Cats seem to be always hungry. I know that before I know what has hit me, my open fridge already has my cat Neptune sprawled inside hunting for something. If not that, his twin brother Jupiter wakes me up every morning at 3, sometimes with a light slap across the face to feed him. Usually, and not to my amusement, I look at their food bowls which are full.
So, yes, cats always have food on the brain, well that – and sleep! So, what is the best and worst food to feed them?
The Dos
There is certain human food that is ok for your cats to eat, food that is actually nutritious for them. That includes food which has:
- Meat or fish protein
- Amino acids from the fish or meat
- Minerals
- Fatty acids
- Water
Now, cats get especially hungry when you are cooking, so you can always make an extra portion. This applies most when cooking chicken breasts (you want to give your cat chicken without the fat), lean beef (soft, well-cooked steak is great). You can also feed your cat chicken liver. A great way of feeding your cat chicken liver is to make it into a pate. Cook the chicken liver and when tender, cooked and soft, place it in a blender until it’s soft like cream. Give that to your cats – not too much though.
Lamb is another great option of food to feed your cats, lamb kleftiko works as well as chops – just obviously don’t give your cats the bones. Lean deli meats are ok, but not ideal as they have many preservatives keeping it fresh and apparently boiled eggs are also fine. I stay away from eggs though as I remember when Neptune was a kitten, I gave him scrambled eggs and he had such bad diarrhea from it, I honestly thought he wasn’t going to make it. A trip to the vet, lots of medicine and cuddling and he was ok.
The Don’ts
Now that you know the food that is ok for your kitties to eat, you need to know about the food that wreaks havoc on your kitty’s gut and can cause a lot of suffering and pain and unnecessary trips to the vet.
These foods include onions (cats, in general, do not enjoy the powerful scent of onions), garlic, raw eggs (which will most probably cause diarrhea), alcohol (this is an obvious one), yeast dough, raw fish, green tomatoes, potatoes, chocolate, milk products (surprisingly yes! You are not supposed to give your cats cow’s milk. When my cat Jupiter drank this, he vomited uncontrollably one evening, poor thing), caffeine as well as sweet xylitol.
Your cat’s health depends on you, so feed it the best you can and that includes the best dry food you can afford as well as wet canned food that specializes in healthy nutrition – the kind you find at your local vet. Let them eat well and enjoy a long, healthy life with you!