It’s often the case that we have to learn the hard way. I know I certainly did. I have cats now, but I used to have a dog called Benji and I learned a lot from him and his health issues. He had congestive heart failure and died about 17 years ago. In the course of dealing with his health problems I actually discovered that a lot of what I thought I was doing right, was in fact harmful. I thought I was feeding him high quality food. I took him to see the vet regularly, and made sure he received all his shots and so on. I thought I was doing the right things – but as it happens, I wasn’t.

I eventually learned that the food I was giving him, had contributed to his health problems – even though it was one of the most popular commercial brands of food (and not even the cheapest). Although I don’t have a dog any more, I use the knowledge that I gained from that experience to help my cats . I study and learn as much as I can to help them stay healthy and to avoid health problems.

To avoid cat health problems and to keep our cats healthy and happy, we need to provide good quality food. Many cat health problems can be avoided if just by providing healthy, natural food, and people are often surprised to hear that this does not include the majority of commercial brand cat foods that are advertised and available in the supermarket. Most of that food is not only unhealthy, it’s very harmful.

Cats also need plenty of exercise and mental stimulation. Cats are intelligent. They need stimulation and activity. Indoor cats particularly need plenty of activities and exercise so they don’t become bored and inactive.

Also, a stress-free environment is very important. If your cat is being chased and harassed by children, attacked by other pets or spending a lot of time hiding out of fear, that constant level of stress can be very harmful.

When you fulfill all of your cats needs, feeding them healthy food and keeping them stimulated and stress-free you’ll probably be able to avoid most health problems. It’s worth the time and effort and you will save money as well because you won’t have expensive vet bills.

Our cats give us love and endless pleasure. The least we can do is take care of them and provide what they need.

Author: Linda Jane Binns
Source: ezinearticles.com

Obesity puts a huge strain on internal organs and greatly upsets the natural functioning of your cat’s systems.

Although there is more than one factor that contributes to this, diet is by far the most important trigger. And there are two main areas in the diet that leads to obesity.

The first area is the diet itself. Most cats are fed a processed, commercial cat food. You may think you are doing the best thing for your cat. But if you look at the (real, unlisted) ingredients of most of the commercial cat foods, you’ll find a very high fat content.

You may not be very happy to hear this, but most commercial cat food manufacturers care far more about their profit than about the health of your cat. They spend far more on an attractive packet and alluring advertising, than they do on the quality of the food.

Cheap, unhealthy ingredients are the order of the day. And fat is one of the cheapest ingredients around. But has little nutritional value, certainly not in high proportions.

You can reduce or eliminate your overweight cat health problems by switching to a quality, home made, raw meat and bones diet.

It’s not difficult, time consuming or expensive.

The second problem many cat people do is to leave food out all the time. Cats are not grazers, like horses. They are carnivores. They don’t hunt all the time. Cats tend to rest after a successful hunt, and sleep for several hours.

Carnivores tend to have a lot of unsuccessful hunts. So your cat’s digestive system is geared up to few meals rather than many. Two meals a day is perfectly adequate for all adult cats.

Too frequent meals also upsets your cat’s digestive system, causing problems here.

Author: Madeleine Innocent
Source: ezinearticles.com