Close

Table of Contents
Assist Feeding – Adding Meds to the Food
Feline Nutrition – Cheap Foods
Pro-Active Cat Care – WHOA!
Feline Obesity – “Fat Cats”

Message from the Editor
LOL! Read the Feline Nutrition topic!


Assist Feeding – Adding Meds to the Food
by Kathy Fatheree

 

If you are assist feeding your cat, more than likely you have several, if not many, medicines to give to your kitty. Pilling a cat is usually stressful to both the kitty and the caregiver. Even when my cats are good at pilling, I dread having to do it because I know they don’t enjoy it.

 

Why not skip the pilling process and add some of the medicines to the food! Potassium supplements do not have that much flavor to them, so I always crush Tumil-K and add it to the food. They even make a powered Tumil-K that is flavored so you may want to ask your vet about that. On the other hand, if you know that a pill is extremely bitter, DON’T ruin the food and the whole assist feeding experience by adding a bitter taste… pilling will be best in this case to get it over with quickly.

 

When including medicines with food, try to feed all of the food for that session so that you will know how much medicine your cat receives each day. If food is spilled and not recovered during the feeding or you are unable to feed the entire portion at one sitting, you may need to pill critical medicines like heart medications.

 

Ask your veterinarian which medicines can be given with food, and make both your life and your kitty’s feeding time a little less stressful by including those meds in the food.


Feline Nutrition – Cheap Foods
by Garry White

 

Some people put their foot in their mouth occasionally, but me; I just change feet. Seems like I’ve always got one in there. I tell Kathy-what’s-her-name, our editor, “Look, I’m tired of being at the bottom of the Newsletter all the time!” She ponders this for quite some time (four or five seconds, as I recall), nods almost imperceptibly, and replies: “Why, of course, Garry; you’re absolutely right! How thoughtless of me; your work should be at the top of the Newsletter, by golly!” Will I never learn? Why didn’t I tell the Michael Jordan Nikes to head West, or South…..but did I? No, I didn’t; I jumped with glee, certain that ProActive Cat Care will be the first thing you folks see from now on…and it’s about time! Luckily I didn’t jump too high, because immediately she smiles (demurely, I add) and says (softly): “So…from now on, you can write our weekly Feline Nutrition topic which, naturally, is at the top.” I felt like I had been shot with a brand new bullet! I asked for top billing, she gave it with such grace…how could I possibly complain?

 

Anyway, here we are, you and I. You know, I can make this real easy on all of us: Feed Fluffy well and she’ll live forever! There. Said and done. But I suppose if I try to get away with that, I’ll lose my top billing, so I guess we’d better try a little harder.

 

Okay, we have to make an effort, so let’s talk about something of significance. Let’s venture off into the world of high vs low quality cat foods, and see where we end up…we gotta start somewhere, right?

 

In future issues, we’ll go very deep in pursuing the technical differences between cheap cat food and that of quality, but for now, I want us to see it from a common sense angle. We get what we pay for, it’s as simple as that. There are no brand new $7,000 Cadillac’s out there, and there are no cheap cats foods that are good for Fluffy. Since Kathy-what’s-her-name caught me by surprise, I am somewhat unprepared, here, but soon I will provide us with comparison charts, and you’ll be shocked at what you see. Cheaper foods are mostly by-product, grains, corn, and other fillers. And while some of these components are necessary for Fluffy’s nutritional balance (in the right proportions), the reasoning behind cheap food is simple: If you’re gonna sell it cheap, ya gotta make it cheap. Plenty of fats, broths with sodium, gravies loaded with carbohydrates, phosphates, ash…all the things that taste great, and all the things that assure medical problems down the road.

This issue is primarily for us to meet, and for you to know that I’ll be handling Feline Nutrition from now on…so we won’t get too technical today. But next issue, hang onto your socks: We’ll take a very hard look at two off-the shelf foods; we’ll see what they’re made of and how they affect Fluffy’s longevity. Also in future issues, we’ll discuss foods intended for (and not for) specific ailments, raw foods (pros and cons), designer foods, niche foods (such as diet foods), and even holistic foods. But for now, have a good week, and know that I’ll be tough on you, and know why: My goal, my only goal, is to help assure that Fluffy is with you for a very, very long time. You’ll hear me say often that “diet is everything”, and together we’ll learn how true those words are.


ProActive Cat Care – WHOA!
by Garry White

 

To date, we’ve covered a lot of ground in this Newsletter, and here at ProActive Care I’d like to give you the opportunity to have some say in the agenda. We’ve talked about many issues, some of which are quite complex, and we certainly don’t want your flabber to become gasted, do we? No, we do not. So this week you get to speak up and tell us if you’d like to see more in-depth discussion on topics of specific interest.

 

This is important, folks, because our goal is to provide you with serious, helpful information that you can actually use, and you can help us achieve that.

 

NOTE: If you’d like to read back-issues of the Newsletter before going on to the form, Kathy has so kindly and professionally compiled them at:

Caring for Cats Newsletter Back Issues

Aw, heck…this was supposed to be “I want feedback” week, but I feel obligated to say at least something about proactive care:

 

A quick-fix for feline diarrhea is 1cc of Immodium AD, three times a day. If the diarrhea persists beyond 48 hours, Fluffy needs to see the vet.

 

Diet Caution: Remember that most domesticated cats originated in the Far East, which means desert, which means lots and lots of sand. Far as I know, fish don’t live in sand, so let’s just assume that Fluffy’s basic system evolved around a subsistence of bugs, rodents, and birds. So, while she may dearly love the taste of fish, consider it the same as with me and good Bourbon: A little is okay, but too much is not a good thing.

 

There… now I feel better.


Feline Obesity – “Fat Cats”
by Jean Hofve, DVM

This week we are featuring a tidbit from a book by Dr. Jean Hofve, DVM.

Dr. Hofve writes:

 

While nutritionists simplify obesity as a matter of “too many calories in and too few calories expended,” it is obviously not that simple. Obesity is a symptom of a systemic imbalance, basically a disease state. Dieting (starving) a cat down to his “ideal” weight does not address the cause of the problem. Common contributors to obesity include:

 

  • In a multi-cat household, when one cat goes to the food bowl, curiosity or the competitive instinct may cause another cat to investigate and, while she’s there, take a few nibbles. Enough nibbles over time can create a big problem!
  • Boredom also plays a role. Cats who are home alone all day may eat just for something pleasurable to do. Spending quality time with your cat, particularly using play therapy sessions, will be a crucial part of a weight loss program.
  • Former stray cats who have had to struggle to survive on the streets may have significant “food issues,” and will often become overweight if food is constantly available.
  •  

Next week, we will read more from Dr. Hofve.

Disclaimer: Kathy Fatheree is not at all a medical expert. Contents of this web site are a collection of Kathy’s assist feeding experiences as well as the experiences of other cat owners who have assist fed their cats. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information, Kathy Fatheree or anyone associated with this web site cannot be held responsible for anything that may happen as a result of using the information on this site.