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Cat’s Natural Food:
In the wild,
cats eat mice and birds
so a cat’s natural diet is raw small animals, spaced out as several
small meals over a day
and with
energy
expended during the
hunting.
It’s important to bear in mind that cat’s eat just about all of
their prey, including muscle, bone, skin and innards.
Fish is not a natural
diet for cats since the cat evolved from the Desert Wild Cat (no
fish in the desert!). An artificial diet for cats should try to
mimic the calories, vitamins and minerals contained in meals of raw
small animals in the same proportions.
General Recommendations:
It’s
not really practical to breed mice to feed our cats (though snake
owners do!) so we need to buy food to create the correct balance.
All reputable food companies try to create foods that are complete
and balanced. As a general rule, the only prepared foods (tins,
sachets or dry food) that aren’t balanced are cheap ‘no-name’ brands
or expensive gourmet brands (and even some of each of these foods
are complete and balanced). Always check the label for the words
‘Complete and Balanced’ or ‘AAFCO approved’).
Raw meat alone is not a balanced diet
(since it doesn’t contain skin, bones, innards) and pet meats have
their own specific problems. There is no regulation of the pet
fresh meat industry in Australia and consequently, these foods
almost inevitably have high levels of preservatives that are not
allowed in meat for human consumption.
The sulphite preservatives
in these meats break down vitamin B1 (thiamine) and thiamine
deficiency
causes bleeding in the brain.
This is a well-documented problem in dogs and cats.
*** DON’T FEED PET MEATS ***
You can supplement a diet of mainly tinned and dry food with some
meat for human consumption and
raw chicken wings (not cooked!)
provide good
exercise for the teeth and gums.
We generally recommend against feeding just tinned food as there is
usually no exercise for teeth or just dry food as these are high in
calories and carbohydrates (not many carbohydrates in raw mouse or
bird!). There may be specific conditions that we do recommend just
tinned food or just dry food.
Kittens:
Kittens requirements follow the same general guidelines as above but
kittens grow healthier when they have
higher calories
and
higher protein.
Feeding a mix of tinned and dry foods designed specifically for
kittens meets these needs….and teach them that raw chicken wings are
real food while they are still young.
Feel free to ask us if you have any further questions.
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