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What do you feed a race cat?

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Archie Heron
What do you feed a race cat?

The decision to buy a cat with a pedigree should be considered down to the smallest detail. The cost of buying an animal is only the beginning of the expense, which not everyone is aware of.

The breed cat should be provided not only with constant veterinary care (in case of illness, but also with periodic health checks and vaccinations) and often with appropriate food.

It's important to make it clear that it's extremely difficult for a cat to have a meal that meets all her needs at home. As with any other species, it's essential to have the right amount and proportion of nutrients here, too. Even with the right amount of time it's difficult to prepare a perfectly balanced home-made meal for your cat, let alone when she spends most of her time away from home.

The solution is a ready-made food available from the pet shops. Yes, in pet shops and veterinary practices. Certainly not in supermarkets - yes, the food offered there is cheap, but almost worthless, something like fast food for people. A cat is a carnivore and its diet must be based on animal protein. Meanwhile, shop cans are mainly carbohydrates and fillers, and the proportion of meat is at most a few percent.

The easiest situation is when your cat is in good health and belongs to an undemanding breed such as British, Norwegian or European shorthaired cats. They are then given a normal food which is of course adapted to their age and condition (cat, kitten, pregnant cat etc.). The state of things gets complicated when the cat belongs to a breed with specific nutritional needs. Exotic and Persian cats, for example, require a food that is shaped to take up pieces with the underside of the tongue (this is due to the characteristic structure of the muzzle). Long-haired cats must be fed with ingredients that have a positive effect on the coat and keep it in good condition.

Oriental (including Siamese) cats, on the other hand, should be fed a food that is easy to chew and provides good oral hygiene because they grasp the pieces of food with their teeth. Large breed cats such as Maine Coon can be exposed to cardiovascular and arthritis, so the diet must protect against obesity.

When a cat suffers from a condition, diet is one part of the treatment - just like humans. Hence there are commercially available cat foods for cats with kidney, liver, pancreas, allergy, anaemia, diarrhoea and so on. Unfortunately, such foods are much more expensive. There are also cat foods for healthy cats that have undergone a sterilisation or castration procedure that has a significant impact on their behaviour and nutritional requirements.

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Archie Heron
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