In this article we will consider the question of the proper formulation of the cat's diet when feeding "naturalkoy."
Cats need a balanced diet that contains proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals, and from 60 to 70% of the diet should be proteins - more than is necessary for dogs. Determine whether you are feeding your cat the best, according to her condition.
With a satisfactory diet, your pet looks well-built, healthy, alive; hair is live, shiny; his eyes shine and his stomach works normally.
Under natural conditions, cats eat small mammals, such as rabbits, rats, mice and voles, as well as reptiles, amphibians, birds, spiders and insects, including flies and grasshoppers. Carbohydrates get cats eating at the stomach with the whole contents of the stomach is already partially digested (by themselves, the cat's stomach is not adapted to digest the grains). Cats use grass as a source of coarse fiber and vitamins, as well as for cleaning the stomach. Often, cats regurgitate after eating grass, and then together with the grass from the stomach come bundles of wool, which otherwise could cause intestinal obstruction.
Cats prefer to eat only fresh food, they do not eat carrion, unlike dogs, and that food that has stood for several hours, they may not eat already and will starve until they are given something fresh. Fasting is considered safe for a cat for no more than 1-2 days (sometimes they like to arrange fasting days themselves, or they are specially capricious, asking for something tasty and trying the owners' patience until they surrender). But if fasting lasts more than 2 days and the cat refuses even from his most favorite food, then this is already a reason to consult a doctor.
Cats in their physiology and type of metabolism are exclusively carnivorous animals, as during the evolution of their diet included a large amount of proteins and fats of animal origin. These are predators, both in terms of their feeding habits and behavior, so they have certain peculiarities in their nutritional needs:
- The first feature is the dependence on the amino acid arginine. This amino acid is part of proteins of animal origin only.
- The second feature is the dependence of cats on aminosulfonic acid taurine. A deficiency of taurine in the diet causes a violation of the functions of the nervous and cardiovascular systems, as well as a decrease in reproductive ability in cats. Taurine is found in fish (especially in cod), beef (especially in the heart), but taurine is absent from herbal products.
- The third feature is the need for cats to eat fats of animal origin, since they contain arachnidic acid, which is important for cats. But saturated and unsaturated fatty acids are found in fats, both animal and vegetable origin. Fats are an excellent source of energy, and it is fats that provide the taste and attractiveness of food for cats. Their lack of feed affects the coat of the animals. Wool becomes greasy, dandruff appears. In cats, there may be a reluctance to mating. In addition, fatty acids are suppliers of fat-soluble vitamins - A, D, E, K. Lack of essential fatty acids leads to hair loss, fatty liver, impaired blood clotting, growth retardation in kittens.
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And now, about what is better / more correct to feed the cat if you feed it only with “naturalka”.
You need to immediately make a reservation - “naturalka” and food from your table are two different things!
In no case should not give the cat food from your table. As salt and spice for cats is a poison of delayed action. Salt plants kidneys, promotes the formation of stones!
To meet the daily needs of each cat requires a balanced diet - the source of all nutrients (proteins, fats, minerals and vitamins). There are 4 groups of products from which you can make a balanced diet for your pet:
- Meat, offal, fish, seafood, baby meat food.
- Dairy products and eggs.
- Fats and oils.
- Vegetables, cereals, greens.
Do not give the cat too hot or too cold food. A cat's body will digest food well only if it has a certain suitable temperature (room temperature or a little warmer).
1. MEAT PRODUCTS. This is raw veined meat (goulash), pre-frozen in a freezer for three days, and then thawed - beef, veal, beef mince (babies up to 2 months old and have animals with teeth), chicken, turkey, rabbit's heart, heart (best beef), liver (it should not be given more than once a week, while it should be borne in mind that raw liver is weak, and boiled, on the contrary, it strengthens). Crude liver is the richest source of vitamins, including A, H (biotin), group B, but raw it can be given no more than once in 7-8 days. If you give often, it is possible and the deformation of the skeleton, especially in the growing (kittens). Meat and / or by-products are given daily, they are best alternated. Minced meat should not contain salt and spices! Meat products are cut into long thin strips. This is necessary so that the animal chews them for a while, rather than swallowing them whole. The process of chewing does not allow tartar to form on the teeth.
2. FISH AND SEAFOOD. Fish should be only sea (in the river can be worms) - cod, hake, haddock, flounder, sardine, trout, salmon, shrimp, squid, etc., except for pollock, and always boiled and boneless.
About feeding fish
Many varieties of fish (eg, herring and carp) in their raw form are harmful to cats, as they contain a large amount of the enzyme thiaminase, which destroys vitamin B1 (thiamine) contained in other foods. A lack of this vitamin can gradually lead to loss of appetite, manifestations of nervous disorders (dizziness, tremors, convulsions). Heat treatment of fish (cooking) destroys this enzyme.
Constant feeding of cats with fatty fish can contribute to the development of another deadly disease, steatite: subcutaneous fat, if not properly stored, penetrates muscle tissue, causing it to become poisonous, and this poison does not kill any boiling. Oily fish cats can be given as an exception.
When eating contaminated raw fish caught in certain places, special pathogens can enter the cat's body. For example, DILPHYLLOBOTHRIUM LATUM is found in freshwater fish that are caught in Northern Ireland, and in trout and salmon from the northwestern parts of the Pacific Ocean, in North America, are bacteria that cause "salmon poisoning." The fluvial trematodes PARAGONIMUS KELLICOTTI are contained in the crayfishes of North America and South Africa. It insures against invasive diseases (caused by parasites in the body) high-quality temperature treatment of fresh fish.
In river and sea waters, heavily polluted by industrial and agricultural run-off, poisonous substances can accumulate in fish along the “food chain”. Eating such fish can lead to poisoning by pesticides, herbicides and heavy metals (lead, mercury and cadmium). Many heavy metals are partially transferred into the water when cooking fish.
With frequent feeding of cats with fish, there is a possibility of the development of iron deficiency anemia. Some species of fish (pollock, pollack, blue whiting, hake, hake, pollock, haddock) contain trimethylamine oxide, which binds iron (from feed) and transforms it into an unabsorbable form. Trimethylamine oxide decomposes when cooking fish.
With frequent feeding of fish there is a danger of developing urolithiasis (ICD)! Any fish is rich in phosphorus . And in some types of fish (for example, in pollack) there is also a very high content of magnesium. These elements are the building material for urinary stones of struvites (also known as tripelphosphates). Magnesium and phosphorus do not practically change their properties when heated, so the type of processing of fish does not matter. But for healthy cats (without predisposition to ICD) feeding fish 1-2 times a week is not dangerous.
BONES! They are in any fish. In river fish there are considerably more of them than in sea fish, and it is extremely difficult to completely remove them. Bones in a boiled form - litter a cat's organism.
3. CHILDREN'S MEAT POWER. A great way to diversify your cat's menu is to give her baby food (meat, meat with vegetables, meat with cereals). This is a well-digestible diet product and they can diversify the feeding of the cat from mother's weaning and all life. But do not translate this product completely. Cats need raw meat!
4. FAMILY PRODUCTS. They must be included in the ration - cottage cheese (Agusha, Tema or own cooking), sour cream (not very fat), non-salty cheeses, such as Adygei cheese, granulated cheese (homemade), kefir, yogurt, cream, bifidus products, yogurts, etc. d. If the kitten does not like dairy products, then to replenish calcium in the period of intensive growth before the 1st year, he needs to be given calcium supplements (calcium-di, calcid, marine calcium, etc.). here it should be noted that cow's milk does not resemble cats in its composition, since too little fat and too much lactose. Closer in composition to the cat - goat milk (but it is not identical). Lactose is poorly absorbed in kittens for up to six months, and after six and in adult cats it is not absorbed at all! All mammals receive milk only in childhood. At this time, their body produces an enzyme that breaks down milk fats. At about 5-6 months in cats, the production of this enzyme stops, and milk can cause indigestion, from this age it is better not to give milk to cats at all, only dairy products.
5. EGGS. Only the yolk - once a week (!) (Otherwise plant the kidneys from an excess of protein. It is better to use raw quail eggs - 1-3 pieces per diet.
6. FATS AND OILS. Vegetable (sunflower, corn, olive, linseed and other oils) - half a teaspoon per meal daily 1p. per day or animals (butter, ghee).
7. VEGETABLES. They give quite a bit - 1 to 5, since cats are not vegetarians by nature. Experienced koshkovods use vegetables exclusively for the gastrointestinal tract, since compared to meat or dairy products, plant food is practically not digested and absorbed by the body, and therefore has no nutritional value. Cats do not know how to secrete vitamin A from carotene, as humans do, so it makes no sense to feed them carrots specifically for this.
8. CROPS. They also need to be given quite a bit for better bowel work, although not all cats love them and do not really need them, because cats need for carbohydrates is small and their digestibility is also small. If the cat refuses to eat cereal, then do not force it. Such cereals as oat-flakes, rice, semolina, except for buckwheat and legumes, are boiled in water and served with meat or fish products, adding 1/2 tsp. vegetable oil. Porridge ratio in relation to meat 1 to 5.
9. GREEN. Green grass (oats, barley, corn, etc.), which is sold in pet stores or grow on your own - should be daily in the cat's diet.
10. FRUITS. In most cases, cats do not like them, although there are exceptions. But specifically to give their cat is not worth it. Moreover, eating them can cause a buildup of gas in the gastrointestinal tract (flatulence) and diarrhea.
11. WATER. It must be constantly, necessarily fresh, passed through a filter or separated, in a place familiar to the cat.
12. VITAMINS. It is better to give courses for the prevention of avitaminosis. Because Because cats themselves synthesize many vitamins from their bodies and obtain them from high-quality food, their excess can also be harmful. Good vitamins from Canina, 8 & 1 (Brevers). It is better not to buy any cat dainty treats, such as multi-colored mice, birds, because they will have no benefit. What vitamins a cat needs and what the lack of it can lead to can be found in the article “ Hypovitaminosis cats ".
WHAT YOU CAN NOT FEED A CAT:
Pork, lamb - very fatty food for them, bad for a cat's liver.
Food from our table - fried, fatty, spicy, smoked, pickled, pies, canned food intended for people with salt and spices, sweet, flour, coffee, alcohol. This is all for the cat - poison! Salt is poison for cats!
Onions cause anemia in cats, in whatever form it is (raw, boiled, fried)
So, the diet of the cat should be approximately 2/3 of meat, fish, baby food and 1/3 of the rest of the products (dairy products, cereals, vegetables, dry food and canned food). Food should be at room temperature only. Food give at the rate of 30-60 gr. on 1 kg. cat body mass. Feed is always better at the same time. Access to water and green grass is permanent and free.
Feed the kitten several times a day. Usually kittens do not overeat. Baby aged 1 to 4 months should be fed 5-6 times a day. A small kitten aged 4-5 months should be fed 4 times a day. Adolescent kittens between the ages of 7-11 months should be fed 3-4 times a day, gradually moving to 2 meals a year by the year. The best time for feeding is associated with periods of increased activity, namely: about eight to nine in the morning and six to seven in the evening.
It is very difficult to fully balance the nutrition of a kitten, an adult cat, and indeed high-quality feeding by a “naturalk” is not cheaper than feeding with good industrial feeds. Therefore, it is possible that a fully balanced premium or super premium industrial feed is better for you. But let's talk about this in another article already.
Author: Valentina Mironova (Kuril Bobtail Kennel " Star Smoked ")
(using material from the article " How to feed a cat »> C site" Veterinary care "> http://yourvet.ru/index.html )