Setting Kitty up for Success

Food and Water

Water: Cats need fresh water and lots of it! Keep a large bowl full of water out for your cat at all times. Empty and refill it daily. In addition consider a water fountain, as cats prefer moving water to still water. 

Food: Feed your cat canned wet food 2-3x daily as their primary meal. Dry food can be left out as a supplement. Cats will tend to graze throughout the day vs sitting and eating a complete meal at one time.

Mew and more and more veterinarians are recommending a primarily wet canned food diets for cats. Dry food can be given as a supplement to wet food as the primary meal. Cats are obligate carnivores, they cannot live without protein. They also require a substance called taurine, that cannot be manufactured by thier bodies. Why is canned food a better option than dry?

• Wet food provides the daily water content that cats need
• Animal based proteins typically found in wet food, are higher quality than plant based proteins typicaly found in dry foods
• Dry foods are overly processed at high temperatures and sit in store warehouses for long periods of time
• Canned food is much closer to a cats natural diet in the wild

There is no doubt that dry food is responsible for far more intestinal problems, and other diseases, than most veterinarians and cat owners realize. Keeping your cat on a primarily canned food diet will eliminate a host of issues especailly as your cat ages. 

Litter Boxes and Litter Etiquette

Litter box issues are the number one reason for returns. Why does this issue seem to be a more dificult one to figure out.  One thing that makes this more complicated is that its an area where we have to listen to the cat and respect her decisions.

• Keep at least two litter boxes for each cat in the home. You will find your cat is likely to urinate in one and use the other for #2. So if you have two cats you need four boxes.
• Keep to normal litter pans without ancy features and no top. Some cats will avoid a litter box that they feel trapped in. Boxes that scoop the litter up right away don’t allow you to identify medical concerns that seeing the cats feces could tell you.
• Clean the box once a day. You can scoop the box daily, but dump it completely weekly and start again with 100% clean litter.

Remember the rule that its up to the cat if its clean and usable. Listen to your cat and watch it habits, so that both of you are happy!