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From the store or “normal food”? The best way to feed your pet
Our expert, the chief veterinarian of the Zoodoctor veterinary clinic, Irina Voronkova, said what is more useful for our pets.
Some cat owners advocate ready-made food from the store, while others believe that there is nothing better than fish or chicken cooked with their own hands. The wars are worse than between the Scarlet and White Rose. Who is right?
“For” food from the master’s table
1. I know exactly what I put in the bowl
A popular argument in favor of “ours” is the confidence in the lineup. They say, it’s not clear what was mixed there at the factory, but here I probably know what my favorite fluffy is eating. This is a delusion: it is impossible to find out what was added to the chicken feed, where the fish was caught and under what conditions the grain was grown. In addition, at home it is extremely difficult to provide a pet with a balanced diet, so that the amount of vitamins, minerals, nutrients is not less, but not more than the animal needs.
2. It’s natural – cats have always eaten regular food from the table
Yes, neither the wild ancestors of modern cats, nor yard animals in cities and villages ate ready-made food. But as for wild ones, they also did not eat tenderloin and chicken fillets, but caught small animals. And this is not only meat, but also by-products (internal organs), and vegetables with cereals (contents of the stomach of rodents). But this diet was far from ideal, especially given the risk of infection from a mouse or poultry. Street cats, which “do without any food”, also cannot boast of good health and longevity. The life expectancy of the courtyard Murka is a little more than three years. A domestic pet, with proper care, often celebrates its fifteenth and even twentieth birthday.
3. I do not mind wasting time with my pet
This aspect is rather from the field of psychology. Order food for guests from a restaurant or cut salads in the kitchen all evening? Give your child canned puree or chop a summer courgette in a blender? Open a bag of food or treat your pet to a carefully selected chicken fillet from the market?
In the minds of many people, homework is clearly opposed to the store, purchased. The food we have spent time on becomes an expression of love and care. Our mothers and grandmothers condemned the lazy housewives who treated the family with food from cooking, and these stereotypes did not disappear anywhere.
1. My cat gets the right amount of vitamins and minerals
The main and indisputable advantage of ready-made feeds is the balance of the composition. “A pet needs a certain amount of vitamins and minerals every day. For example, for adult cats this is 200-500 IU of vitamin A, 13-50 IU of vitamin D3, etc., literally a whole list. Kittens and mature cats have their own needs. Deficiency is fraught with a wide variety of diseases. For example, a lack of vitamin D in kittens causes rickets, and a lack of vitamin A causes skin diseases and visual impairments. Excess is no less dangerous, it also affects the health of the pet not in the best way, ”explains Irina Voronkova.
It is very difficult to provide strict dosages at home – unless, of course, you are ready to measure meat, cereals and vegetables in grams every day, referring to the table. And in the production of ready-made feed, for example, the well-known WHISKAS® brand has a rigorous technological process. In addition, well-known brands have differentiation of feed by age groups, taking into account the needs of pets: for kittens, adult animals, cats and cats over seven years old, etc. quality control.
2. On dry food, the cat will not get fat
This is true, if you follow the recommended norms for the amount of food per day, then the pet will not pick up too much, and will receive all the necessary nutrients. This is especially important when the cat is spayed. After such an intervention, animals usually get fat much faster. And it is difficult for cats to lose weight – this is a long process, which in no case can be accelerated because of the risk of harming even more.
3. It saves time
Undoubtedly. Both money and time. Two or three kilograms of dry food will be enough for any cat for a month. It will take up a little space, freeing your head from the hassle at the same time. After all, sometimes we even forget to buy food for ourselves, and even buy “cat” products …
“You shouldn’t try to combine ready-made feed with home-made delicacies,” warns Irina Voronkova. – No matter how joyfully your pet reacts to a piece of chicken after a portion of feed, this combination will not do her good. Indeed, unlike “food from the table”, the food is balanced, and the addition of any products to the diet leads to an imbalance in the pet’s body. If you really want to pamper your cat, you can buy special cat treats for him. “