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My kitty like veggies for a treat



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 8th 06, 10:36 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
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Default My kitty like veggies for a treat

I didn't expect my cat to be vegetarian, but she loves cooked veggies,
especially the green ones.

She still eats her meat-based kitty crunchies for the main part of her
diet.

She just turned her nose up at cooked shrimp. She won't eat cooked
meats or seafood and she won't eat wet catfood. I've tried everything,
so now it's time I stopped wasting my money on things she won't eat,
and I don't eat meat either.

I guess this gives me a clue as to where she lived when she was a
kitten, as I did not bring her up this way, and I did not mean for her
to follow my own diet.

Of course I don't eat the kitty crunchies! LOL

~Melanie

  #2  
Old January 9th 06, 04:00 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
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Default My kitty like veggies for a treat

I had a cat who loved broccoli.

  #3  
Old January 9th 06, 07:40 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
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Default My kitty like veggies for a treat


wrote in message
oups.com...
I had a cat who loved broccoli.

BEWARE OF AN ALL VEGETABLE DIET
As for vegetarian diets, cats require the aminosulfonic acid taurine, which
is unavailable in natural vegetable except for trace concentrations in some
plant sources like pumpkin seeds; not enough to do a cat any good. Lack of
taurine can cause blindness or even death by cardiomyopathy. There are also
a few other similar nutrients, such as arachidonic acid (a fatty acid only
found in animals), but taurine is the most widely known.


http://www.fanciers.com/cat-faqs/general-care.shtml
Cat Food and Diets
Premium cat food
Although more expensive than average brands, these foods are often better
for your cat. They are low-bulk, which means that cats will digest more of
the food, thus eating and eliminating less. They contain little or no dyes,
which can be important if your cat vomits regularly (easier to clean up);
probably also good from a diet viewpoint.
Examples of these kind of brands include (but are not limited to) Hill's
Science Diet, Iams, Wysong, Nature's Recipe (Optimum Feline), and Purina
(One). These foods are also beneficial for the cats coats and many readers
have attested to their cat's silky fur and good health on these diets.

Cat food composition
The Guaranteed Crude analysis provides more nutrition info than you can get
on the vast majority of human foods. If you want more, ask the vendor. E.g.
Purina is 800-345-5678. Any major commercial cat food is formulated with
either natural ingredients (including meat byproducts which supply nutrients
to cats that meat itself doesn't since cats in the wild eat the whole
animal) or are supplemented with the required nutrients to make them
balanced diets for cats.
Wet foods
Canned foods contain quite a bit of water. It is expensive. Tartar build-up
may be a problem. Smell (of the food, the cat's breath, or the cat's feces)
and gas may be a problem. The food can spoil quickly. The dishes will have
to be washed every day. Stools will be softer. On the other hand, cats that
have medical conditions requiring higher water intake may benefit from the
water in these products.
Dry foods
Cats will require more water on this kind of diet, but tartar-buildup may be
lessened as a result of crunching on the kibble. Generally less expensive
and less smelly. Dishes will remain clean and food will not build up nor
spoil quickly. Stools will be firmer.
Moist foods
These are "soft kibble". The benefits are difficult to ascertain. They are
more appealing to humans than anything else. There is no anti-tartar benefit
and not much difference from canned food. They are fairly expensive. A lot
of dye is typically used, which makes vomit very stain prone. Some are
actually bad for your cat: proylene glycol found in these products (as a
preservative) can damage red blood cells and sensitize the cats to other
things as well. (Source: August 1992 edition of Cats Magazine.)
Snack foods
Many snack products are out there for cats. Most are fine as supplemental
feeding, but of course they should never take place of regular food. Try to
use treats that are nutritionally balanced so as to minimize any disruption
in your cat's overall diet. Treats like dried liver, which are not balanced
food, should be used sparingly. In addition, these products can be useful in
training.
Milk
Most adult cats are lactose intolerant and drinking milk will give them
diarrhea. Otherwise, milk is a nutritious snack.
Cream is even better than milk -- most cats can handle the butterfat just
fine and it's good for them. A small serving of cream will satisfy the cat
more than a saucer of milk and will contain less lactose.

Homemade Food
Check Frazier's The New Natural Cat. She gives a number of recipies and
general information on making your own cat food and on what foods are good
for sick cats.
A number of cat books contain recipies for making your own kitty treats.
These can be fun to make and give to your cat.

People Food
It is a poor idea to feed cats table scraps or food from your own meals.
First, table scraps do not meet your cat's nutritional needs and only add
unneeded calories or undigestibles to its diet. Second, you risk having your
cat become a major nuisance when you are eating. Stick with prepared cat
treats. Any food you give it should be placed in its food dish, or you can
give it treats as long as you are not eating or preparing your own food.
That said, there is a pretty wide variety of food that cats will eat and
enjoy. Rec.pets.cats abounds with "weird food" stories ranging from peanut
butter to marshmallows.

Cat Grass
Cats benefit from some vegetable matter in their diet. When devouring prey,
the intestines, along with anything in them, will also be eaten. Many owners
grow some grass for their cats to munch on, both for a healthy diet, and to
distract them from other household plants!
In general, seeds that are OK to grow and give to your cats (but do not use
treated seeds, identifiable by a dyed red, blue or awful green color):

a.. oats (cheap, easy, big)
b.. wheat (not wheatgrass)
c.. Japanese barnyard millet,
d.. bluegrass
e.. fescue
f.. rye (but beware of ergot, which is a fungal infection and produces
LSD-like chemicals),
g.. ryegrass (annual ryegrass is cheap and easy to grow, but small),
h.. alfalfa sprouts or bean sprouts in SMALL amounts (these have anti-
protein compounds that reduce the protein value of other things fed to the
animal -- or human!)
Seeds that are NOT okay: sorghum or sudangrass, which have cyanogenic
glycosides, and can cause cyanide poisoning. These are commonly found in
bird seed and look like smallish white, yellow, orangish, or reddish BB's,
or the shiny black, yellow or straw colored glumes may be intact.
Dog food
Dog food is not suitable for cats since it does not have the correct balance
of nutrients. Cats need much more fat and protein than dogs do and will
become seriously ill if fed dog food for an extended period of time.
Ash
"Ash" in cat food is the inorganic mineral content left over when the
organic portion has been removed. It generally consists of potassium,
magnesium, and sodium salts, along with smaller amounts of other minerals.
It used to be thought that the total "ash" content of food contributed to
FUS, but recently, attention has focused on magnesium as the culprit. Many
commercial foods now list the magnesium content as a separate item in the
list of nutrients on the bag, box, or can.
Feeding Schedules
You can feed your cat in one of two ways. One is to put down a set amount of
food at specific times of the day. This is necessary if the food will spoil
(canned food, for example) or if your cat will overeat. Some cats *do*
overeat, do not be surprised if this is your situation. Put it on a fixed
schedule to avoid weight problems. Do *not* assume a cat will only eat what
it needs: if it starts putting on too much weight (check with your vet),
give it two feedings a day, putting down half the recommended daily amount
each time. The other method (called "free-feeding") is to leave food
available all the time. The food must be dry to avoid spoilage. There is no
preference between the two; it will depend on your cat and the food you give
it.
Special Diets (incl. vegetarian diets)
You may need to change your cat's diet for any number of reasons. Often, you
will find that your cat refuses the new food. Don't worry. Leave food out
and keep it fresh until your cat is hungry enough to eat it. Your cat will
not be harmed by several days of low food intake: as a carnivore, it is
biologically adapted to going without food for several days between kills.
If you give in to its refusal to eat the provided food, your cat has just
trained *you* to feed it what it wants.
If you need to decrease the total amount of food the cat normally eats, the
best way to do this is to reduce the amount of food gradually. This way, you
don't have an upset cat after its meal.

If you have a cat that bolts its food down (and throws it back up), you can
slow its eating down by placing several one to two inch diameter clean rocks
in its food bowl. Picking the food out will slow it down. Be sure the rocks
aren't so small it could eat them by accident.

If you have multiple cats, and one of them requires special food (from
medical to weight-loss diets), then you must go to a fixed feeding schedule
to ensure that that cat not only gets the food, but doesn't get any other
food. If you have been free-feeding, switch them over. Don't put out any
food the first morning; that evening, put out the dishes and supervise the
cats. They will most likely be hungry and eat most of the food. Take the
dishes up after 1/2 hour or so and wait until morning. Thereafter, remain on
the morning/night- or even just night- scheduled feedings and your cats will
adapt quickly enough. If you have trouble with one cat finishing quickly and
going over to feed on other cats' food, you will have to put them in
separate rooms while feeding.

As for vegetarian diets, cats require the aminosulfonic acid taurine, which
is unavailable in natural vegetable except for trace concentrations in some
plant sources like pumpkin seeds; not enough to do a cat any good. Lack of
taurine can cause blindness or even death by cardiomyopathy. There are also
a few other similar nutrients, such as arachidonic acid (a fatty acid only
found in animals), but taurine is the most widely known.

Some small manufacturers claim to have produced synthetically-based
supplements that when combined with an appropriately balanced all-vegetable
diet will provide the complete nutrition required by cats.

No one has been able to find studies which demonstrate that cats which eat
such a diet over the long term stay healthy.

Some references (books, articles, and mail-order companies) are included at
the end of the


  #4  
Old January 10th 06, 07:41 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
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Default My kitty like veggies for a treat


NMR wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...
I had a cat who loved broccoli.

BEWARE OF AN ALL VEGETABLE DIET
As for vegetarian diets, cats require the aminosulfonic acid taurine, which
is unavailable in natural vegetable except for trace concentrations in some
plant sources like pumpkin seeds; not enough to do a cat any good. Lack of
taurine can cause blindness or even death by cardiomyopathy. There are also
a few other similar nutrients, such as arachidonic acid (a fatty acid only
found in animals), but taurine is the most widely known.


I'm glad you posted this. I get so upset with people who think cats
should be fed a vegetarian diet. Cats are not humans, are obligate
carnivores and have very specific needs.

  #5  
Old January 11th 06, 05:35 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
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Default My kitty like veggies for a treat

wrote:

I had a cat who loved broccoli.

mine loves raw spinach

  #6  
Old January 11th 06, 06:38 PM posted to rec.pets.cats.health+behav
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Default My kitty like veggies for a treat


Shardonay wrote:
wrote:

I had a cat who loved broccoli.

mine loves raw spinach


My cats are on a homemade raw diet and they do get a small amount of
minced veggies in their food. But they won't eat the veggies by
themselves.

 




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