How to Feed Your Cat a Healthy Diet

Cats were not meant to eat corn, rice and barley. They were designed to eat MEAT. Cats in the wild would never eat the way dry cat food makers feed your feline buddy. Studies now show dry cat food offers convenience to the owner, and poor nutrition for kitty. This How-to Article will put your cat on the road to better health and a longer happier life.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• One or more cats
• Desire for a healthy cat

1. Read the ingredients label on your current dry cat food, but don’t throw it out just yet. These labels are often misleading by trying to confuse the reader, but you can see this is not made of meat. Some experts have compared this stuff to Twinkies!

2. Stop by your local Whole Foods store, natural food co-op, Petsmart, or similar pet store and pick up a can of "natural meat canned wet cat food". Read the ingredients. You should see chicken or fish near the top of the list.

3. Buy a few cans that use words like fish or ocean-catch of a natural canned wet cat food. Some cat foods use rice as filler so pick choices that put that at the end of the list not the beginning. (All meat options are discussed in step #6.)

4. Transition your cat over to the canned food by mixing half-portion canned-food with half-portion of the dry food that you were using.
   Tranition for one week. The goal is to gently move to canned-meat-food.

5. Do Not Overfeed:
   Offer your cat only the serving size advised on the container (not the entire can). An overweight cat is sad and short life. Over-eating leads to obesity and a host of other health problems you do not want to experience.

6. Cats Need Meat:
   Once your cat is eating all wet cat food, the avid cat owner should look into pre-frozen raw meat for cats. Its more work in that you must thaw out the food on a daily schedule, but like most things in life you get used to it, and then it becomes routine. This is the healthiest option for your cat.

7. Here is a list of health problems that can be attributed to poor diet and overeating.
   
   Feline Diabetes
   IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease)
   CRF (Chronic Renal Failure)
   Urinary crystals and cystitis
   Diarrhea
   Dehydration
   
   http://cats.about.com/od/catfoo1/tp/rawfreezefood.htm
   
   http://cats.about.com/cs/catfood/a/canned_food.htm

Tips & Warnings

• If your cat is reluctant to move to wet meat cat food, buy the strongest smelling cat food you can find. Cats wont eat what they can’t smell.
• If your cat has a cold and won’t eat… Get the smelly cat food and your cat will eat.
• Do not just feed your cat meats from your fridge. The domestic house Cat needs a balanced diet with vitamins and minerals added and quality cat foods take this into account. You could make your own cat food but the cost and labor that comes with a meat grinder and assorted vitamins keep it from being the popular choice.

Resources

• cat health 1
• cat health 2
• cat health 3

[ahw27]

on 7/6/2008 Great information, but you don't take into consideration that cats also need to chew on rough food to keep their teeth in good condition, and they also do enjoy eating greens and grass which is good for their digestive systems (this is all direct from our vet).

[mouse854]

on 4/27/2008 Very informative! I really enjoyed reading your article. We have a cat and he cannot eat dry food anymore. We feed him holistic cat food and his health has improved and you would never know that he is 16!