Cats are our darlings, and just like the saints, we always want them to give them the best! But how can we eat healthily and eat correctly? Elders may say, "Cats just love to eat. Fish, just cook the fish for him to eat." "Kittens need to drink milk, feed them more." In fact, these are all wrong ideas and misunderstandings in pet diet!

1. Cats love to eat fish, so just feed them all the fish?

This is just a wrong stereotype. You must pay attention to nutritional balance when feeding cats. The advantage of choosing a single protein source is that when the cat is not accustomed to the food, it can be easier to replace and choose protein. However, when feeding healthy cats, there is no need to specifically provide fish as a protein source. After all, every cat has different dietary preferences, and not all cats may like fish. However, in order to achieve balanced nutrition, it is important not to feed only fish or other proteins as staple food without giving other nutrients such as carbohydrates and fats to avoid nutritional imbalances that may lead to diseases.

　2. Kittens should drink milk because that’s what’s shown on TV?

Cats have much less lactase in their gastrointestinal tracts than humans and cannot fully digest the lactose in milk. Therefore, it can be said that the vast majority of cats are lactose intolerant. Giving them milk may cause vomiting or diarrhea. If there are young cats at home, please follow the doctor’s advice to give them special milk powder or soft feed, chicken puree and other pet-specific food. Do not feed young cats based on your own imagination or unfounded remarks. The physical condition is still good. They are very fragile, and eating inappropriate food will put a huge burden on their gastrointestinal tract. If the furry children in your family particularly like this kind of food, you can switch to sugar-free yogurt to satisfy their cravings.

3. Cat feed is relatively expensive, just feed it dog food, it’s almost the same anyway.

NO! Although dog and cat feed looks and smells the same, the content is very different. Commercially available pet feed is specially formulated and manufactured according to the physiological needs of animals, and the nutritional ratios vary. For example, cats need taurine, but their bodies cannot produce this nutrient on their own and must obtain it from their diet. However, taurine is not specifically added to dog feed. Cats lacking this nutrient for a long time can cause blindness, It can cause heart disease and other serious health hazards; there are also vitamins B1 and B2, which are important for metabolizing carbohydrates. However, because the vitamin B complex is water-soluble and cannot be stored in the body, if it is not taken in enough in the daily diet, it will cause animal Hind limb weakness and neuropathy. Although both dogs and cats need this vitamin, cats need more than dogs, so cats will also have symptoms of vitamin B1 deficiency if they eat dog food. Furthermore, dog feed usually contains a lot of joint-maintenance and cartilage-protecting nutrients, which are unnecessary for cats. In addition, dog feed is usually too much for cats.Salty food will put a strain on the kidneys. It follows from this that giving dog food to cats is a dietary mistake with serious consequences. The same goes for not just feed, but canned food, wet food, etc. If you have dogs and cats at home, don’t treat them equally for convenience when eating. They need to be prepared individually. It is best to eat separately at different places to avoid disturbing each other. . However, if homemade jerky is given as an occasional snack reward, there is no such dietary crisis.

4. Do cats need to supplement fruits and vegetables every day to avoid being deprived of nutrients?

The main purpose of giving fruits and vegetables to pets should be to supplement fiber and vitamins. If cats are fed dry food, there is no need to supplement fruits and vegetables. If there are abnormal stool problems, or the cat itself suffers from gastrointestinal diseases, you need to ask your veterinarian to evaluate whether additional fiber supplements are needed to maintain gastrointestinal health.

5. What is the difference between staple food cans and non-staple food cans?

Staple food cans are labeled as nutritionally balanced cans, indicating that their nutritional proportions and elements meet standards and can be used as a single food source. The labels on non-staple food cans mostly focus on water and protein, lacking other nutrients, or have nutrients but in substandard proportions. Due to nutritional issues, non-staple food cans are not recommended as a single food source and must be fed with feed or staple food cans. Regardless of the staple food can or the non-staple food can, priority must be given to balanced nutrition and the pet's willingness to eat. ​​​​​​

6. Cats naturally hunt for small meals and frequent meals, and it is best to leave the feed for them to eat.

The worst disadvantage of letting pets eat Buffet at home is the problem of stale feed. The all-you-can-eat eating pattern will develop the bad habit of becoming more and more picky eaters. Cats who are extremely bored at home may even play with the food dropped on the ground as toys... let alone the all-you-can-eat diet. It will cause the weight of the big-eating furry child to skyrocket. In order for your furry child to develop good eating habits, the most important thing is to return to the fixed food and ration mode. When the feeding time is up, if the food is not eaten within about ten minutes after giving it, put it away. Let the pet understand that this time is the time to eat. If you don’t eat it, you won’t have it. In this way, not only can the pet's eating status be understood, but after a long time, they will naturally understand and develop good habits.

7. Cats are carnivores, so just feed them meat?

The so-called carnivorous animals do not only ingest pure meat when hunting small animals in the natural environment. Taking small animals as an example, when cats in the wild hunt birds, they will ingest iron, folic acid, trace elements in the blood, undigested grains in the stomach, plant seeds, etc. Therefore, it is a big mistake to mistakenly think that so-called carnivores only need to eat meat and only provide protein as their daily diet. Cats just have a higher demand for protein than grass-eating animals, and it must be high in calories and easy to digest. It is mainly protein, not just meat. Even if in the long runGiving cats a high-protein diet that exceeds their body needs may cause kidney diseases such as kidney failure and cause a burden on their bodies.

8. If fresh or canned food is not finished, it is most convenient to refrigerate it first and then reheat it.

Storing it in the refrigerator before eating can indeed slightly extend the shelf life, but after all, fresh food and canned food contain moisture and the shelf life is not as good as dry feed. If you have not finished eating, it is best not to put it in the original canned packaging and take it directly to the ice, because the metallic taste may melt into the meat, causing the cat to not like to eat it. In addition to causing the loss of nutrients, repeated heating may also cause danger, because some food materials will deteriorate after repeated heating. For example, after repeated heating of mushrooms, their composition will change, which may cause gastric bloating after consumption; potatoes may even be toxic. . Vegetables containing nitrates such as cabbage, spinach, green vegetables, water spinach and other leafy vegetables will convert the nitrate into nitrite after repeated heating, which is harmful to health.

9. Can cats eat dental bone? Is it necessary to eat dental bone?

If the cat is willing to eat dental bone cleaner, you can try to give it, but it is not necessary to give it. Teeth cleaning bones are usually hard in texture. You need to be careful that hard products can easily injure the teeth, and the size of the teeth cleaning bones after the cat bites them open may cause obstruction of the esophagus and digestive tract. In addition, even if the owner provides a dental cleaning bone to the cat, it cannot replace the dental cleaning effect that regular brushing can achieve.

10. The quality of medicines taken by humans should be relatively high. Can owners give their own medicines and health care products to their pets?

Pets and humans have different drug metabolism abilities and large body size differences. Human drugs may have other additives. For the sake of pet health, please do not let pets eat or use human drugs.