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Nutritional Advice For Your New Kitten
Good nutrition forms the basis for good health. Today, more than ever, concerned pet owners want the best nutrition for there pets, but are bombarded with a plethora of conflicting information. Trying to be as unbiased as possible, we have put some information together that may help you to make the best choices.
In cats, the most important health issues that are strongly influenced by diet are as follows:
1. Obesity
2. Dental disease
3. Feline lower urinary tract disease in young to middle aged cats
4. Chronic Kidney Disease in seniors
We’ll try to focus on the prevention of these diseases as we talk about nutrition.
Regulation of the pet food industry
1. AAFCO regulates and tests all canned, semi moist and dry foods. Testing is by the ‘Formulation Method’ or better yet by the ‘Feeding Trial Method’. A premium diet should indicate tested by ‘Feeding Trial’.
2. Shelf life – nutritional quality can suffer if the food is not fresh. A premium food should always have a ‘best before’ date.
3. Regulations are not as stringent as we’d like, so we strongly recommend you choose diets made by large, well-known companies with a history of good past performance.
4. Diets made by your local butcher and all raw food diets are TOTALLY unregulated and need not adhere to any standards.
Reading a Pet Food Label
- Guaranteed analysis –lists only the MINIMUM amount of crude protein and fat and the MAXIMUM amount of moisture and fiber contained in the diet. Crude protein only measures protein quantity, not protein quality. There are no maximums stated for protein or fat and no requirements at all for carbohydrates. Remember, more is not necessarily better. Excesses of certain ingredients can be just as harmful as deficiencies.
- Ingredient list – Ingredients are always listed in order of weight, the heaviest coming first. How the ingredients are described is strictly regulated. For instance:
1) ‘Chicken/beef/lamb’ must be fresh or frozen muscle or heart.
2) ‘Chicken/beef/lamb By-Products’ are fresh or frozen muscle AND organ meats including intestines, kidneys, etc. This is an excellent protein source much superior to flesh alone.
3) ‘Poultry by-products’ are chicken skin – a great source fat-soluble vitamins and completely natural for predators to eat.
4) ‘Chicken meal’ is the dehydrated form of chicken flesh and organ meat. Being dehydrated, it weighs less so will not appear first on a list of ingredients even when it is a major constituent of the diet.
5) ‘Corn gluten meal’ – 50-60% crude protein and excellent source of sulfur containing amino acids.
- Pet food manufacturers manipulate their ingredient lists in such a way as to emotionally appeal to pet owners. An ingredient list that contains chicken, beef and brown rice, may in fact be less nutritious than one that contains chicken meal, poultry by-products, corn gluten meal and rice. It’s all a matter of marketing.
- Lifestage – A diet may be formulated to be complete and balanced for ‘All Life Stages’ or for a particular lifestage - ‘Adult Maintenance’, ‘Growth and Reproduction’, or ‘Senior’. Diets formulated to meet the needs of ‘All Life Stages’ must meet minimum requirements for the most demanding stage – pregnant and nursing queens. Such diets will have high levels of calories, protein, calcium and phosphorus, which are inappropriate and sometimes frankly harmful for inactive, obese or elderly cats. They are particularly detrimental to any cat with chronic kidney disease. We highly recommend feeding a diet appropriate to the lifestage of your cat (kitten, adult or senior).
- Calorie content is commonly not listed but can be estimated by fat content. Choose low fat diets if your pet is inactive or overweight.
- Hairballs are a common concern. Diets higher in fiber (dental and indoor cat diets) may be helpful. A common mistake owners often make is assuming that all vomiting cats have hairball issues. Remember that most cats are fastidious groomers, so vomitus regardless of its cause is almost always going to contain hair. Any cat that vomits more frequently than once every 2 weeks, is losing weight, or in whom the pattern of vomiting has changed substantially should be checked for other health concerns.
Feeding Cats
- Feed your new kitten the same food his breeder fed him for the first week or two to minimize stomach upsets. A kitten that is not eating well should always be offered other choices. Canned food may be more attractive than dry.
- Young kittens must eat many small meals a day. At first, you may need to leave dry food out at all times. Alternatively, there are now automatic feeders available which allow you to offer up to 6 small meals a day while keeping food cold and fresh.
- Kittens grow at different rates and have different activity levels. As such, they may have widely differing caloric needs. Feed kittens to maintain a normal body weight. We will help you assess the results on each kitten visit.
- In adult cats the number 1 nutritional problem is now obesity. This has been fuelled by the habit of leaving dry food out in unlimited quantities at all times. In most adult cats, this will result in unacceptable weight gains. Follow these recommendations to minimize the risk for obesity:
· Reduce calorie intake by up to 25% (30% in males) after spaying a neutering. These procedures reduce your cats metabolic rate and also occur about the time that growth rate has slowed so fewer calories will be needed. Switching from kitten to adult food is part of the solution.
· Feed adult cats to maintain normal body weight. Caloric requirements vary widely depending on activity levels and guidelines on food labels may not be appropriate for your cat. Except in rare cases, never leave dry food out in unlimited quantities – nearly all cats will overeat if given the opportunity. Feed your adult cat 3-4 measured meals per day. Alternatively, for nibblers, measure the day’s allotment of food in the morning and then dole it out through the day when your cat asks for it.
· Know what a normal body score of 3 looks like. Cats should have a measurable waist when viewed from the side or the top and ribs should be easily felt. The body score chart is a very useful tool.
· Feed at least 50% canned food – the higher protein and moisture content help to keep your cat more satisfied. Feeding canned food allows you to easily feed each cat in a multi–cat household the precise amount of food that they require. How often do we see one fat cat and one trim cat in the same house? Guess whose eating most of that dry food?
· Treats are high in calories and do not provide balanced nutrition. A couple of treats a day are plenty. Playing with your cat is a better reward in many cases.
· Exercise is essential. Provide plenty of opportunities for your cat to play. There are many excellent toys on the market, but a great inexpensive alternative is an empty paper bag and balls of tin foil. A hollow food ball provides exercise and mental stimulation while your cat is eating. Cats love to pretend their food is prey!
- Dental disease is a huge concern. By 4 years of age, the majority of cats will develop serious periodontal disease or painful cavities necessitating expensive dental procedures. Prevention is the best option. We HIGHLY recommend all willing cats get their teeth brushed daily. If you start brushing as kittens, most cats are tolerant. Waiting until there is a problem is often a different story. Dental diets are also available. Regular dry cat food does nothing to clean your cat’s teeth. Dental diets are much harder and their abrasive texture scours the teeth like a toothbrush. The size of the kibble also ensures that your cat actually chews the diet, rather than just inhaling it. The most effective dental diets will have the ‘Veterinary Dental Seal of Approval’ on the label. Dental diets should not be fed to young growing kittens. Although dental diets are helpful, we still recommend feeding at least 50% canned food for its other known benefits. Whenever possible, dental diets should complement tooth brushing, they do not completely replace the need to brush. Dental treats such as ‘Feline Greenies’ or ‘CET Chews” may be additionally helpful.
- ‘Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease’ is a common problemin young to middle aged cats. Male cats in particular may develop life-threatening obstructions. Canned foods with their higher water content help to keep urine more dilute. They are your best option for minimizing the risks.
- We recommend feeding Senior Diets to many cats over the age of 7 years. ‘Chronic Kidney Disease’ is extremely common in elderly cats. Senior diets contain less phosphorus and use very high quality protein while avoiding excesses – this helps to slow the progression of kidney disease. Feed more canned foods to seniors - they provide the extra water needed to help kidneys function better. Senior diets also contain less sodium, which is helpful for pets with high blood pressure.
Raw food diets
Raw food diets are an attempt to mimic a ‘more natural’ diet for cats, one that is supposedly similar to a wild cat’s prey. There are, however, a number of valid concerns that you should first consider before making any decisions.
- Raw food diets are TOTALLY UNREGULATED and you are relying solely on the integrity of the manufacturer. Since they are not held to a certain standard, some of this food is bound to be of poor or variable quality.
- Nutrient content – Raw meat contains very little calcium. The calcium source in these diets comes from ground bone or other supplemental sources. When analyzed, raw diets are often found to be seriously calcium deficient. They also contain very high levels of protein and phosphorus that will be detrimental to any cat with chronic kidney disease. The incidence of kidney disease is extremely high in senior cats, so raw food diets are frequently not a good option for them.
- Raw foods often contain increased numbers of pathogens such as Salmonella. Freezing does not kill most pathogens. Although healthy young cats are often (but not always) relatively resistant, sick, elderly or otherwise debilitated pets are at significantly more risk of infection.
- Pets eating raw food diets have increased concentrations of bacteria and parasites in their stools. Food dishes may become heavily contaminated. Passage of bacteria through the gut of pets can result in an increased resistance of these organisms to antibiotics. Humans who feed their pets raw food diets will have increased exposure to these bacteria.
We do not recommend the feeding of raw diets. However, if you choose to do so, we recommend that you have the diet analyzed by a qualified nutritionist. Avoid feeding raw food diets to elderly or otherwise immunocompromized pets. Do not feed a raw diet if young children, pregnant, chronically ill or otherwise immunocompromized individuals live in your home. Practice safe food habits. Daily thorough washing of food dishes and other food preparation utensils and bleaching on a weekly basis will help to reduce, but not eliminate the presence of bacteria on these surfaces. Designate separate cutting boards and follow safe storage of raw food items, etc.
Recommended sources for futher information
www.petdiets.com OR www.balanceit.com - for a veterinary nutritionist to formulate a special diet for your pet. Note there are fees involved – but if your pet eats a diet that is 100% homemade, this is your best option to ensure it is nutritionally complete.
Body Score Chart:
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