The Importance of Diet in Cat Health Care
As the old adage goes, you are what you eat. Whilst this is not literally true, everybody recognises the importance of our diet in our health and the same is true of the importance of diet in cat health care. Ensuring that our pets get all the nutrients they need to stay healthy is a big responsibility, but it needn’t be complex if we understand a few simple things about diet and cat health care.
Drinking plenty of water is really important both for us and our pets. If a cat is denied fresh drinking water it can become seriously ill in a matter of hours. Serious cat health care problems and even death can result from dehydration.
The diet of a cat must be very specific. Felines are what are known as obligate carnivores which means that they cannot live on a vegetarian diet. Cat health care problems such as malnutrition, blindness and eventually death would result from depriving a cat of a meat based diet.
As owners we must be careful not to upset the fine balance of our cats’ diets. Although we may think of it as a harmless treat, giving titbits of human food can have serious consequences for cat health care. Human food is often too fatty and calorific for cats and may even poison them. Onions, for example, are highly toxic to felines.
In the wild, cats would eat several small meals everyday and owners should try to accommodate this. Obviously, work or school obligations could mean that feeding regular small meals through the day is not feasible. To resolve this problem, why not leave out dried food for the cat to nibble at throughout the day.
Finally, when considering diet we must consider obesity, which is one of the biggest cat health care problems of the moment. Obesity can lead to heart problems, breathing problems, diabetes, arthritis and eventually death, so it must be avoided. As a guideline, one could consider a short haired cat to be a healthy weight if its ribs can be felt but not seen. Owners must be careful to follow the serving instructions on cat food and must take the cat to a vet if they are concerned about its weight.
