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> Give Your Pet Proper Nutrition
Obesity, the most
common nutritional disease in cats and dogs, can shorten an
animal's lives significantly. While they are alive they tend
to have more chronic health problems such as heart and respiratory
ailments that simply result from poor nutrition. Too much
weight also puts a strain on legs and back muscles as well as
promotes the onset of premature arthritis -- all of which makes it
harder for the pet to get adequate exercise.
How Often and
How Much Should You Feed Your Pet
So, how much
should you feed your pet? You should consult your
veterinarian for the best answer to this question based on the
size and variety of cat or dog. A general rule of thumb,
however, is to resist making your pet's food readily available
during an entire day. Establish a set "mealtime"
for your pet. Like many people, if your pet can see food and
it is within easy reach it will probably get eaten. Also,
you should get in the habit of measuring the portions you give to
your pet at feeding time. Too often the amount of food
served up depends on who in the family is doing the feeding on a
particular day and how big the bowl happens to be at the
time. Measuring the portions maintains an important
consistency in your pet's diet.
What You Should Feed Your Pet
What you should
feed your pet is as important as how much. Whatever you do,
DO NOT feed your pet scraps from the table. "People
food" is NOT "pet food" -- especially since more
and more food intended for humans is very high in calories and
fat. People food can severely alter your pet's nutritional
intake and create the kind of health problems previously
discussed. Avoid cheap, store-brand pet foods that usually
contain excessive amounts of fillers, sugar, chemical additives,
and "meat byproducts" (code for ingredients that have
little resemblance to actual "meat"). Stay away
from "gourmet" foods packaged in tiny cans that tend to
be high in sugar. Such foods amount to little more than junk
food for animals. If you can, purchase quality pet food in a
pet supply store. If this isn't possible, buy the best
quality commercial pet food you can afford at your local grocery
store. The benefits in terms of the long-term health of your
pet and the fewer number of trips to the vet should more than
offset the cost of high-quality, nutritious food.
Provide an
Adequate Water Supply
Like humans, pets
need plenty of fresh water during the day. Change your pet's
water bowl every day -- or more often if the water bowl is
outside and evaporates quickly or is shared by other pets.
Make sure the water supply is always clean and fresh.
Hot days require more water for the animal. Water is
important to the animal's food digestion, his coat, and basically
every other system in the animal's body. If you ever have
any questions about how important fresh water is to your pet just
think about how important it is to you.
Your Cat and Dog
Like Different Kinds of Food
A cat and a dog
are two very different species of animal physically and so are
their food preferences. Most dogs, believe it or not, find
carrot juice to be quite tasty while cats won't go near the
stuff. Dogs may drink milk while cats should NEVER be given
milk -- especially when the cat gets older and is unable to digest
milk at all.
Cats need twice
as much protein on average than dogs. Therefore, a cat's
diet must be adjusted to provide a level of protein intake that a
dog's system would never need. Dry cat foods with a low ash
content are generally a good source of protein since they contain
little or no water that would otherwise dilute the protein
content. You should avoid fish-based cat foods,
especially tuna due to the high ash content which can result in a
Vitamin E deficiency. This is another reason why you should
always read the labels on pet food to be sure you are
buying genuinely nutritious food for your animal.
A cat's diet is
also different than a dogs because a cat is a strictly carnivorous
animal. In fact, a cat's system is incapable of absorbing
any nutrition from vegetables. When a cat attacks prey in
the backyard he will generally eat everything -- muscles,
bone, organs, skin, meat, etc. Even in the cat species the
diets for kittens can be very different than that for a more
mature cat.
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Don't
let your pet become obese. Much like people, obese
animals eat too much and exercise too little. Avoid
expensive vet bills to treat hormonal problems, arthritis,
heart problems, and breathing difficulties by helping your
pet maintain a proper weight for his/her size. Do some
research online or ask a vet for some advise as the proper
weight for your breed of animal. |
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Establish
a set mealtime for your pet. Do not leave food out
all day long for your pet to munch on when he gets
bored. Also, measure the portions of food given during
mealtime so as not to overfeed (or underfeed) the animal. |
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Do
not feed your pet food intended for people.
"People food", containing higher levels of fat and
sugar, can adversely effect your animals overall health by
altering his/her nutritional intake. You are not doing
your pet any favors by treating him to scraps from the
table. |
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Provide
a good supply of water for your pet. Make sure the
water bowl is changed at least once per day -- more often
depending on conditions. NEVER let your pet go without
available water for more than 6-10 hours -- especially
during the hot, summer season. |
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Cats
and dogs eat different kinds of food. Cats, for
example, need more protein than dogs, so a cat's diet
should satisfy that important nutritional requirement.
NEVER feed a cat dog food. |
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