Our pets cannot speak for themselves, so it's easy for us humans to make plenty of blunders while feeding them.
You might think you're giving your kitty healthy cat food, but all may not be well. Since your kitties cannot tell you that they don't like what and how you're feeding them, sometimes pet parents only figure out when their fur babies fall ill.
How can you keep your cats from falling sick? Simply avoid these five feedings mistakes.
Overfeeding
This is one of the most common mistakes cat parents make when feeding their kitties. Animals don't know when they should stop eating, and if parents don't know that either, it leads to overfeeding.
Keeping their bowls full all the time is a good way to prevent cats from nagging you for food, but it also makes them eat constantly.
A fat cat might look cuddly and cute, but excess weight is often the reason behind various ailments. Since cats are sedentary, they should be given a set quantity of high quality cat food, and also a formula that has limited calories.
Giving only dry food
Cats naturally consume too little water and often suffer from various ailments because of it. When you feed your cat only dry food, you make them even more dehydrated. Since cats evolved from ancestors who lived in arid conditions, they don't have the natural tendency to drink water.
This is one of the main reasons why kitties suffer from urinary tract problems, the solution for which is plenty of water. Since they don't drink enough water by itself, they should be given wet canned cat food because of their high-water content.
Not providing enough water
Just because cats don't drink water often doesn't mean you shouldn't keep their water bowl filled. But be careful, because cats are equally picky about water as they are about food. They prefer running water the best so keeping a cat fountain is a good idea.
They might also be put off by the smell of chlorine in tap water, so consider giving them bottled water.
Not giving enough nutrients
The cat formulas available in the market have the right balance of nutrients. But when you create a homemade meal for your kitties, you may not get the nutritional balance right, causing deficiencies. Homemade meals are good, as long as the nutritional balance is right.
Feeding vegetarian (or vegan)
Cats are carnivores. Period. They are meant to eat meat, not grains, fruits or veggies. When you try to make your cat vegetarian, you cut out essential nutrients from their diet. Cats need protein to survive, and they get it from high quality cat food.
For the right, balanced meal, Snappy Tom makes dry and canned cat food free from chemicals and artificial preservatives. Snappy Tom has been making healthy meals for kitties for over 40 years.
Comments