissojen ikääntymiselle, joten pienen kuiva ruoan saaminen heidän ruokavaliossaan voisi auttaa pitämään chomperiensa terveenä pidempään.

Mikä ruoka on parasta kissoille? Märkä vai kuiva?

Joten näennäisesti rajoittamattoman kissaruokatutkimukseni jälkeen kehitin kaavan, joka mielestäni toimii hyvin molemmille pienille hirviöillemme.

Kaava – sekä kuiva ruoan että märän ruoan ruokinta kissoille

Ruokin heille kaksi tölkkiä päivässä laadukasta märkä purkitettuja ruokia; Kerran aamulla ja kerran illalla noin kupilla premium -kuivaa ruokaa jaettuna kahden kulhon kesken ja jätettiin pois koko päivän.

Jokainen kissa on tietysti erilainen ja voit päättää täysin erilaisesta kaavasta eläinlääkärisi kanssa käydyn keskustelun jälkeen. Kaikki kissasi sairaushistoriaa, jotka ovat saaneet, painaavat voimakkaasti keskustelua ja voivat mitätöidä joitain täällä esittämiä asioita.

Mutta näiden suositusten perusteella, kun valitaan ruokaa, muista tutustua ainesosiin välttäen täyteaineita, kuten maissia tai riisiä. Haluat, että liha on ensimmäinen ainesosa märässä ruoassa ja alhaisemmat hiilihydraattipitoisuudet kuivassa ruoassa.

Kissasi ruokinta ainakin osittainen märkä purkitettu ruokavalio tarjoaa tarvittavan kosteuden kissan ravitsemukselle.

Kaiken kaikkiaan harkittu tutkimus ja keskustelu eläinlääkärisi kanssa asettavat kissasi terveelliseen, pitkään mukavan kumppanuuden elämään.

Ja vaikka tämä viesti ei koske kissojen raakaa ruokaa, tämä MUTT tukee lemmikkieläimille raa’ita ruokavalioita. Voit harkita raaka -ruoan lisäämistä kissan ruokavalioon tai kysyä eläinlääkäriltäsi tästä vaihtoehdosta. On olemassa lukuisia raa’ita kissanruokamerkkejä, jotka valitaan, kuten Darwinin, Raw Paws- tai Jimbon raa’an kissanruoan.

Kerro meille kommentteissa, kuinka valitsit kissasi ruokavalion ja jos sinulla on kysyttävää.

Alkuperäinen Texan, Amanda Johnson kirjoittaa useita online -julkaisuja ja asuu Etelä -Kaliforniassa kultaseni ja kahden summan karhunsa, Shellyn ja Sylvesterin kanssa. Saatat olla kiinnostunut Amandan lyhyestä artikkelista siitä, mitä tehdä, kun yksi kissasi on kiusaaja.

Aiheeseen liittyvät artikkelit:

Raaka ruokaa kissoille (jotka Mutt tukee raakaa ruokavaliota sekä koirille että kissoille)

Ovatko weimaranerit hyviä kissojen kanssa?

Esittely koirasi navettakissalle

Voivatko koirat ja kissat tulla toimeen?