How to Feed a Pet Bobcat

Taking care of a pet bobcat requires feeding them a properly balanced, nutritional diet. Studies show the best diets for bobcats mimic what they eat in the wild——other wild animals. While some people may cringe at the idea of feeding their bobcats other animals, it is the most natural way for these cats to eat.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Insects
• Live rats/mice
• Live fish

Feed Your Pet Bobcat

1. Feed a baby bobcat roughly 5 percent of its bodyweight because a baby bobcat is still growing and requires more nutrients to build bones and tissue. Give extra calcium to baby bobcats in the form of chicken bones with small amounts of meat attached. The meat is high in fat to help growth, while the bones are rich in calcium.
2. Feed your adult bobcat roughly 3 percent of its bodyweight in food each day for 5 days each week. Allow the other 2 days for fasting and capturing small animals inside its habitat to eat.
3. Permit your bobcat to take days off from eating and fast as they would in the wild. This usually occurs after a larger animal, such as a deer, is killed for food.
4. Let your bobcat eat insects and bugs as part of a nutritional diet. These include grasshoppers, beetles and spiders. Bobcats will also eat birds and bats if found in their housing area.
5. Supplement your bobcat's diet with small mice or rats for hunting and eating. Rabbits (Jack rabbits and cotton tail) make up more than half of the bobcat's diet. Do not assume these will naturally enter your bobcat's habitat. You'll need to provide these as food when possible.
6. Stimulate your pet bobcat with attractive food smells. Bobcats are known in the animal world as being very interested in smells. Of all the big cats held in captivity for observation, the bobcat leads the pack in olfactory intelligence.
7. Place fish in a pond or pool you have provided. Your bobcat will enjoy hunting and eating them as prey.
8. Consider feeding your bobcat prepackaged cold or frozen commercial food. This food is not considered as nutritious as eating animal meat, but most of the necessary nutrients are provided.

Tips & Warnings

• Peppermint has been documented several times as a preferred smell of the bobcat. Providing a toy (including a stick or log) scented with peppermint will provide a small snack and hours of playtime for your bobcat.
• Separate your bobcat from other family cats, dogs, fish or birds. Bobcats are hunters by nature and have been know to prey on domesticated pets.