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Cat Owners
shanyin
Novice YoginSault Ontario Veteran
I got a cat. She's 1. There is clearly some people who think that cats should only be fed wet food. Is that true? I talked to someone today at the pet food store and she said to only feed her dry food. I'm confused. I guess my best bet would be to ask a vet.
Anyway, she is totally awsome! She snuggles me alot when we go to sleep.
6
Comments
Our cat was recently diagnosed with diabetes. Much of what I've read seems to be in the camp of wet food only (for diabetic and non-diabetic cats alike), because dry food is so high in carbs. We still feed him both wet food and dry food, because that's what he's used to. We had a hard time getting him to eat anything after we first adopted him, and we had to tube-feed him for over two months. We were so happy when he started eating on his own, we didn't really care that he wasn't on a solely wet diet.
We're still in the first stages of learning to deal with his diabetes, and maybe we'll have to try and get him on a wet-only diet eventually. We'll see.
Our previous cat lived on dry food only until she was fourteen, when we took her in. We started to feed her some wet food when we had to give her medication for hyperthyroidism a few years later. (It was much easier to crush the medication and mix it in with some wet food than it was to try and get her to swallow pills.) She lived to the age of 21.
So, it is possible that a cat can have a relatively long and healthy life on a solely dry or a dry/wet diet. If I had a cat as young as your's though, I'd consider trying a wet-only diet if you can manage to feed her about 3 or 4 times a day. It might be difficult to feed enough wet food in only one or two feedings a day to meet a cat's daily calorie requirements, and sometimes cats will only eat a certain amount of food until they are full, and won't touch wet food if it's been sitting out more than a couple of hours. That's why we feed wet and leave dry out for our cat.
That's my experience. Others may tell you differently.
All the best wishes for a long and happy relationship with your new feline friend.
I've owned cats (usually one at a time) and every cat owner I ever knew fed them both for variety and the fact (apparently) that some dry foods can cause internal problems - kidney problems, I believe. You're enjoying your pet and that's good, but you're going to spoil the little darling if you're not careful. Let the cat be the fussy one and feed her whatever you think sounds good - read the ingredients and sure, ask a vet what they think. Did you get her fixed (spayed) yet? What's her name?
My cat has long hair and gets hair balls easily..which often means throwing up.
When I feed her wet food (that has an oil base) she seems to get less hair balls.
Most Vets I've talked to just recommend a varied diet....like doctors do for us..
I guess the wet , dry or both, question might depend if you think there diet should reflect their evolutionary development or the artificial or domesticated lifestyle that most currently have now.
I suppose I am spoiling my cat. I give her access to outside, feed her treats almost everyday.
@Walker
I feed my cat one can of wet food a day. She's only 1 years old so she doesn't need much more than that according to the instructions. I just leave it out for her. But I have 1 and a half bags of kibble that I stopped using once I read that it's important to feed cats wet only, for example:
consciouscat.net/2012/03/22/the-best-food-for-your-cat/
'One' what a great name for a cat
We were able to get freshly made cat food at a local market, mostly made from offal I believe. All I know is some commercial cat foods contain caffeine to keep cats hyperactive kitten like and addicted to particular brands. Which is rather naughty. So carry on researching.
Good luck ...
http://www.dharmathecat.com/
If she's eating what you put out, and not just letting it sit, I don't see any problem.
Since my wife was a cat person (not me) I can tell you that the cat will decide what he or she is willing to eat and you won't have much say in it. She had cats that would only eat dry food, but only one brand, and cats that refused to touch dry food and would let it sit in the bowl for days while following us around complaining.
I always go with "ask the vet" but do what makes sense for your cat/pet. We can't have cats, but I had them growing up and they ate a variety of wet and dry food and then had things like plain chicken, tuna, and other real food. We do the same with our dog which was also recommended by the vet. 30% of her food is "people" food. But things like meat, veggies and some fruits and yogurt.
@Cinorjer my cat seems to like wet and dry food.
LOL! Well of course cats continue to confound me. I have 3 rescued dogs but never met a cat that would do more than sit and stare at me until I felt like a mouse.
I have 3 cats, 8, 7 and 2. I feed them both dry and wet food, but the dry food is free of grains and high in proteins from meat. The wet is good chicken. Cats are carnivores. It's more expensive, but I refuse to feed my cats cheap food. I even let them graze on it. None of them have ever had any weight problems, and all are energetic.
Black Cat
by Rilke
A ghost, though invisible, still is like a place
your sight can knock on, echoing; but here
within this thick black pelt, your strongest gaze
will be absorbed and utterly disappear:
just as a raving madman, when nothing else
can ease him, charges into his dark night
howling, pounds on the padded wall, and feels
the rage being taken in and pacified.
She seems to hide all looks that have ever fallen
into her, so that, like an audience,
she can look them over, menacing and sullen,
and curl to sleep with them. But all at once
as if awakened, she turns her face to yours;
and with a shock, you see yourself, tiny,
inside the golden amber of her eyeballs
suspended, like a prehistoric fly.
This poem came to mind, @Cinorjer, when you made that delightful quip.
Congrats on getting a kitty they are amazing creatures. I love my cat, ive had her for 3 years I think and my eyes still light up whenever I see her. Make sure you give her lots of attention because they can grow up to be grumpy and anti-social otherwise. We have a different relationship to cats as we do with dogs. Dogs I dont like the idea of lugging them around on leads because you think they might run away otherwise. Cats we can trust to come back, it a mutual companionship. We give them food they give us company. They can leave if they want but they dont (most of the time).
I let my cat outside. I hope she always comes back.
Glad to hear you are finding some companionship with the little furball! I had an awesome cat growing up. I hope some day to be in a situation to have one again. A lot of people don't like cats but they don't understand them, or else they have only met anti-social cats (a lot of them do exist). I hope some cat won't judge me based on his previous experiences with anti-social humans.
I often hear people who adopt cats being required to sign an agreement that they will not let the cat outside. I think they cite bird conservation as their reasoning. This seems cruel to the cat. They didn't choose their hunting instincts or to be born into a cat-domesticating human society that has encroached upon ever conceivable corner of the earth. And it's pretty hypocritical for us to say that cats can't go outside because they're a danger to the wildlife while we just trample all over the wildlife like we've been doing for thousands of years. Also, if cats are allowed to hunt their natural prey, they will get the nutrition that they need.
In my experience, cats that are always kept inside start to go a little nutty. Cats that are allowed outside tend to have a more well-balanced personality. They are less high strung and more cuddly when they are home. Giving them the choice to come and go as they please makes them feel less like prisoners and more like willing companions.
There is a really interesting BBC documentary that I watched the first episode of. There is a segment about a cat who decided to start looking for other places to live, and why.
The documentary is really well done. Here is the first episode, if you're interested.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x29avur_cat-watch-2014-the-new-horizon-experiment-e01-a-cat-s-eye-view_animals
And here's an obligatory funny cat photo:
We let our cat go in our fenced back yard. The fence is too high for him to jump /climb over. When he's out front, we're always with him, and we'll put him on a harness and leash. There are other cats running around our neighbourhood, and the traffic can go pretty fast down the street sometimes. We think that's a decent compromise in letting him get some outside time while keeping hime safe.
"In ancient times, cats were worshiped as gods; they have not forgotten this."
Terry Pratchett.
There's a cool thing about cats I learned recently.
A cats terminal velocity is fairly low (60mph) and when they reach it their instinct is to relax which makes for a better landing and causes them to spread out some reducing their speed a little. So cats have a pretty good chance of not only surviving but being relatively unharmed when falling from any height.
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/11/domestic-cats-can-fall-from-any-height-with-a-remarkable-survival-rate/
Oh Lord, as a boy my buddies and I wanted to know if cats really did land on their feet so I grabbed one of the barn cats, climbed onto the roof of the shed, and tried to drop it upside down so we could verify. What I learned is that cats don't like being held upside down and you letting go of them from that height. Darn cat scratched my arms bloody grabbing hold and hanging on for dear life when I tried to let go. We never did learn if cats land on their feet and that iodine mom used back then stung like anything.
Is it good karma to keep cats?
Cats and other animals are just like people because they all have personalities and some are good and some aren't. And if you take good care of them either way, I feel it is good karma.
=^,,^=
I've read conflicting views on keeping pets, mostly to do with attachment issues and some more esoteric views relating to them being from the lower realms. However my view is that it can be an act of huge kindness and compassion, especially adopting from a rescue centre.
Dogs can also teach us much about attachment to material goods, by chewing our favourite shoes or book when we are not looking!
Cats (and pets in general) can be a good way to develop Buddhist qualities like affection, patience, humility.
Cats usually keep us.
Question: A dog will poop in its own back yard. Cats avoid their own back yards and always come into mine instead.
So would a water pistol be deemed karmic Consequence for the Kitty Cat?
Yes, a water pistol is very effective, now I just have to pick mine up and there is a flurry of guilty-looking cats scarpering over the fences to poo elsewhere. More humane than laying a minefield too.
The neighbour we use to live next door to, used to use his son's high-powered mega-whooshing water-gun - it could cover a distance of 40 feet, easily! He used to delight in waiting until the cat was just perching ready to 'drop'... and then hit them with a sharp burst of cold water... he theorised that the impact of cold water affected the sphincter so abruptly, they probably couldn't 'go' for a week...!
Good question.
I would think it depends on the circumstances and reasons for doing so. Some people hoard cats, for example, so that would obviously be a projection of some deep suffering that in turn causes suffering to the cats.
I think that's different from rescuing abandoned or homeless cats that would otherwise likely be killed or suffer. We can pay close attention to what needs a cats has: a degree of privacy, room, accessible food and water, play time, places to climb, windows, etc.
Here in the states, cat overpopulation within human environments is a big problem.
My family has three cats now. Kiki, who is 15, Silverado (one of the four in Kiki's litter that we kept) who is going to be 13 in October, and Spiffy, who my dad found as a month or so old kitten wandering about his hotel's parking lot.
When Kiki and Silver were younger, they ate only wet food. At some point we switched them to dry, and now they're back on wet. The older two are pretty fat. One because she's old and lives to eat and nap these days, and the other because he's a pig of a cat, but my favorite.
Spiffy is a bit of a nut, and rather different from the others. He's absurdly long, but not as husky as Silverado. Harasses the other cats way too much (not as much as he used to) and doesn't like to be pet as much as the others, but he's alright in his own way.
I just read this on Facebook. I laughed like a drain...
Many cats use our garden as their sanctuary. We don't harm them, neither do we feed them
My Kitty likes to keeps tabs on her weight. She has aspirations of modelling.
my sister keeps two himalayans (fluffy!!
) at her home. They are surprisingly snuggly. It's kind of adorable. Recently the house acquired a mouse and the cats could care less. I guess the chic-type cats don't go for that sort of thing. 
She feeds them on dry food except for special occasions. They seem quite healthy. On the other hand, a cat I watch periodically is fed a solely wet diet and is a little porker. He seems well though, if a bit fat. 