In today’s society of designer pets, chickpea-based diets and rights for inanimate objects, it should come as no surprise to readers when I write than many pet owners are moving their pets onto vegetarian diets. Instead of tackling the issue of rights and the subject of ‘what people should do’, it is my job to give you the facts so you can make your own informed choices.

Cats are carnivores. From their bones, teeth and claws to their senses, stomach and bowels, cats are ‘designed’ to hunt, kill, eat and excrete meat. In the wild, almost 100% their nutrition comes from meat. However, let us bear in mind that, in the wild, meat is the only source of the nutrients that cats require to be healthy. This is no longer the case for a felis catus…

Although domesticated cats cannot get all their essential nutrients from a vegetarian diet alone, we humans have developed clever supplements which, when combined with a vegetarian diet, ensure cats get everything they need without having to eat meat. The same goes for our human diet as well – nobody ‘needs’ to eat meat. When combined with the fact that lots of companies conduct tests on animals, as well as the massive environmental damage that keeping livestock to slaughter for food does to the environment, it may be hard for cat owners to justify their pet’s meaty diet.

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After the popularity of our story about Socrates, the dieting cat, I thought I’d bring you another Fat Cat tale; this time, however, you might be able to help…

Higgins, a cat at a Cambridgeshire-based rescue centre, weighed 11kg when he arrived in March; making him bigger than a small dog! Now he has managed to lose almost a third of his body weight, the RPSCA are looking to find an owner who can handle a food-obsessed cat and help keep Higgins on a healthy diet; “This cat will need a very special new home as he is obsessed with food and will need someone who can commit to helping him towards a healthy lifestyle”, said a representative of the RSPCA.

Rita Austin, the cattery supervisor, said of Higgins that “He has a long way to go to reach his target weight, but we think Higgins will make the perfect companion, especially to anyone who can identify with the trials and tribulations of weight watching.” The RSPCA are looking for somebody who can identify with a cat that is “competitive over food” and capable of investing both time and money into the necessary cat insurance and special diet to help Higgins keep losing weight. If this sounds like you, why not get in touch with the RSPCA or with us here at the Cat Health blog – maybe you’re the perfect companion for this competitive cat.

Although a balanced diet is the most important thing to bear in mind when it comes to cat food is, it is also beneficial to know which type of cat food is best for your cat – dry or canned. Although there is no hard and fast rule regarding types of cat food, here are the latest findings:

Up until recently, it was thought that cats were best off eating dry food for the sake of their teeth (the kibble pieces were thought to help combat tartar and plaque). Moreover, the 80-85% water content of canned food means dry food has a lot more high-quality nutrition by weight. However, recent research funded by pet insurance companies and the RSPCA suggests the nutritional content of canned food is actually far more similar to the typical diet of a cat in the wild than dry food!

It is thought that the typical diet of a cat in the wild contains very little carbohydrate at all, being around 45% fat and 45% protein. Where dry food needs carbohydrates to hold the kibble pieces together, canned food has much lower levels of carbohydrate (around 10%) and is hence much more representative of their natural diet. When it comes to keeping weight down, many findings indicate that a more ‘natural’ diet helps keep cats trim and healthy.

Socrates, a cat from Newcastle, was 124% overweight when he was put on a 100-day fitness and diet programme by vet charity PDSA. At 10.1kg, Socrates was over double the weight he should ideally be, which is never healthy for any living thing!

He is now halfway through the 100-day challenge and has lost a massive 0.65kg! Bill Duncan, his owner, is thrilled and hopes his pet will be down to 8.8kg by the New Year; “His coat has brightened up and he is much silkier to the touch. He has also started to groom himself more and has loads more energy” the proud owner declared. There won’t be a New Year blowout for Socrates though, as Bill plans for his cat to trim down to an impressive 4.5kg over the next year and a half; “at the end of it, I will have a healthier and happier cat”. Bill might be pleased to know that his pet insurance premium will probably also drop radically when his cat reaches a sensible size!

The diet and fitness programme for Socrates has been tailored by Newcastle PDSA PetAid hospital, who report that he “the change in him, even at this halfway stage, is fantastic”. Hopefully this story will serve as a reminder of our responsibly to keep our cats trim and healthy over this season of gluttony!

When it comes to our cat’s diets, all cat owners should be aware of the high levels of salt in human food.  Of course we all want to treat our little feline companions from time to time, but the deli counter at the supermarket simply isn’t the right place to buy your treats!  We humans already eat too much salt; it’s in almost all of our food!  If a cat consumes too much salt, by being fed human food for example, it can cause all kinds of nasty problems – urinary tract infections expecially!  If you want to treat your cat and insist on doing it with human food, consider organic meat shops instead.

Do try to get food without grain and always avoid milk.  Despite the fact that cats and milk seem to go hand in hand, dairy products aren’t good for them and they’ll put on a lot of weight pretty fast!  I this respect cats are like humans; they might foods that are bad for them!

Otherwise, don’t treat your cat’s diet like you would a human – be specific with your treats!  For the real cat-lover, I can highly recommend Paws, Applause or Thrive Cat Treats – especially the freeze-dried chicken and prawns!  My cats can’t get enough of them!

Of course, when humans and cats live side by side, sometimes things do go a bit wrong with their diet- they do have  a knack of getting into the rubbish don’t they?  For this reason, I always advise cat owners to get pet insurance; it means you can whisk them off to the vet at the first sign of trouble, without worrying about the charges!

A missing cat from Midlothian, Scotland has been found 478 miles south of his home – in Woodlands Veterinary Surgery, Plymouth! Owner Linda Jansen declares she has no idea how Sampson got so far from home, but likes to believe he walked -“Forget the Proclaimers, my cat really did walk 500 miles.” However he managed it, the Janson family is delighted to have him back, after Eagle Couriers shipped him back home for free; “I don’t suppose we’ll ever find out how the animal ended up on the south coast of England” said Director Fiona Deas, “but we can make sure it gets home safely”.

I’m not sure of Sampson’s breed, but if his namesake if anything to go by he must be a longhaired cat! From an owner’s point of view, it is very interesting to know that Sampson was found thanks to the microchip in his neck. I for one think the Jansens should have their cat insurance policy reviewed and the price lowered – clearly Sampson is a hardy individual!
 

Even less safe than alcohol for cats, is chocolate. Shocking, isn’t it? It contains a substance called theobromine; which raises their heart rate and makes them urinate more often – causing hyperactivity, an irregular heart beat and thirst. Before too many hours have elapsed it can also cause to vomiting and diarrhoea; eventually even leading to heart attacks before the day is done.

This is the only way cats and chocolate should mix.

The most dangerous kinds of chocolate to give you cat are those containing high amounts of cocoa; cooking chocolate, gourmet chocolate and cocoa powder. Milk chocolate is the least dangerous type of chocolate to give your cat, but is still dangerous to their health. Chocolate may be a treat for you, but there are a huge range of cat-treats available that your pet will like a lot more! Give you pet and your cat insurance a real treat next time and put some effort into finding a truly delicious treat.

We may turn to alcohol in good times and bad, but it’s very unsafe to give to your cat.

What with the war on drugs, it’s easy to forget that alcohol is as much of a drug as any other – more so than cannabis so say. The fact that it is legal is not to do with it being safer for us to consume, but more because it’s too dangerous for us no ban it! With regards to cats, let us never forget that alcohol is “poisonous”; human beings have been consuming it in some form or another since prehistoric times and have literally evolved to handle it better than animals. Cats, on the other hand, have not. Their livers help handle the vast amounts of protein they require; not to detoxify substances like alcohol.

Repeated consumption of alcohol will cause liver damage, gastrointestinal irritation and breathing difficulties, as well as potentially comas and death. Granted this is also true in human beings, but we’re a lot bigger than cats and have evolution on our side! It may seem like a funny idea at the time, but don’t give alcohol to your cat; it’ll hurt your pet and your cat insurance policy.