When a small meowing pet appears in the house, a very important question arises: how to feed him. After all, the right diet for shaggy food lovers is the key to a long healthy and happy life.
The ancestors of domestic cats in nature hunted for small prey - various birds and mice. These instincts and needs are preserved and spoiled pets. Therefore, raw meat and cereals are more than a logical option for a small predator. Of course, whether it is possible to give the cat raw meat, each owner decides individually, but, subject to simple rules, such a diet will not bring harm.
Natural food or prepared feed
It may seem, why spend time and extra effort to prepare food for cats. Indeed, on sale is a huge line of ready-made feed for animals, from the economy series to the premium class. But how useful is such nutrition for a pet?
In common inexpensive cat food there are practically no components declared on the label. In the best case, the composition includes meat offal and soy, which is absolutely not enough for the needs of the animal. But there are a lot of preservatives and flavorings in them that give the cat an aroma and taste attractive to cats.
Experts do not recommend feeding animals such food for a long time or at least strengthening it with vitamins and mineral supplements.
In the feed of a higher price segment, the content of natural products is much higher. In addition, they already contain vitamins necessary for the animal, and the preservative in them is useful vitamin E. Such nutrition is not only useful, but also delicious for the pet.
An alternative to these feeds can be natural nutrition. It should only be remembered that eating a cat and eating from the hosts table are completely different things.
Meat and meat products in the diet of a cat
For feeding cats, any non-fat types of meat are suitable - beef, veal, turkey, rabbit, chicken. For small kittens, minced meat from a mixture of turkey and veal is ideal. To decide whether it is possible to give a cat raw meat or it is better to boil it a little beforehand, it is necessary from the preferences of the animal - some do not like cooked food.
For seals meat offal (chicken stomachs and hearts), previously well washed and cleaned of veins, are also useful. The liver is also useful for them, but it should not be much carried away - a raw liver weakens, and a boiled liver, on the contrary, strengthens. Therefore, a pre-frozen liver can be given no more than twice a week.
How to cook meat for a cat
To the question of whether it is possible to give a cat raw meat, beef, you can answer yes, but with some conditions. The meat for feeding the animal must first be frozen in the freezer for about two days. This will remove parasites from the meat. Thawed meat should be thoroughly washed and cut into small pieces. Cats are predators, they do not chew food, but swallow it in pieces, the digestion process itself occurs directly in the stomach. Therefore, the pieces should not be large, a maximum of two centimeters.
Some experts recommend sprinkling meat with boiling water, but this is an ambiguous moment. Still, in nature, cats hunt and eat raw meat.
If you have doubts about the quality of the meat product or you want to diversify your pet’s menu, you can boil it or even put it out. The broth in which the meat was cooked can also be offered to the cat.
Features of feeding poultry meat
It would seem that in nature, cats eat birds, and if you feed the pet with bird meat, there should not be any problems. This is absolutely true for turkey and quail meat, but chicken can be difficult.
Chicken meat is a fairly strong allergen, so use it in cat nutrition with caution. Typically, food allergies in kittens appear at an early age. However, it may occur in an adult pet. This usually manifests itself in the form of redness of the skin, intensifying itching, hair loss.
Is it possible to give a cat raw chicken meat or not, is determined by the owners only empirically. If the animal does not have allergic reactions, well-beaten chicken throats can be given once a week to clean the teeth.
Fish on the cat menu
The prevailing stereotype that cats eat a lot of fish is absolutely not true. In the natural environment, feline have virtually no opportunity to catch fish.
Domestic cats are often given fish, and this is wrong. All types of river fish are not suitable for cat food: they are very bony and have a lot of parasites.
The cat can be offered a little boiled and boneless sea fish. Fatty varieties should also be excluded; excess animal fat will lead to kidney problems in the animal. Also, marine fish contains a small amount of salt, which is contraindicated in cats.
When deciding whether to give a cat raw meat and fish, an unambiguous choice is made in favor of meat, and the fish must be boiled. It is necessary to treat the pet with boiled and boneless fish no more than twice a week. Occasionally, you can spoil the cat with boiled shrimps, after cleaning them from the shell.
How to diversify cat nutrition
It is impossible to feed a cat only with meat and meat products. It is very useful to supplement his diet with a variety of cereals (hercules, buckwheat, rice, millet). Boil cereals on water, although you can use the broth from lean meat. Experts recommend adding a little natural vegetable oil to this mixture, this improves the intestines of the animal.
Useful for domestic cats and non-fat fermented milk products - yogurt without additives, kefir or sour cream with fat content not exceeding 9%. Contrary to popular belief, milk for cats is absolutely not healthy, and sometimes even harms digestion.
For well-being of a pet, it is better not to mix meat and dairy products, for example, at lunch give porridge with meat and vegetables, and in the evening a bowl of low-fat yogurt or yogurt.
Cats love homemade eggs, but they should not be given much, too, an excess of protein can lead to health problems. A raw quail egg can be offered to a cat as a whole, and only yolk can be given from boiled chicken.
Is it possible to give a cat raw meat, and with what to combine it correctly? Vegetables are great. The diet of the pet can be made quite diverse. If you train from an early age, the cat will eat boiled vegetables (beets, carrots, cauliflower, zucchini) well. They are mixed with meat or boiled fish.
However, there are quite serious restrictions on mixing feed and natural nutrition.
Is it possible to give a cat raw meat and dry food
Ready-made pet foods and natural nutrition do not combine at all. Bringing a small pet into the house, the owner will need to decide whether to give the animal food or feed it with meat products.
Simultaneous feeding with different types of food quickly enough can lead to serious problems with the gastrointestinal tract in the cat. This is due to the different principles of digesting food. Dry food must be washed down with plenty of water, it swells in the stomach and only then is digested. And with natural nutrition, food already contains moisture, and the process begins immediately. The cat’s digestive system cannot quickly switch from one mode to another.
Therefore, to the common question, is it possible to give a cat raw meat if it is fed with dry food, the answer is unequivocal: it is impossible. Sometimes they try to combine wet food with natural nutrition. But taste enhancers and flavors are often added to ready-made species, after trying which, animals are reluctant to return to normal food.
Restrictions on natural feeding
Accustoming a small cat to natural food, you need to carefully monitor the reaction to the proposed products. Cats, like humans, have allergies, sometimes quite serious.
With caution, you need to give the cat chicken meat, eggs, dairy products. If the animal is reluctant to eat porridge, you do not need to force it. Is it possible to give the cat raw meat or still boil it, it is better to decide based on the preferences of the pet.
In no case should you offer an animal fatty meats (pork, lamb), butter, fruit. Poor cats tolerate onions in any form, both raw and boiled. Potato is also undesirable, it contains a lot of starch, which is not absorbed by them at all.
Sterilized Pet Nutrition
For these pets, natural nutrition is also beneficial. Can castrated cats be given raw meat? Yes, but its quantity must be calculated correctly.
Sterilized animals are less active and more prone to obesity. They can be fed in smaller portions, focusing on lean meats and mashed boiled vegetables. It is also better to select dairy products for sterilized cats with a low fat content.
Regardless of the choice of food for the pet, the main thing is that he is cheerful and energetic, with a shiny coat and good appetite.