As your cat shifts from a kitten to a fully grown adult cat, certain things and changes need to be considered to maintain your cat’s health in the best way possible. For a cat to stay healthy, you have to keep in mind all the factors such as the nutrition in healthy cat food, vaccinations, and medicines.
Raising a cat comes with a great challenge, such as maintaining health, ensuring your cat eats all the nutrition it needs, and much more. In this article, we’ll discuss all the requirements you need to check off when it comes to cat health.
As cats grow up to become adults, they may develop changes in their emotions, such as aggression, and one common way they let out their anger is through their growls. Continue reading if you need guidance on a complete checklist that will help you with cat health.
Food and Liquid Intake
To maintain cat health, you have to be extremely careful and keep in mind the healthy cat food nutrition you provide. Unlike humans, cats need a precise amount of nutrients to keep them healthy and reduce the chances of having diarrhea, diabetes, or any life-threatening disease. It should be noted that your cat’s diet changes throughout its lifetime, from kittenhood to adult to pregnancy.
Generally speaking, you should ensure that your cat eats healthy food rich in meat such as chicken, beef or fish, grains, fiber, and a controlled water ratio, so your cat does not suffer from dehydration.
Before purchasing any food item for your cat, whether it be dry food, semi moisture food, or canned food, you should check its nutritional labels and confirm that your cat isn’t consuming anything allergic or harmful to the cat’s health.
Vaccination
Besides controlling food nutrients and proportion, it is equally important to protect your cat from all sorts of diseases such as worms, rabies, and harmful viruses that can put your cat into a life-threatening scenario.
Before your cat reaches the age of maturity, you must visit your vet to ensure that it is healthy. Ensuring good cat health throughout its life is mandatory by giving rabies or feline virus vaccines.
In addition to that, it is also crucial that you regularly de-worm your cats, so they do not lose weight and have frequent hunger pangs.
Food to Give if Your Cat Has Urination Problems
Cats often develop problems in their urinary tract, which can cause extreme pain and discomfort. If not treated with the help of medicines and urinary cat food, it could be life-threatening.
One of the most common reasons cats get urinary tract infections is when bacteria reach the bladder bypassing and traveling through its urethra. The bacteria accumulate and rapidly spread to cause failure and eventually urinary tract infection.
A portion of particular urinary cat food can be formulated to improve cat health even when the cat already has a urinary tract infection.
Medicines or Homemade Treats
If you have doubts about cat products bought from markets, then one thing you could try is making your cat treats yourself. Doing this can keep you satisfied with what you are giving your cat and help reduce its chances of having diarrhea or other forms of disease.
However, you must make treats that you know your cat’s digestive system can handle. Many people make mistakes by giving their cat raw meats such as chicken or beef, but it is more damaging to the cat’s health than you may think.
Besides treats, your cat also needs medicines such as eye drops during eye infection and syrups for severe diarrhea. Regarding cat health, if you are unsure what medicines to give, you should visit your local veterinarian.
Playtime
Besides ensuring your cat eats healthy cat food and is protected from all sorts of diseases, it is also important to provide items in your household for your cat to play with. Owners often neglect their cat due to work, which could cause stress in your cat.
Even if you have maintained good cat health, your cats might still get depressed and develop aggression if not given proper attention. Hence you must make sure you spend considerable time every day with your cats, so they do not get agitated and maintain a good weight.
Importance of Healthy Diet
When your cat is supplied with a good and safe environment with proper nutrient-filled cat food, you will notice that your cat is more playful, gentle, and calm. When it comes to cat food, many owners prefer to give their cats dry, healthy cat food that contains roughly 10% of water.
Although it is a popular choice amongst cat owners due to its affordability and high nutritional value, it is better to switch from dry to semi-moist food, containing about 40%-45% water. These types of food are rich in grains, protein, and preservatives to ensure proper cat health.
Lastly, if you can, try mixing your healthy cat food menu by giving them canned foods. They have the longest shelf life and contain the highest ratio of water and proteins in the form of liver and kidneys.
Like humans, cats can also get tired of eating the same form of cat food. Hence it is good to switch from one form to another to keep them healthy.
Conclusion
Keeping an eye on your cat’s health is extremely crucial to ensure your cat is provided with all the necessary nutrients for proper growth.
Hopefully, by now, you have an idea of a checklist that you need to be aware of for the safety and health of your lovely cats.
