Happy Pets

Commercial cat foods

Some pet foods are composed entirely of meat or fish. Frequently they are presented as ‘gourmet’ food for cats, with a price to match. Like fresh meat on its own, however, they will not provide a balanced diet, although they will make an occasional treat. The manufacturers have put years of dietary research into their cat food recipes. The label should give some guide to their content, and will probably state that they provide all that a cat requires. But do watch out for optimistic-sounding claims. If a brand presents itself as having ‘pure beef added’, what else is lurking inside? Bulk for bulk, canned cat foods are more expensive than dog foods. That is because dog foods contain cheaper vegetable protein. Do not try to economize by feeding your cat dog food — it will not give the right balance, even if puss steals it from Rover’s bowl.

Semi-moist foods, sold in foil bags, and dried foods are not as readily taken by all cats, and you may have great difficulty getting an older cat to accept them at all if they have not been a regular part of its diet. On the other hand, some cats clearly prefer them.

The dried foods have the advantage that they can be left down all day without going off, especially if in a covered feeder. When they were first introduced, their mineral balance, together with a lack of moisture content, led to urinary blockages in some cats. Manufacturers of reputable makes adjusted their recipes and also added extra salt to encourage the cat to drink more. They are now considered quite safe provided the cat takes plenty of water, so check that the water bowl is always full. For young cats being fed semi-moist foods, milk should also be offered.

Both semi-moist and dry foods have a shelf life of about six months. Dry foods will keep after opening if served daily and not allowed to become damp. They will keep dry if transferred to a tin with a tight lid.

The best plan is to offer a diet to match your pocket, formed from all kinds of proprietary products and fresh food, which can be butcher’s offal, fish heads, and so on, so that the cat does not become conditioned to a particular type.

Treats

While you should not let your cat get faddy over food, an occasional treat will do no harm. Despite its carnivorous nature, a cat’s favourite food will not necessarily be meat. A predilection for grass has already been mentioned, and specific types of grass may particularly please certain cats, but their variety in taste is boundless. One cat loving a flavour that another dislikes can be a boon in a household where a particular cat tries to get the lion’s share of everything on offer.

Here are just a few things that one family’s cats have fancied: asparagus tips, processed cheese, sausage (but not salami), smoked salmon (preferably Scotch), food flakes and pellets for goldfish, lightly fried mushrooms, liver pâté, marshmallows, Marmite, cornflakes with milk, prawns (or preferably lobster, if available), French beans (cooked), spaghetti (uncooked), dry champagne, and, in the case of a Siamese that did not drink milk, cream — not lapped but licked from a paw that had been dipped into the jug. Yet not one of these cats liked any of the proprietary sweets that are sold as Treats ‘kitten treats’!

The serving of champagne, incidentally, or any other alcoholic drink, is frankly to be discouraged. Alcohol has a drastic enough effect on most humans, and your cat will not appreciate a hangover.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 17th, 2008 at 12:21 am and is filed under Cats, Fish, Foods, Kittens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.