How to Give Your Cat Basic Nutrition in Their Cat Food

By Paul Kramer

The nutritional value of any particular food is different for different species and individuals, depending on the animal's nutritional requirements and the ability of the animal's digestive system to utilize the nutrients in that food.

No matter how sweet and cuddly your cat may be, she is much like her cousin the tiger. Her teeth are perfectly designed to grasp prey and to shear off hunks of meat, but they are not very good at chewing up vegetable matter.

Her digestive tract processes meat proteins efficiently but cannot break down the tough cellulose walls of vegetable matter as can grazing and browsing animals. In short, your cat is a carnivore, a meat eater.

Does that mean that she does not need vegetables? No, not at all. But she needs her veggie broken down for her so that her digestive system can make use of their nutrients. In the wild, cats eat the stomachs and intestines of their prey, including the partially digested contents.

Your domestic cat needs the bulk of her vegetable matter cooked. She may also enjoy fresh greens, although their nutritional value is minimal. Knowing the basic principles of feline nutrition is a helpful step toward keeping your cat healthy throughout her life.

Remember, though, that your cat is an individual, and her needs may be slightly different from those of another cat. The best clues to how well your cat's diet suits her are her health and physical appearance.

You can expect some changes to occur to her body as she ages, but she should have a reasonable layer of flesh between her skin and her bones. Her skin and coat should appear to be healthy, and although she may sleep more as she ages, when she is awake she should be reasonably active; if not, ask your veterinarian whether a change in diet might help.

To learn more about the different types of Pet Foods for your dogs, cats, horse, etc., and how to get discount and cheap pet medications, make sure to visit http://callpetmeds.com/Understanding_Your_Cat.html where you will find everything on getting quality yet affordable pet medications as well as tips on how to take care of your pets like the experts.

Commercial Cat Foods - How the Experts Choose it For Their Pets

By Paul Kramer

Commercial cat foods offer a major benefit for today's busy cat owner; convenience. The good foods also offer high quality ingredients combined into carefully balanced blends that have benefited from many years of extensive scientific research and feedback from cat owners and veterinarians.

Stroll through the cat food aisle in your local pet store and you will find a stunning variety of products available. You will find foods based on fish, chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, duck, venison, eggs or a combination.

You can choose dry foods, semi moist foods, canned foods or frozen foods. There are formulas for kittens, adults and seniors, as well as for lazy cats and active cats. Does your cat have a specific problem?

You can find a food to combat tartar, alleviate allergies, calm the kidneys, handle hairballs, and take off excess weight, name a concern, and there is probably a food that is supposed to help.

Unfortunately, those obvious differences are not the only ones that you need to consider. Cat foods are definitely not all created equal in quality. Your cat can not shop for herself, so it is important to know what you are buying for her sake.

Although cats are not the most expensive of pets to feed, the cost can add up, and it is sometimes tempting to cut corners on food choices. But very cheap food is false economy in the long run because a long term diet of poor quality food often leads to health problems that require extensive veterinary care.

Lower quality foods include fillers with little or no nutritional value. They also use lower quality proteins and often include food dyes and preservatives that have been linked to allergies and other health problems.

The ingredients in cheaper foods are often less digestible, meaning more and smellier feces, a big consideration in you are the one who cleans the litter box. Cats on poor diets are more prone to vomiting and the dyes in some lower quality foods stain everything they touch.

Those dyes are there to make you think that the food looks better, by the way your cat does not care what color her food is as long as it smells good and fills her tummy.

To learn more about the different types of Pet Foods for your dogs, cats, horse, etc., and how to get discount and cheap pet medications, make sure to visit http://callpetmeds.com/Dog_Training_Tips.html where you will find everything on getting quality yet affordable pet medications as well as tips on how to take care of your pets like the experts.

Are Commercial Cat Foods Good For Your Cat?

By Paul Kramer

Allergies and other sensitivities can develop through exposure, so as your cat ages, she may no longer tolerate dyes and food additives that did not bother her when she was younger.

In other words, even if she has eaten a particular food for years with no problems, there may come a time when she can no longer eat that food. If you notice changes in your cat's skin and coat, elimination patterns, or behavior, or if she develops bad breath or gains or loses weight, talk to your vet and keep in mind that many health problems are food related.

High quality foods do cost a bit more per bag or can because they contain better ingredients. On the other hand, they are nutritionally denser and are more easily digested that poorer foods, so your cat can eat less food per meal and get better nutrition.

The cost per meal may be about the same, and the health benefits of better food are incalculable. Price alone does not indicate high quality, of course. Some of the more expensive cat foods offer more in advertisement that tug at your heart than they offer in food quality.

I would suggest that you spend some time reading labels in a pet supply store and perusing some of the websites recommended so that you can make an informed decision about the best food for your aging cat.

High quality cat foods are recommended for seniors because they are nutritionally denser and more easily digested than poorer foods. So, how to change your senior cat's food? Age often makes the digestive system more intolerant of change.

And, a sudden switch to a new food may cause vomiting and/or diarrhea. If you need to change your senior's cat food, make the change gradually, slowly increasing the proportion of new food and decreasing the old over the course of a week or two.

To learn more about the different types of Pet Foods for your dogs, cats, horse, etc., and how to get discount and cheap pet medications, make sure to visit http://callpetmeds.com/Horse_Medications_and_Tips.html where you will find everything on getting quality yet affordable pet medications as well as tips on how to take care of your pets like the experts.