Cats are the oldest pets in the world. The Egyptians were one of the populations that began to domesticate them about 600 years BC; they did it to keep at bay the plague of rats that entered their house to eat the food.
In these times, we have several breeds and types of domestic cats, many of them are white, black; light yellow tabby, gray tabby, and darker colors like Siamese cats on the tips of the paws, tails, and ears.
Cats have 5 pads on their front paws and 5 little fingers, each with tenacious claws, which they protrude when they press down on their pads. They also have claws on their back legs, but they only have 4 pads and four toes with their respective claws. This tells us that in the wild they must climb to find part of their food.
Cats weigh more or less from 3 to 7 kilos. They have a very flexible body, but it is a myth that they have 7 lives, people say it only because of their agility to fall on their feet from great heights. In reality, these animals can last from 9 to 12 years, but it all depends on their health and the food they receive.
How are the cats?
To better understand the proper feeding process for a cat, we will explain a little about what cats are like. This information is important, because emotionally cats need motivation to eat properly.
A cat can become obese if it does not have the proper eating habits, affecting its health completely. In addition, he can even become depressed or aggressive if he does not have enough motivation when eating.
When it comes to being alert, your hearing system is extremely sensitive and your ears are capable of moving them in opposite directions from each other. They use this to hunt their prey in the wild and to protect themselves from predators.
Generally, when cats are frightened or under threat, or simply when they are upset, and about to attack or bite, they put their ears back. Therefore, if you see that your cat has its ears in this position, you should be cautious and study the situation to find out what is affecting it.
They have very sharp teeth and are conical type. As they are carnivorous animals, the most important thing is that their diet is based on different meats. In addition, they have whiskers that can perceive the slightest movements of their prey.
Their claws are usually sharpened on tree trunks or a carpet, and sometimes on a wall. That cats have a place to sharpen their claws is important for their emotional state. These only come out when they are going to attack their prey and generally when they walk they do not touch the ground so they do not wear out.
Feed with love
Cats are like people, if they feel depressed they may stop eating and get sick, if they feel anxious they can overeat and get sick. Therefore, feeding a cat well is not only about the type of food, but you have to take into account many aspects regarding their habits and routines.
There are species of short hair and some with longer hairs, there is also a species of cats that have no hair. However, the species does not matter much when it comes to feeding habits, because they are generally the same.
They are extremely clean animals; they are cleaning their hair with their tongue every so often. Therefore, something important is that these pets relieve themselves outside the house and in places where they have soft sand to bury their poop and urine.
If you do not have litter nearby, you should locate a box with sand in the basement or some area dedicated to this. On the other hand, male cats are very territorial and mark their territory with a small spray of urine in different places, delimiting their territory.
Cats when they are hungry approach us, caress us walking around our legs and begin to meow, in a very tender way to ask for their food. They immediately touch our hearts and we look for their food ration, that’s why it is very important to know what cats eat and how we should feed them; especially regarding the quantities, because the love we feel towards them can lead to spoiling them a bit.
They are very grateful pets and will always be at home with us. Sometimes they go out for a walk, to relieve them or to look for a partner, but they always come home to look for their portion of love and daily food.
Instructions
Here are some tips on how to feed your cat:
- If you adopted an orphaned baby cat in its first days of life, it is important that you do not give it cow’s milk for any reason. We know that the cat’s milk is the one that supplies her with enough nutrients and vitamins for her growth in the first 4 weeks of life. So you can buy cat’s milk powder, which is available in pet stores as formulas created as similar as possible.
- If you don’t have formula milk, you can give him goat’s milk, which is a little more passable than cow’s milk and doesn’t have as much fat.
- We recommend that you make a small bottle. Remember that like any baby, the milk should be a little warm to simulate the mother’s body heat.
- You are going to supply this bottle to the baby kitten every 3 hours for 4 weeks, which is the time that the cat nurses them.
- After 4 weeks, you will continue to bottle feed her for another 4 weeks, but you will start feeding her porridge.
- In the pet store they sell special processed dry cat food, with many nutrients, but you must mix it with a little water.
- By mixing it with water this food will become soft and increase in size, then you mash it with a fork to make the porridge. This is necessary, since the baby kitten has not yet fully developed its teeth or digestive system.
- On the other hand, you can start giving him after 8 weeks, a little chicken meat and chicken livers, in the form of porridge.
- You must cook it for several hours so that the chicken meat is very soft and releases all the fat, in the same way with chicken livers.
- Already after 10 weeks, you can stop giving the bottle and start giving them food for adult cats.
- Adult cats usually hunt for insects, mice, rats and lizards, but in addition to this you must provide them with a diet.
- Remember, as time passes and cats go from adults to older adults, they lose their hunting abilities.
- In pet stores there are canned, dry and wet foods. But cats are carnivorous animals by nature, so we recommend that you give them chicken, fish and beef, but try not to give them raw but rather cooked, since their livers are a bit delicate.
- This is to extend their life and you can mix their meat with a little concentrated food, called feed.
- In some houses they give cats the same food that they prepare for people, but these foods sometimes have a lot of fats and carbohydrates.
- Remember that cats should not eat condiments like we do this in the long term takes time away from your pet’s life and causes a lot of damage to its internal organs.
- You should always be aware of having a container with clean water so that your cat drinks fresh water; also, that the plate where they eat is quite flat.
- We recommend that you take your cat to the vet to get some vitamin supplements to improve their diet.
- Finally, when your cat becomes an older adult, it will need more vitamins and extra minerals to stay healthy, which you can supply with the supervision of your family veterinarian.
What do you need:
Some foods for your beloved pet:
- Powdered cat’s milk, formula type.
- Goat milk.
- Feeding bottle.
- Fresh and clean water.
- Concentrated food for cats (I think).
- Wet food for cats.
- Flat plate for your food.
- Container for water.
- Vitamins for cats.
- Chicken meat, cows, fish.
Tips
- Do not give your cat soft drinks or treats, as he can get diabetes and lose his sight at an early age.
- Also do not give him raw vegetables like onions that can irritate his intestines.
- Always observe your pet every day, since many times they eat a poisoned insect or mouse at night and can die of poisoning.
- If you see that your cat is weak and foaming at the mouth, take him to the vet immediately for a stomach pump.
- Although your cat is a carnivorous animal, on some occasions you will see him eating some fresh grass or weeds. They do this when they have an upset stomach to get their intestines to kick in and take out the damage as quickly as possible.
- Also, it is important that you periodically perform a stool test to determine if your parasite levels are normal. The parasites they get from hunting bugs and mice at night sometimes get very large and give the cat a cough; on some occasions, they even vomit and the worms and parasites come out in their poop.
- For this, the veterinarian will give him a treatment so that the parasites within his organisms are eliminated and he can be healthy. This mostly happens in young cats that are very active at night and kill many rodents and insects with many parasites.
- Also, you can tell if your cat has parasites if the color of its coat turns dull and it gets a little long.
- Finally, remember that your pet needs your care and your love so that it has a good quality of life and is a healthy animal.
