Newly adopted cat. What should I look for in his food? Does he need anything else? (Will be neutered soon).

Question

He just showed up in my garage and seems very happy. He is tiny, probably less than a year old. Not the most people friendly, but he warmed up to us after a couple weeks.
He looks to be underweight, are there any supplements he should have?
Any vaccinations? (Rabbies will be done with the neutering)

Does anyone know a site where I can read up on the nutritional values I should be looking for in his food?

He will be headed to the vet, just probably not until the middle to end of next month unless I can get him into one of the feral cat programs,

Answer 1

He needs to see the vet for FVRCP, FLV and Rabies shots. And he also needs neutered asap if not already! His low weight and small size could easily be due to worms taking away all his nutrition. You will need a prescription med from the vet for that. Drontil is a great overall wormer and even gets tape worms. He will also need some frontline plus (or something similar)monthly flea treatment!



Nutrition you ask? I got ya covered on that one! LOL!

It's time for pet owners to wake up and take responsibility for what they feed their animals and quit trusting what those great big money hungry companies tell you. Research for yourself, learn, read the ingredients and make an informed decision for the health and safety of your beloved pet.

With the recall, wheat gluten is the big suspect in cat food that everyone is trying to avoid, and it SHOULD be avoided. It should have been avoided all along. It’s nothing more than a cheap protein source used as a binding agent by pet food companies.

Corn should always be avoided as well. It’s a huge filler worth NOTHING. Corn as an ingredient in cat food is a joke. Ever seen a cat chewing on a corn cob in a field? No, you haven’t.

Cats, despite thousands of years of domestication, remain strictly carnivorous. True and honest meat eaters and that is what they need most. Protein from meat!

As you search for your new pet food, be aware that there are three Categories of Pet Foods:

-"Grocery store" foods – (Generic Brands and cheap name brands) Those foods found in grocery stores and mass-market retailers are made with lower-quality, less-digestible, inexpensive ingredients and are therefore a cheaper alternative. While easy on the pocketbook, "grocery store" foods normally do not provide your cat with the healthiest, most nutrient-dense ingredients.

-Premium foods – (Iams/Eukanuba, Purina One, Hills Science Diet, Nutro and such) Foods often found in grocery stores, pet stores, and veterinarian offices that contain higher-grade ingredients, but still include many elements of "grocery store" food, such as artificial colors, artificial flavors, chemical preservatives, and "filler" ingredients such as corn and wheat products, by-products and even animal digest. Yuck! Premium foods are usually more expensive than "grocery store" foods because their ingredients are sometimes of a higher quality, and are therefore somewhat more beneficial and digestible. But don’t be fooled, some of those same so called Premium brands are sometimes worse than grocery store foods, but they charge prices like they are better. They aren’t!

-Healthy foods – (Wellness, Eagle Pack, Drs Foster and Smith) The newest addition to the pet food market - provide pets with the highest quality, healthiest, and most nutritious ingredients. They are typically available for purchase online or direct from the manufacturer. Some better retailers are starting to carry them now. Complete Petmart carries a few healthy brand foods. Foods in the Healthy class - contain nutrient-rich ingredients. Formulated to provide optimum health benefits for pets, these foods often use real meat as the primary protein source, carbohydrate-rich whole grains like brown rice and barley and whole, fresh fruits and vegetables. They should not contain artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors. They will almost always be fortified with additional vitamins and minerals, and will use the best natural sources for fatty acids to help build healthy skin and a beautiful coat. Because healthy foods use high quality ingredients, you should expect to pay a little more than you would for other types of pet food. Remember, though, with healthy foods you can feed less since healthy foods are more nutrient-dense than other types of food so it often evens out or cost’s les than feeding foods filled with cheap non-nutritional by-products fillers.


With all that information in mind, when you are choosing a new cat food, study the ingredients. All ingredients on pet food labels are listed by weight. Meaning whatever ingredients are listed first on the list, there is more in there. The first ingredients listed should be whole meat ingredients, protein sources, such as Chicken or Turkey. NOT just the word “meat”! Who the heck knows what that is? The word Chicken Meal is ok, but it should be a secondary ingredient, not first. Meal is the meat dehydrated and ground into a powder.

The ingredients also should NOT include any by-products or animal digest whatsoever. Those are disgusting left over animal parts that are scraped off the filthy floors of meat and poultry plants. They should just go into the trash but they put them into pet food instead. EW!!!!

Also make sure there are no artificial colors or flavors. And make sure there is no BHA and BHT used preservatives. These preservatives have been shown to cause cancer in both cats and dogs. Bad Bad stuff and it’s in almost every cat treat on the market. :(

So, in summery of the ingredients… if you see the words by-products, Animal Digest, the word “meat” alone, Corn, Corn Gluten, Wheat Gluten, or BHA or BHT… stop reading, put down that bag and move on to the next.

Be aware that when switching to a Healthy, Holistic or Organic food, you will pay for what you get. Good foods are not cheap. They are pricey and will cost you on a per bag basis much more. Just like steak costs more than hotdogs. But again, you will be feeding a better food and improving the over all health of your pet. Which in turn leads to less vet visits for illness now and more importantly later in life in their Geriatric years. You will also feed less of this food on a per animal basis because a smaller amount of food contains what your cat needs. Overall healthy foods are well worth it, if only for the piece of mind that the ingredients are safer.

What are some good foods I recommend? I feed my cats Drs. Foster and Smith Holistic Adult Lite Dry cat food along with a mix of Wellness Dry. I also feed Merrick Canned.

I purchase Drs. Foster and Smith online and have it automatically delivered to my door so I never run out and never have to go get it. It’s one of the best foods on the market and has no “fillers” in it. It is also very reasonably priced compared to other holistic foods. And when you’re feeding as many cats as I am, price is as important as ingredients. If you can't afford it, you can't feed it. So buy the highest quality you can and feel good that you are doing the absolute best you can for your pet.

If you want to buy in a store, Complete Petmart is a good store and carries quite a few natural, organic, and holistic blends. Also check with your local feed stores. Old Mother Hubbard Wellness Brand is a great holistic food I feed. As is Eagle Pack Dry Cat food. Merrick canned is also a great source of nutrition and they will be coming out with a dry line this summer.

I highly recommend people take the time to research for themselves, but the information I have given should get you off to a good start. Good luck choosing a new food for your cats!

********IMPORTANT*******Don’t forget to switch your Pets food slowly over a period of 10 to 14 days, if you can. Mixing 25% new to 75% old. Then 50/50… then 75% new to 25% old. And finally switch over to 100% new. Take it slow as not to upset their digestive system.

Side note… Please don’t feed Iams / Eukanuba. It’s ALL fillers, byproducts, animal digest and CRAP. Read the ingredients! There is nothing good for your cat in that food. Not to mention they conduct the most appalling animal testing you have ever seen. http://www.iamscruelty.com to see the terror they create.

Foods I recommend based on personal experience -

Drs. F&S Food Link - http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2002+6000

Wellness Food Link - http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/wellness/cat_index.html

Eagle Pack Holistic Select - http://www.eaglepack.com/Pages/HS_Home.html

Merrick Foods: http://www.merrickpetcare.com/

You can find more great foods at http://www.onlynaturalpet.com





****DO NOT FEED IAMS!**** http://www.iamscruelty.com

Answer 2

If he is an outside cat, you need to make sure he is free of parasites, which might be why he looks underweight, or he could just be hungry. Most popular brands of cat food are nutritionally sound for cats. I'd use dry kitten food because you can put it in a bowl and the cat will eat as much as he needs and it is higher in calorie than regular food. Most cats don't care what it is as long as it's food, and they don't really care about variety.

Some states require certain vaccinations. When I rescue a cat I ask that the minimum of vaccinations be given at the time the cat is altered. The vet can advise you if the cat needs supplements.

Answer 3

You might want to take him to the vet even if he looks healthy. He might have Feline AIDS (which can be spread to other cats, and can seriously compromise his immune system if he isn't on pills - those sorts of cats are kinda forced to be indoor cats). If he doesn't have it, they can vaccinate him against it. You'll also want him checked out for worms in his stool (which he can pass on to you or your family). Just bag a sample if he uses a litter box, otherwise, they might have to errr.... go searching for a sample at the vet's, and they'll probably want to check him for any other signs of illness. Wild cats can also have upper respiratory infections that can turn into more serious illnesses.

As for a diet, your vet will probably recommend putting him on kitten food (high in calories for growing kitties) for a while, until he gains some weight back. You might have to feed him both an adult food and supplement with a high-calorie kitten food.

Either way, a trip to the vet now can probably save you some heartache down the line. Not to mention they can check him for a microchip to see if he belongs to someone already.

Answer 4

Honestly you should just take him to your local vet and ask them what kind of vaccines he'd need. If he's less than a year, you could probably get him a kitten chow to beef him up a bit. Just make sure you don't give him milk. A lot of cats like it but I've heard somewhere that it is not good for them. Good luck!!

Answer 5

Good for you! It's great to see someone new asking these questions.

Check out the links below. They'll tell you pretty much all you need to know. But I'll summarzie for you.

Get him to a vet for a checkup, shots, etc.

Choose a good quality commercial food - CANNED. You can always consider feeding a raw diet at another time, but you need time to research. If you start him out on a good canned food, you won't have problems getting him off the "junk food" later.

I personally feed Natural Balance venison & green pea.

Answer 6

Is it popular? particular yet that doesn't make it ok, that's no longer some thing to truthfully shrug off. you have a splash one which grew to grow to be into taken from that's mom and siblings and is in a clean ecosystem without different beings different than massive people. She misses her littermates and mom, and is each and every week too youthful to have been given away. regularly you could carry them abode at 8 weeks. verify including her plenty. Make hand touch plenty (to get rid of the finding out on up and wearing). She rather gets lonely at nighttime yet can sleep distant from you in case you have a ticking clock she would be ready to hear, and a cushty towel coated container to twist up in rather nest. The ticking feels like a heart and which will help save her calm and happier. verify you have interplay her in play and function small subject concerns she would be ready to toss and chase (yet no longer consume with the help of using twist of fate).

Answer 7

Awww.

Find some good quality cat food - tinned or dry is fine, whichever he likes. Hills Science Plan is my recommendation, but cats can be OK on most commerical cat foods (check the recall list).

Cats should be vaccinated against cat flu and enteritis at a minimum - feline leukaemia is also one that should be vaccinated against.

Chalice

Answer 8

Talk to a vet.