Saturday 19 April 2008
First some basics:
-Cats are carnivores, they do not eat vegetables, grains, fruits or anything like that. They eat meat, that's what they want.
-Kittens need more nutrition than cats as they are developing and growing, so make sure any food you buy for your kitten is specially marked as 'for kittens'
-Wet food > Dry food
Now about that last point. Cheap vets and many amateur pet shops will tell you that dry food is what your cat should be eating. They will say it is 'good for their teeth'. While that may be arguable, the fact is the only real benefit of dry food is for owners, making it much easier for them. It's easier to store, leaves less mess and upsets cat's tummies less. It is, however, completely unnatural. Cat's don't have dry food in the wild, they just eat meat, wet meat.
What you want is a natural canned meat. Look at the ingredients, chicken or fish should be near the top, and the protein percentage must be high. I highly recommend Natures: Menu which has a whopping 70% meat content and Didier loves the taste, laps it up very quickly.
The aim should be to ease your kitty onto wet food, or give a mix of both. What I do is give him dry food during the day, and then a bigger meal of wet meat at night before bed, at least until he's more used to it.
As a final note, avoid cheap 'big' brands like whiskas and felix, the all natural brands are far healthier and tastier.