But first, a sweet picture of the boy kitties, Reishi and Taku cuddling on the couch. They are the cutest!!
Back to kitty alimentation: When I was a new cat mom I took diet very seriously. My first cat, Kisu, ate mostly chicken which I prepared myself. And when my three kitties were young I prepared all kinds of meals for them. In the last few years, however, I have moved into full time work and a building project that takes me out of the house many hours a day. For simplicity's sake I ended up feeding the cats a diet of high-quality dry food twice a day.
Then, I was inundated with TikTok videos informing me of how bad a dry-food diet is for their digestive system and urinary tract. It seems that cats should consume the majority of their liquids via their meals and frequently visiting the water bowl is not a good sign.
Many of the resources I have been looking at have encouraged a varied diet that also includes a specific list of vegetables that promote water intake and healthy digestion. And so, I am undertaking the task of making at least one of their meals every day, and when possible both of their meals, a wet-food meal. For the most part this meal is boiled chicken and sometimes half chicken and half pumpkin, which is recommended for cats and a vegetable that I grow organically in my garden.
Where I live there aren't a lot of resources for cats. Many people don't even let their cats sleep indoors and buying them specific food is an afterthought. Our local pet store only stocks low-grade dry food and no canned/wet food at all. I might order a few cans online for my partner to keep up the regiment when I am gone but, for the most part, I am alternating between lightly boiled chicken and a combination of chicken breast and cat-friendly veggies.
Pumpkin is one such veggie. But, I must admit, the cats very often turn their nose up at it, picking out the chicken in the bowl. Sometimes they circle back an hour later, see that there really isn't anything else and eat whatever remains in the bowl. Fortunately the chicken they eat with great enthusiasm! I know that cat's can't survive on vegetables alone and would never try to make them. I also know that they hunt mice that are abundant in the fields and forest which is really the best kind of fresh food they can get. Tomorrow is my big shopping day for the week and I want to try to get my hands of fish, if possible, and see how that goes!
Do you feed your cats a fresh or raw food diet? Are there any vegetables that your cats seem to enjoy?
Now I know why I recently saw a cat drinking so much water after eating cat food pellets.
What about mixing pumpkin and chicken to make a puree?
Do you think they would eat that?
Exactly! I used to think drinking a lot of water was a good sign but aparently not! And that is a really good idea about mixing thr two together, I will give thst a try!
It's lovely to see kitties that eat pumpkins! My kitties love raw meat, so I always slice a portion for them every time I cook. One loves eggs so much that he meows as soon as he hears you crack an egg. Fresh grass and cucumber seem okay for them; they don't like other veggies. I have dry food as a backup. My mum's kitties in the Philippines will eat anything, from rice to veggies! 😊💗
Oh right! Eggs! I am going to start giving them eggs again but I had totally forgotten about that. What types of raw meat do you give them? Thanks so much for sharing yout experience with me!!
Did the tree kitten didn't get use to yhe dry food? One of our cat get used to it that it doesn't eat anything other than cat food. As for out other cat, Wiswis eat veggies, chicken and pork while Kikay eat anything with rice, while the rest just love cat food more. They just got use to it now.
One of my cats prefers the dry cat food but will eat a bit of chicken. The other two love chicken and eat a bit fo veggies. It is interesting how cats have such different tastes and that you experienced something similar. Thanks for sharing your experience with me 💚🐈
I never knew cats would eat pumpkin or veggies! I thought mine was weird for eating coliflower
Wow that is interesting that your cat love coliflor! Cats should certainly eat mostly meat though certain vegetables are beneficial to their digestion. I will be honest, my cats prefer meat over anything else.