Elegant felines are amongst the most popular animals taken as pets. Those agile and skillful hunters are domesticated a long time ago and, since then, they have been living in company of humans. Cats have been always praised for their hunting skills.
As you surely know, in some of the greatest historical civilizations they were considered divine and worshiped along with other deities. Ancient Egyptians loved their beautiful felines so much they even mummified them and buried the same way they did for their royalty and noble citizens. In life, they were always treated with care and respect. Cats are indeed extraordinary living beings and they deserve such a royal approach for sure.
Cats are also loving and cuddly pets to many people. Just as dogs, once taken as pets, cats should also be considered new family members. Those beautiful animals need a lot of our time, love and care. They are independent by nature, but once used to new home and family, they become quite attached to their owners. It’s not so strange to hear stories about cats that rescued their dear humans from serious life threatening situations. Despite common beliefs, cats could be loyal and affectionate pets. They are never to be neglected or abandoned. If you think of getting a cat, get ready for scratched chairs, broken plates and a lot of fun!
Cats are intelligent animals. They are interested in being trained as dogs, but they would easily learn basic house rules. If you want to avoid horrors of damaged interior, you should get some interesting constructions for your playful friend to climb on and sharp its claws. A cat needs to have a space big enough to sneak around and a cozy corner to rest uninterrupted. It also needs your time and commitment. Each cat should always get the best possible medical care, regular physical activity and good nutrition plan.
Some basics on cats’ nutrition
Cats are natural hunters and meat eaters. They are not used to any food other than mean and their digestive system cannot utilize material from other types of food. There are many pop culture myths about cats’ nutrition, such as the one about milk, for example. Cats don’t need various nutrients to develop and grow healthy and strong. Their bodies crave only from animal origin proteins, meaning meat. They are not much different than their wild, big relatives. All cats are obligate carnivores and meat is what they eat.
Well, since your cat would probably live more or less sedentary life, if we talk of a city apartment pet, it won’t actually go hunting prey animals, as it would do in the wild. So, what to feed your pet to be sure it gets all the necessary nutrients? Most of veterinarians would suggest commercial cat food products. They are good, they are healthy and they are well balanced. Commercial cat food contains appropriate proportions of valuable animal origin proteins and few other important nutrients your cat needs on a daily basis. There are granules, vacuumed and canned products and all of them are good to be combined on your pet’s menu. Usually, granules are recommended to take up the most of it.
You can also prepare food at home, but most of owners usually combine granules and other commercial products with occasional homemade meals. Feeding a cat only home cooked food requires a lot of time, money and patience. That means you cannot feed a cat leftovers from your homemade food; you need to prepare food for your pet separately. Cats cannot digest any additives we eat, so avoid sugar, salt, spices, sauces, dips, all of your fatty snacks and such.
Can I give my cat some strawberries?
Cats are not interested in eating fruits. They simply don’t need any nutrients coming from fruits, like strawberries and avocados. Cats are also picky eaters, so they are not so likely to try everything in front of their noses. Cats would naturally eat only when they’re hungry.
However, cats used to humans might like to taste some food that is not on their regular menu. What about fruits, strawberries in particular? Are there any benefits from feeding your cats such fruits?
Cats’ digestive system is of a low tolerance for fruit sugar and all sweet viands in general. They have difficulties digesting it, so too much of any fruits would most likely cause them stomach pain and diarrhea. Large amounts of sugar could also make a cat obese and seriously ill of diabetes.
On the other hand, there is hardly a risk, because your beautiful feline most likely won’t be interested in trying strawberries at all. Strawberries are available in nature, but you can hardly imagine a cat or any of its big relatives eating some. Wouldn’t it be a really strange picture?
Strawberries are known for their antioxidant purposes, they contain considerable amount of vitamins and other human friendly nutrients and are low in calories. However, cat neither need an extra portion of vitamins nor they need low calorie plant food. On the other hand, they would never eat enough strawberries to feel their antioxidant benefits. If they eat that much, they will get digestion problems, as mentioned.
Strawberries are not toxic to cats, but why would you feed your cat fruits in the first place? If your cat actually shows any interest for strawberries, you can use it as an occasional treat. If so, keep to extremely small portions, bite size. Don’t serve it too frequently and avoid all strawberry preserves and sweets. Stay away from cream and milk as cats are lactose intolerant. Scrambled eggs with milk for cats are a no no.
