Feeding Tips For Common Cat Ailments

Cat Tips-Pet Supplies for Cat illnesses and allergies.

After chatting to Becky our online Vet, I thought cat owners might want to a few offering a feeding cats and coping with common ailments.

Kidney Failure is common in older cats and causes some disturbing symptoms including excessive thirst and urination, weight loss and vomiting. If left untreated the disease will often progress rapidly, so it is vital to get any cat with suspicious symptoms checked by a vet as soon a possible.

Your vet will diagnose kidney failure using blood tests and will probably treat it using a combination of injections to help the body cope with the failing kidneys, tablets to increase blood flow to the kidneys and probably a special diet with a slightly lower level of protein than normal and much less Phosphorus.

Feeding a cat with Kidney Failure is different to feeding a healthy cat, as it is extremely important to put excess strain on the Kidneys by feeding inappropriate proteins and minerals. It's important that any protein consumed is easily digestible, leaving less waste for the kidneys to deal with. Try this simple recipe; cook 250g of potatoes until soft, and mash in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Then add 250g of 250g of boiled or fried lean chicken mince. Then add ½ a teaspoon of ground egg shell or calcium powder and mix well. Serve when cool.

As you probably know diabetes interferes with the body's ability to regulate the amount of sugar in the bloodstream and feeding a special diet is to cats is a key way of controlling the disease.

The ideal diet for a cat is high in fibre and protein, this mix is best provided in a specially formulated commercial cat food for diabetic cats. However not all cats will readily eat these foods, so it can help to give them their on supply of home cooked food to make sure diabetic cats are getting the right nutrients.

This recipe makes a puree of sweet potato and tuna, which is ideally mixed with an amount of your cat's prescription diet. The sweet potato is a great source of fibre and is known to reduce the amount of insulin required to treat the disease.

Make up a batch and store in the fridge adding a spoonful to your cats meals, it provides a great flavour and should get them eating the prescription food, as well as providing a healthy balance of nutrients. Remember to reduce the amount of cat food given by the appropriate volume; you don't want to add obesity to your cat's problems!

Dice the sweet potato without peeling and boil for about 7-8 minutes until soft. Add a can of tuna in oil and a teaspoon of All-bran or other bran cereal. Mix well and store in a fridge.
If you are tempted to start cooking home food for your cat be careful not to feed too much raw fish. This can cause a deficiency in the vitamin B so it is best to always cook fish before serving to your cat.

Terry King runs Parcel Pets [http://www.pets2home.co.uk], a leading UK pet supplies [http://www.pets2home.co.uk] web site and has had pets all his life. He lives with his wife Louise, dog Sam, Cat Sabrina and 5 fish!