Table of Contents

Practical Feeding of Cats

Practical feeding of cats involve feeding principles, semi-solid food, amount food, feeding requirement for hand reared kittens, milk and milk substitute, cat nutrient profiles.

Feeding Principles for Cats

Cats are true carnivores and require almost twice as much protein in their diet as dogs. The best source of this is from animal products; 30 to 40 percent of the cat‘s diet should be animal-type proteins (meat, meat by-products, fish, eggs and milk).

About 10 percent of the diet should consist of fat; fat provides calories and the essential fatty acids.

A cat should be fed using one of the many commercial cat foods. If feeding fresh foods, it is important to provide a variety.

Strictly feeding meat, chicken, fish, and other muscle meats may cause bone disease, stunted growth in kittens, poor eyesight, and other problems due to the lack of calcium, and vitamin A.

Calcium can be supplemented by adding sterilized bone flour, calcium phosphate, calcium lactate, or calcium carbonate.

When feeding meat, it is important that all of the bone has been removed or chopped to prevent pieces of bone from becoming lodged in the throat or digestive system. Cats should never be given chicken bones.

Canned foods contain more animal protein than the other commercial rations, have a higher fat content that makes them more palatable, and contain about 75 % water.

Because of the high water content, cats may not drink as much water, but water should be available at all times.

Labels should be checked because some of the commercial rations may be nutritionally incomplete.

Fresh and canned foods should not be fed straight from the refrigerator; these foods should be allowed to warm to room temperature before being served.

Too much liver can cause vitamin A poisoning. Milk is a good source of calcium, but it may cause gas and diarrhoea in adult cats.

Feeding too much of some oily fish such as tuna may through oxidation destroy vitamin E and lead to a deficiency called steatitis or yellow fat disease.

Raw egg white contains a substance that destroys the B Vitamin biotin, but egg yolk and cooked egg white provide valuable protein, fat, and vitamins.

Semi-moist Foods

Semi-moist foods are usually less expensive because they contain some vegetable protein and are usually supplemented with nutrients to make them nutritionally complete.

Semi-moist foods have chemicals added to keep them from drying out or spoiling; they contain about 30 percent water.

Again, labels should be checked carefully because some of the semi-moist foods may not be nutritionally complete, especially for growing kittens.

Dry Foods for Cats

Dry foods contain about 10 percent water and less fat and protein than semi-moist foods. Cats on dry diets should have plenty of water available.

Some cats on dry diets may develop bladder problems. Milk, water, or gravy can be mixed with the food to improve palatability and to ensure that the cat gets adequate water intake.

One may wish to feed canned foods occasionally to help prevent bladder problems, get the cat used to different types and textures of foods, and ensure that the cat gets a balanced diet.

Dry foods do have the advantage of helping to clean the teeth and prevent the buildup of tartar.

Amount of Food

The amount of food one gives depends on the cat‘s age, weight, breed, condition, and amount of activity it gets.

Cats and young kittens will not consume enough food in one meal to last 24 hours

Two meals are recommended and young kittens and females that are pregnant or nursing require more frequent feedings.

Cats should never be given a diet of dog food because it contains large amounts of cereals and vegetables. Because of this, the cat may not get enough animal protein.

Dog food also lacks necessary amounts of vitamins A and B and some essential fatty acids. Many times cats will be seen eating grass.

The exact reason for this is not known, but it may be an attempt to increase roughage in the diet or to eliminate a hairball.

Feeding Requirement for Hand Reared Kittens

Milk and Milk Substitute

100 gm of cat‘s milk contains 9.5g protein, 6.8 g fat, 10.0 g lactose, 35 mg calcium and 70mg phosphorus and provides 142 calories.

Kittens do not thrive when they are hand reared on cow‘s milk but a mixture of dried cow‘s milk reconstituted at twice the normal strength is satisfactory.

Feeding and Pregnancy

The weight gain pattern that occurs in pregnant queens is slightly different from that observed in bitches.

Although most of the bitch‘s weight increase occurs during the last third of gestation, pregnant queens exhibit a linear increase in weight beginning around the second week of gestation.

A second difference between bitches and queens involves the type of weight that is gained during pregnancy. In dogs, almost all of the pre-parturition gain is lost at whelping.

In contrast, weight loss immediately following parturition in the cat accounts for only 40% of the weight that was gained during pregnancy. The remaining 60% of the queen‘s weight gain is body fat and is gradually lost during lactation.

Thus it appears that the queen is able to prepare for the excessive demands of lactation by accumulating surplus body energy stores during gestation.

Similar to dogs, female cats should be fed a diet, that is intended for reproduction throughout gestation and lactation. Litter size is positively influenced by the provision of adequate fat in the queen‘s diet, and fat in the diet should provide optimal levels of EFAs, particularly arachidonic acid. Taurine is also an important nutrient to consider because both conception rate and kitten birth weight are reduced in queens when dietary taurine is limiting.

The amount of food that the queen receives should be gradually increased beginning the second week of gestation and continuing until parturition. At the end of gestation, the queen should be receiving approximately 25% to 50% more food than her normal maintenance needs.

Because most cats adapt well to free-choice feeding, this is often the best way to provide the pregnant queen with adequate nutrition during pregnancy. The queen‘s weight gain should be monitored closely to prevent excessive weight gain during this time. Queens typically gain between 12% and 38% of their pre-pregnancy body weight by the end of gestation.