How to wean a cat from dry food
For health reasons of the cat or simply at the request of the owner, sometimes it becomes necessary to transfer the pet to natural food. And here it is important to know how to wean a cat from dry food correctly, so as not to harm its health and instill a love for other food. You need to change the diet gradually, and the new menu should be made up of the right products.
Knowing how to properly wean a cat from dry food, you will not harm its health.
The main mistake that cat owners make when retraining them for natural food is rushing. A sharp switch to another diet most often leads to a cat’s hunger strike. And if he nevertheless eats unusual food, this can disrupt the functioning of the digestive system. You need to translate gradually – by mixing the new food with the old. Some of the natural food should become more and more until it completely displaces “drying” from the bowl.
If there are other family members at home, you need to explain to them why it is necessary to wean the cat from “drying”. Otherwise, you will have to monitor your relatives, especially children, so that they do not secretly feed the cat with forbidden food, feeling sorry for her.
A smooth transition can take two weeks or longer. But this is the most correct and safe way for a cat.
Another mistake is to offer your cat tidbits if he refuses to eat regular dry food. If you do not plan to feed him constantly with selected turkey, then you do not need to accustom him to it during the transition from dry food. Otherwise, the cat will declare a boycott and the process will drag on for a long time.
Before weaning a cat to eat cat food, you need to think carefully about what its new diet should be, and have all the necessary products on hand.
A cat’s diet should consist of the following foods:
- proteinaceous – 60-70%. Of these, 50% are raw meat, eggs, cottage cheese, dairy products, fish (occasionally). And 20% of offal, that is, liver, heart, stomachs;
- carbohydrates – 20%. These are cereals in the form of porridge, vegetables, fruits;
- additional nutritional supplements account for 5%. It can be bone meal as a source of calcium, oils, vitamins.
Meat, offal and fish must be pre-frozen so as not to infect the pet with parasites.
Some cats, accustomed from birth to dry food, generally do not perceive other food as something edible. In such cases, you can first try to smoothly transfer the cat to wet food of industrial production: usually all animals eat it with pleasure. When there is no ready-made food in the bowl at all, you can start adding finely chopped meat, boiled vegetables, and then porridge. And so, gradually, natural food will replace industrial food.
This method is longer, but more often than not works better than abrupt replacement of “drying” with natural food.
Knowing how to wean a cat from industrial food, you can preserve its health and your nervous system.