Isle of Arran Branch

What you feed your cat is just as important to its health and well-being as it is for us.

There are various views on whether you should feed wet (tinned) or dry (biscuits) food this is matter for you and your cat and the lifestyle you both live.

I feed my cats both wet and dry. Why? My personal view is that for cats living a domesticated life they still need to clean those teeth, (as we do!) when they eat a tinned food they are not crunching bones which keep their jaws exercised and their teeth clean. So a few biscuits with their food means they get to crunch and clean their teeth.

Wet food ensures they get 'water/moisture' whilst dry food relies on them drinking plenty of water to ensure they stay hydrated.

Remember cats are carnivores! That means they are meat eating animals. They cannot be vegetarians, no matter what your lifestyle or views, if you feed them a vegetarian diet they will die through malnutrition and lack of essential nutrients which they only gain through a meat eating diet.

Also, do not feed them dog food. Dog food has been prepared with a dog's stomach in mind, dogs can live on both vegetables and meat, indeed a dog can to a reasonable extent eat a vegetarian diet.

Kittens, pregnant and lactating queens have specific nutrional requirements and these are detailed below.

Kittens should not be fed adult food until they are at least six months old. Specially prepared kitten food is sold, which provides them with additional minerals/vitamins to help them grow.

Pregnant and lactating queens are using up stores of energy for their kittens and need vital vitamins/minerals replaced. they also need to produce milk to feed the kittens. Please do not feed ordinary cows milk! This does not agree with most cats as they are unable to digest it. You would be better giving them either goats or sheep milk, or even better still evaporated milk, for kittens this should be watered down around 50%. This is not a replacement for water which should also be given. Evaporated milk is more of a food supplement.