Caring for Your Cat
Cat and kitten advice.
All the cat and kitten advice and tips you could wish for all on one website.
All the advice we give is totally free and provided by experts in their field.
All the cat and kitten advice and tips you could wish for all on one website.
All the advice we give is totally free and provided by experts in their field.
Eating and Drinking
Dry food is usually the most economical to use, with pouches of wet food being the most expensive. Look for the words ‘complete’. This means there is no need to add anything else to the food - nutritionally there is everything in it your cat needs. ‘Complimentary’ means just that - you will need to feed other food to ensure your cat gets a balanced meal. For example - Hi-Life have a poultry selection, however it is not complete, so should be fed with a mixture of dry food. I personally feed a mixture of both - a reduced amount of premium dry food, with half or one third of a pouch. The cat gets the texture of both meat and biscuit, and its important to adjust your portions to take in to account the fact that you are mixing the wet and dry.
Dry food is extremely concentrated - it is unwise to leave a huge pile of dry food down for a cat - this should be measured and the cat fed in accordance with its weight. Always follow the manufacturers instructions.
We recommend HiLife, Almo Nature and Natures Menu as the meat content is 60%-70%. Cats can often be seen attempting to cover their food dishes. In wild cats may
Dry food is extremely concentrated - it is unwise to leave a huge pile of dry food down for a cat - this should be measured and the cat fed in accordance with its weight. Always follow the manufacturers instructions.
We recommend HiLife, Almo Nature and Natures Menu as the meat content is 60%-70%. Cats can often be seen attempting to cover their food dishes. In wild cats may
Like most things - you get what you pay for. Cheap cat food contains mostly water and cereal and very little meat. Beware of labels that read beef flavour - this probably means there is no beef in there whatsoever - it is just flavoured. Look at the meat content - most of the well known brands are just 4% meat. Your tinned food is invariably 75% moisture (water). This is why cats fed on tinned food will very rarely be seen drinking from a bowl of water as they get the majority of their water from the food. Your dry food only contains a very small amount of moisture and that’s why cats fed a dry diet can be seen at the water bowl that more often.
I prefer the small flat pottery dishes for feeding. They are good for both kittens and adults alike, being heavy they don’t move around and are easy to clean. They don’t get scratched and worn like the plastic dishes and are shallow so fit the cat’s face well. Wilkinsons are the most reasonably priced if you don’t want anything fancy.
From left to right:
A flat dish that acts like a puddle.
A normal water bowl.
A mug of water
A flat dish that acts like a puddle.
A normal water bowl.
A mug of water
Arrange various water receptacles on your kitchen floor and let your cat tell you which one he prefers. In multicat households leave water available in several different places, in different types of receptacles.
Cats pawing at water is a throw back to when they would have to remove the weed and scum off the top of the water before being able to reach the fresh water underneath. Some cats like to drink from the tap - this Drinkwell water fountain mimics that. The water is filtered so there is no ‘chlorine’ taste.
have spent so much energy catching their prey, they just don’t have enough energy left to eat it! If they leave the kill out in the open it would soon be eaten by other predators, so in an attempt to ‘save it for later’ they will bury it.
My cat doesn’t drink water so I don’t leave him any out!
All cats must have access to clean water - every day! Even if you never see your cat drinking, water should always be made available. Cats that eat tinned food or pouches will appear to drink less. This is because ‘wet’ food is just that - ‘wet’.
It contains around 75% moisture; dry food on the other hand contains only about 8% moisture. Therefore you would expect to see a cat on a dry diet drinking more than a cat fed a wet diet. Excessive thirst can be a sign of kidney failure and needs veterinary attention. Cows milk is not suitable for cats or kittens.
My cat doesn’t drink water so I don’t leave him any out!
All cats must have access to clean water - every day! Even if you never see your cat drinking, water should always be made available. Cats that eat tinned food or pouches will appear to drink less. This is because ‘wet’ food is just that - ‘wet’.
It contains around 75% moisture; dry food on the other hand contains only about 8% moisture. Therefore you would expect to see a cat on a dry diet drinking more than a cat fed a wet diet. Excessive thirst can be a sign of kidney failure and needs veterinary attention. Cows milk is not suitable for cats or kittens.
My cat always drinks from my glass of water!
Take note of what your cat is telling you - here he is saying - please place my water in a cup as that is how I like to drink.
Take note of what your cat is telling you - here he is saying - please place my water in a cup as that is how I like to drink.
