Page 215 - The Complete Cat Breed Book (DK)

F OOD AND FEEDING 213

TOP TIP
When buying food, choose a product
that uses real meat (not mechanically
recovered meat) and lists this as the first
ingredient. Avoid foods full of additives or
that list cereal as the main ingredient.

WET, DRY, AND HOME-COOKED FOOD
Dry food won’t spoil, but wet food is more
like a cat’s natural diet. Homemade meals
Dry food Wet food Home-cooked are freshest, but avoid single-protein diets.

time, it does have some advantages. It can, for example, the lactose sugar in dairy products and may get diarrhea.
be left out during the day without spoiling. You may want Special “cat milk” can now be bought; alternatively, use milk
to give dry food in the morning and reserve the wet food for lactose-intolerant humans available at supermarkets.
for when you return from work in the evening.
Foods to avoid
Home-cooked food As well as milk and cream, other foods to avoid include raw
For home-cooked meals, use meat and fish that’s fit for fish, which contains enzymes that can be harmful to cats.
human consumption. Make sure it is well cooked to kill Onions and garlic can cause anemia, while green tomatoes
bacteria or parasites that could be dangerous. Homemade and green (raw) potatoes—and especially their leaves—
meals are a good way of introducing well-cooked bones as contain a poisonous alkaloid that produces violent
a calcium source, but don’t offer them if your cat has not gastrointestinal symptoms, so keep these items
learned to eat bones or if he eats his food too quickly. The out of reach. Chocolate is highly toxic to
scraping action of bones keeps teeth in good shape; without cats, and grapes and raisins may harm
them, your cat’s teeth will need regular cleaning (p.231). the kidneys.

Drinking requirements DRINKING WATER
All cats should be provided with a source of water, since Cats fed a dry-food
diet will require
water helps dilute the urine and is absorbed by fiber in the
more water than
gut. Caution should be taken with giving cats milk or cream, those that eat
since many adult cats lack the enzyme necessary to digest wet food.

DANGEROUS FOODS

Onions Green tomatoes Grapes
Chocolate Cream Raw fish
and garlic and potatoes and raisins