Your Pet Guide

Cats feed on small prey, primarily birds and rodents. Feral cats and house cats that are free-fed tend to consume many small meals in a single day, although the frequency and size of meals varies between individuals.

Cats use two hunting strategies, either stalking prey actively, or waiting in ambush until an animal comes close enough to be captured. Although it is not certain, the type of strategy used may depend on the prey species in the area, with for example, cats waiting in ambush outside burrows, but tending to actively stalk birds.

Most breeds of cat have a noted fondness for settling in high places, or perching. In the wild, a higher place may serve as a concealed site from which to hunt; domestic cats may strike prey by pouncing from such a perch as a tree branch, as does a leopard.

Other possible explanations include that height gives the cat a better observation point, allowing it to survey its territory. During a fall from a high place, a cat can reflexively twist its body and right itself using its acute sense of balance and flexibility. This is known as the cat's "righting reflex".

It always rights itself in the same way, provided it has the time to do so, during a fall. The height required for this to occur is around 90 cm (3 feet). Cats without a tail also have this ability, since a cat mostly moves its hind legs and relies on conservation of angular momentum to set up for landing, and the tail is in fact little used for this feat.

One poorly understood element of cat hunting behavior is the presentation of prey to human owners. Ethologist Paul Leyhausen proposed that cats adopt humans into their social group, and share excess kill with others in the group according to the local pecking order, in which humans are placed at or near the top.

However, anthropologist and animal scientist Desmond Morris, in his 1986 book Catwatching, suggests that when cats bring home mice or birds, they are teaching their human to hunt, or helping their human as if feeding "an elderly cat, or an inept kitten". However, this proposal is inconsistent with the fact that male cats also bring home prey, despite males having no involvement with raising kittens.

Domestic cats select food based on its temperature, smell and texture, strongly disliking chilled foods and responding most strongly to moist foods rich in amino acids, which are similar to meat.Cats may reject novel flavors (a response termed neophobia) and learn quickly to avoid foods that have tasted unpleasant in the past.

They may also avoid sugary foods and milk; since they are lactose intolerant, these sugars are not easily digested and may cause soft stools or diarrhea. They can also develop odd eating habits. Some cats like to eat or chew on other things, most commonly wool, but also plastic, paper, string, or even coal. This condition is called pica and can threaten their health, depending on the amount and toxicity of the items eaten.

Cats are known for their fastidious cleanliness, spending many hours licking their coats.The cat's tongue has backwards-facing spines about 500 micrometres long, which are called papillae. These are quite rigid as they contain keratin. These spines allow cats to groom themselves by licking their fur, with the rows of papillae acting like a hairbrush.

Some cats, particularly longhaired cats, occasionally regurgitate hairballs of fur that have collected in their stomachs from grooming. These clumps of fur are usually sausage-shaped and about two to three centimeters long. Hairballs can be prevented with remedies that ease elimination of the hair through the gut, as well as regular grooming of the coat with a comb or stiff brush.

In domestic cats, males are more likely to fight than females. In feral cats, the most common reason for cat fighting is when two males are competing to mate with a female: here most fights will be won by the heavier male.

Another possible reason for fighting in domestic cats is when the cats have difficulties in establishing a territory within a small home. Female cats will also fight over territory or to defend their kittens. Spaying females and neutering males will decrease or eliminate this behavior in many cases.

Fighting cats make themselves appear more impressive and threatening by raising their fur and arching their backs, thus increasing their apparent size. Attacks usually comprise powerful slaps to the face and body with the forepaws as well as bites, but serious damage is rare; usually the loser runs away with little more than a few scratches to the face, and perhaps the ears.

Cats will also throw themselves to the ground in a defensive posture to rake their opponent's belly with their powerful hind legs. Normally, serious injuries from fighting will be limited to infections of scratches and bites, though these can occasionally kill cats if untreated.

In addition, bites are probably the main route of transmission of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV). Sexually active males will usually be in many fights during their lives, and often have decidedly battered faces with obvious scars and cuts to the ears and nose.

Free-ranging cats are active both day and night, although they tend to be slightly more active at night. The timing of cats' activity is quite flexible and varied, which means that house cats may be more active in the morning and evening (crepuscular behavior), as a response to greater human activity at these times.


House cats have territories that vary quite a lot in size, in one study ranging from seven to 28 hectares. Although they spend the majority of their time in the vicinity of their home, they can range many hundreds of meters from this central point. Cats conserve energy by sleeping more than most animals, especially as they grow older.

The daily duration of sleep varies, usually 12–16 hours, with 13–14 being the average. Some cats can sleep as much as 20 hours in a 24-hour period. The term cat nap refers to the cat's ability to fall asleep (lightly) for a brief period and has entered the English lexicon—someone who nods off for a few minutes is said to be "taking a cat nap".

Cats are a social species, and free-living cats tend to form feral cat colonies if there is sufficient food, which are based around groups of co-operating females. Within this group one cat is usually dominant over the others. Each cat in a colony holds a distinct territory, with sexually active males having the largest territories, which are about ten times larger than those of female cats and may overlap with several females' territories.

These territories are marked by urine spraying, by rubbing objects at head height with secretions from facial glands and by defecation. Between these territories are neutral areas where cats watch and greet one another without territorial conflicts.

Outside these neutral areas, territory holders usually chase away stranger cats, at first by staring, hissing, and growling, and if that does not work, by short but noisy and violent attacks. Despite some cats cohabiting in colonies, cats do not have a social survival strategy, or a pack mentality and always hunt alone.

As part of cat sociability they use a variety of vocalizations for communication, including meowing, purring, "trilling", hissing, growling, squeaking, chirping, clicking, and grunting. Their types of body language: position of ears and tail, relaxation of whole body, kneading of paws, are all indicators of mood.

The tail and ears are particularly important social signal in cats, with a raised tail acting as a friendly greeting. Tail raising also indicates the cat's position in the group's social hierarchy, with dominant individuals raising their tails less often than subordinate animals.

Nose-touching is also a common greeting and may be followed by social grooming, which is solicited by one of the cats raising and tilting its head. However, some pet cats are poorly socialized. In particular older cats may show aggressiveness towards newly-arrived kittens, which may include biting and scratching; this type of behavior is known as Feline Asocial Aggression.

For cats, life in proximity with humans (and other animals kept by humans) amounts to a "symbiotic social adaptation". They may express great affection towards their human companions, especially if they imprint on them at a very young age and are treated with consistent affection.

It has been suggested that, ethologically, the human keeper of a cat functions as a sort of surrogate for the cat's mother, and that adult domestic cats live their lives in a kind of extended kittenhood, a form of behavioral neoteny.

In captivity, indoor cats typically live 14 to 20 years, although the oldest known cat, Creme Puff, lived to age 38. Some say that domesticated cats tend to live longer if they are not permitted to go outdoors (reducing the risk of injury from fights or accidents and exposure to diseases).

However, this is not always necessarily true, because a cat kept indoors is more inclined to have a shortened life due to obesity (sometimes leading to heart problems and diabetes) and lack of exercise. Having a cat be neutered, however, is almost universally regarded as a health benefit.

Some benefits of neutering are that castrated males cannot develop testicular cancer, spayed females cannot develop uterine or ovarian cancer, and both have a reduced risk of mammary cancer. The lifespan of feral cats is hard to determine accurately, although one study reported a median age of 4.7 years, with a range between 0 to 10 years.

Cats can suffer from a wide range of health problems, including infectious diseases, parasites, injuries and chronic disease. Vaccinations are available for many of these diseases, and domestic cats are regularly given treatments to eliminate parasites such as worms and fleas.

In addition to obvious dangers such as rodenticides, insecticides and weed killers, cats may be poisoned by many chemicals that are usually considered safe. This is because their livers are less effective at some forms of detoxification than those of other animals, including humans and dogs. Some of the most common causes of poisoning in cats are antifreeze and rodent baits.

It has also been suggested that cats may be particularly sensitive to environmental pollutants. When a cat has a sudden or prolonged serious illness without any obvious cause, it is therefore possible that it has been exposed to a toxin. Human medicines should never be given to cats. For example, the painkiller paracetamol (also called acetaminophen), sold under brand names such as Tylenol and Panadol is extremely toxic to cats: even very small doses can be fatal and need immediate treatment.

Even aspirin, which is sometimes used to treat arthritis in cats, is much more toxic to them than to humans and must be administered cautiously. Similarly, application of minoxidil (Rogaine) to the skin of cats, either accidentally or by well-meaning owners attempting to counter loss of fur, has sometimes been fatal.

Essential oils can be toxic to cats and there have been reported cases of serious illnesses caused by tea tree oil, and tea tree oil-based flea treatments and shampoos. Other common household substances that should be used with caution around cats include mothballs and other naphthalene products.

Phenol-based products are often used for cleaning and disinfecting near cats' feeding areas or litter boxes: such as Pine-Sol, Dettol (Lysol) or hexachlorophene, but these can sometimes be fatal. Ethylene glycol, often used as an automotive antifreeze, is particularly appealing to cats, and as little as a teaspoonful can be fatal.

Some human foods are toxic to cats; for example theobromine in chocolate can cause theobromine poisoning, although few cats will eat chocolate. Large amounts of onions or garlic are also poisonous to cats. Many houseplants are also dangerous, such as Philodendron species and the leaves of the Easter Lily, which can cause permanent and life-threatening kidney damage.

As a familiar and easily-kept animal, the physiology of cats has been particularly well studied and is generally similar to that of other carnivorous mammals. However, several features of cats' physiology are unusual and are probably due to their descent from desert-dwelling species.

For instance, cats are able to tolerate quite high temperatures, with humans starting to feel uncomfortable when their skin temperature passes about 44.5 °C (112 °F), in contrast cats show no discomfort until their skin reaches around 52 °C (126 °F). Unusually, a cat's body temperature does not vary throughout the day; this is part of cats' general lack of circadian rhythms and may reflect their tendency to be active in both day and night.

As well as being tolerant of high temperatures, cats' feces are usually dry and their urine is also highly concentrated, both of which are adaptations that allow cats to retain as much fluid as possible. Indeed, their kidneys are so efficient that cats can survive on a diet consisting only of meat, with no additional water, and can even rehydrate by drinking seawater.

Cats are obligate carnivores: their physiology has evolved to efficiently process meat, and they have difficulty digesting plant matter. In contrast to omnivores such as rats, which only require about 4% protein in their diet, about 20% of a cat's diet must be protein.

Cats are unusually dependent on a constant supply of the amino acid arginine, and a diet lacking arginine causes marked weight loss and can be rapidly fatal. Another unusual feature is that the cat also cannot produce the amino acid taurine, with taurine deficiency causing macular degeneration, where the cat's retina slowly degenerates, causing irreversible blindness.

Since cats tend to eat all of their prey, they obtain minerals by digesting animal bones and a diet composed only of meat may cause calcium deficiency. A cat's digestive tract is also adapted to meat eating, being much shorter than that of omnivores and having low levels of several of the digestive enzymes that are needed to digest carbohydrates.

These traits severely limits the cat's ability to digest and use plant-derived nutrients, as well as certain fatty acids. Despite the cat's meat-oriented physiology, several vegetarian or vegan cat foods have been marketed that are supplemented with chemically synthesized taurine and other nutrients, in attempts to produce a complete diet.

However, some of these products still fail to provide all the nutrients that cats require, and diets containing no animal products pose the risk of causing severe nutritional deficiencies.

The domesticated cat and its closest wild ancestor are both diploid organisms that possess 38 chromosomes and roughly 20,000 genes. About 250 heritable genetic disorders have been identified in cats, many similar to human inborn errors.

The high level of similarity among the metabolisms of mammals allows many of these feline diseases to be diagnosed using genetic tests that were originally developed for use in humans, as well as the use of cats in the study of the human diseases.

An interesting example of a mutation that is shared among all felines, including the big cats, is a mutant chemosensor in their taste buds that prevents them from tasting sweetness, which may explain their indifference to fruits, berries, and other sugary foods. In some breeds of cats congenital deafness is very common, with most white cats (but not albinos) being affected, particularly if they also have blue eyes.

The genes responsible for this defect are unknown, but the disease is studied in the hope that it may shed light on the causes of hereditary deafness in humans. Since a large variety of different coat patterns exist within the various cat breeds, the cat is an excellent animal to study the coat genetics of hair growth and coloration.

Several genes interact to produce cats' hair color and coat patterns. Different combinations of these genes give different phenotypes. For example, the enzyme tyrosinase is needed to produce the dark pigment melanin and Burmese cats have a mutant form that is only active at low temperatures, resulting in color appearing only on the cooler ears, tail and paws.

A completely inactive gene for tyrosinase is found in albino cats, which therefore lack all pigment. Hair length is determined by the gene for fibroblast growth factor 5, with inactive copies of this gene causing long hair.

The Cat Genome Project, sponsored by the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the U.S. National Cancer Institute Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center in Frederick, Maryland, aims to help the development of the cat as an animal model for human hereditary and infectious diseases, as well as contributing to the understanding of the evolution of mammals.

This effort led to the publication in 2007 of an initial draft of the genome of a Abyssinian cat called Cinnamon. The existence of a draft genome has led to the discovery of several cat disease genes, and even allowed the development of cat genetic fingerprinting for use in forensics.

Cats have excellent night vision and can function at only one-sixth the light level required for human vision. This is partly the result of cat eyes having a tapetum lucidum, which reflects any light that passes through the retina back into the eye, thereby increasing the eye's sensitivity to dim light.

Another adaptation to dim light is the large pupils of cats' eyes. Unlike some big cats, such as tigers, domestic cats have slit pupils.

These slit pupils can focus bright light without chromatic aberration, and are needed since the domestic cat's pupils are much larger, relative to their eyes, than the pupils of the big cats.

Indeed, at low light levels a cat's pupils will expand to cover most of the exposed surface of its eyes. However, domestic cats have rather poor color vision and can only see two colors: blue and green, and are less able to distinguish between red and green, although they can achieve this in some conditions.

Cats have excellent hearing and can detect an extremely broad range of frequencies. They can hear higher-pitched sounds than either dogs or humans, detecting frequencies from 55 Hz up to 79 kHz, a range of about 7 octaves; while humans can only hear from 31 Hz up to 18 kHz, and dogs hear from 67 Hz to 44 kHz, which are both ranges of about 6 octaves.

Cats do not use this ability to hear ultrasound for communication but it is probably important in hunting, since many species of rodents make ultrasonic calls. Cats' hearing is also extremely sensitive and is among the best of any mammal,being most sensitive in the range of 500 Hz to 32 kHz.

This sensitivity is further enhanced by the cat's large movable outer ears (their pinnae), which both amplify sounds and help a cat sense the direction from which a noise is coming. Cats have an acute sense of smell, which is due in part to their well-developed olfactory bulb and also to a large surface of olfactory mucosa, in cats this mucosa is about 5.8 cm2 in area, which is about twice that of humans and only 1.7-fold less than the average dog.

Cats respond strongly to the smell of nepetalactone, a compound found in catnip, and can detect this substance at less than one part per billion. Cats are also sensitive to pheromones such as 3-Mercapto-3-methylbutan-1-ol, which they use to communicate through urine spraying and marking with scent glands.

Due to a mutation in an early cat ancestor, one of two genes necessary to taste sweetness may have been lost by the cat family. Their taste buds instead respond to amino acids, bitter tastes and acids. To aid with navigation and sensation, cats have dozens of movable vibrissae (whiskers) over their body, especially their face.

These provide information on the location of objects in the dark, both by touching objects directly and by sensing air currents; they also trigger protective blink reflexes to protect the eyes from damage.

The Felids are a rapidly evolving family of mammals that share a common ancestor only 10-15 million years ago. Within this family, domestic cats (Felis catus) are part of the genus Felis, which is a group of small cats containing seven species.


Members of the genus are found worldwide and include:

• Jungle Cat (Felis chaus) of southeast Asia,
• African Wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica),
• Chinese Mountain Cat (Felis silvestris bieti)
• Arabian Sand Cat (Felis margarita).

All the cats in this genus share a common ancestor that probably lived around six million years ago in Asia. Although the exact relationships within the Felidae are still uncertain,both the Chinese Mountain Cat and the African Wildcat are close relations of the domestic cat and are both classed as subspecies of the Wildcat Felis silvestris.

As domestic cats are little altered from wildcats, they can readily interbreed. This hybridization may pose a danger to the genetic distinctiveness of wildcat populations, particularly in Scotland and Hungary.

The domestic cat was first classified as Felis catus by Carolus Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae of 1758. However, due to modern phylogenetics, domestic cats are now usually regarded as another subspecies of the Wildcat Felis silvestris. This has resulted in mixed usage of the terms, as the domestic cat can be called by its subspecies name, Felis silvestris catus.

Wildcats have also been referred to as various subspecies of F. catus, but in 2003 the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature fixed the name for Wildcats as F. silvestris.

The most common name in use for the domestic cat remains F. catus, following a convention for domesticated animals of using the earliest (the senior) synonym proposed. Sometimes the domestic cat is called Felis domesticus, although this is not a valid scientific name.

Cats have either a mutualistic or commensal relationship with humans. However, in comparison to some other domesticated species, such as dogs, cats have not undergone major changes during the domestication process, as the form and behavior of the domestic cat are not radically different from those of wildcats and domestic cats are perfectly capable of surviving in the wild.

Several natural behaviors and characteristics of Wildcats may have preadapted them for domestication as pets. These traits include their small size, social nature, obvious body language, love of play and relatively high intelligence. All the small Felids may also have an inborn tendency towards tameness.

There are two main models for how cats were domesticated. In one model, people deliberately tamed cats in a process of artificial selection, as they were useful predators of vermin. However, some theorists find this implausible, because there may have been little reward for such an effort: cats do not carry out commands and, although they do eat rodents, other species such as ferrets or terriers may be better at controlling these pests.

The alternative idea is that cats were simply tolerated by people and gradually diverged from their 'wild' relatives through natural selection, as they adapted to an agricultural environment.

The cat (Felis catus), also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felines and felids, is a small carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and its ability to hunt vermin and household pests.

It has been associated with humans for at least 9,500 years and is currently the most popular pet in the world.

A skilled predator, the cat is known to hunt over 1,000 species for food. It can be trained to obey simple commands. Individual cats have also been known to learn on their own to manipulate simple mechanisms, such as doorknobs and toilet handles.

Cats use a variety of vocalizations and types of body language for communication, including meowing, purring, "trilling", hissing, growling, squeaking, chirping, clicking, and grunting. They are also bred and shown as registered pedigree pets.

This hobby is known as "cat fancy". Until recently the cat was commonly believed to have been domesticated in ancient Egypt, where it was a cult animal. However, in 2004, a domesticated cat that was buried 9,500 years ago was discovered in Cyprus, and a study in 2007 found that the lines of descent of all house cats probably run through as few as five self-domesticating African Wildcats (Felis silvestris lybica) circa 8000 BC, in the Near East.

The word cat derives from Old English catt, which belongs to a group of related words in European languages, including Welsh cath, Spanish gato, Basque katu, Byzantine Greek kátia, Old Irish cat, German Katze, and Old Church Slavonic kotka.

The ultimate source of all these terms is Late Latin catus, cattus, catta "domestic cat", as opposed to feles "European wildcat". It is unclear whether the Greek or the Latin came first, but they were undoubtedly borrowed from an Afro-Asiatic language akin to Nubian kadís and Berber kaddîska, both meaning "wildcat".

This term was either cognate with or borrowed from Late Egyptian čaus "jungle cat, African wildcat" (later giving Coptic šau "tomcat"), itself from earlier Egyptian tešau "female cat" (vs. miew "tomcat").The term puss (as in pussycat) may come from Dutch poes or from Low German Puuskatte, dialectal Swedish kattepus, or Norwegian pus, pusekatt, all of which primarily denote a woman and, by extension, a female cat.

A group of cats is referred to as a "clowder", a male cat is called a "tom" (or a "gib", if neutered), and a female is called a "molly" or "queen". The male progenitor of a cat, especially a pedigreed cat, is its "sire", and its female progenitor is its "dam".

An immature cat is called a "kitten" (which is also an alternative name for young rats, rabbits, hedgehogs, beavers, squirrels and skunks). In medieval Britain, the word kitten was interchangeable with the word catling. A cat whose ancestry is formally registered is called a pedigreed cat, purebred cat, or a show cat.

In strict terms, a purebred cat is one whose ancestry contains only individuals of the same breed. A pedigreed cat is one whose ancestry is recorded, but may have ancestors of different breeds. Cats of unrecorded mixed ancestry are referred to as domestic longhairs and domestic shorthairs or commonly as random-bred, moggies, mongrels, or mutt-cats.

Since the occurrence of BSE infection through contaminated meat and bone meal, the use of meat meal in pet foods has been prohibited in parts of the world (Japan and France) but is still common practice in other parts (USA).

Comparative studies conducted by Japanese researchers have shown that meat meal is superior to the other protein meal sources in terms of dry-matter digestibility and nutritional value for cats, while corn gluten meal is the least nutritional.

The same studies showed that cats fed with these dry food diets excreted alkaline urine. Urine pH has been implicated in the formation of struvite crystals in feline urolithiasis, and many dry food manufacturers address this by adding urine-acidifying ingredients to their food.

However, this practice may lead to the formation of calcium oxalate stones, therefore water intake rather than urine pH appears to be the most crucial diet related factor for the prevention and treatment of feline stones.

Canned or wet food (75-78% moisture) generally comes in common can sizes of 3 oz (85 g), 5.5 oz (156 g), and 13 oz (369 g). It is also sold in foil pouch form by some manufacturers. Owners and veterinarians who recommend a diet consisting largely or entirely of canned, homemade or raw cat food point to higher water content of such food and the increased total water consumption in comparison to a dry food diet as an important health benefit.

Wet food also generally contains significantly less grain and other carbohydrate material. Many foods are made with fish, however an excessive consumption of fish (which contains high levels of unsaturated fatty acids) can cause yellow fat disease.

In comparison to dry food, canned food is thought to either help treat or noticeably reduce the likelihood of numerous health issues including urinary tract disorders, diabetes, chronic renal failure, constipation (sometimes leading to megacolon), and obesity.

Canned cat foods in pop-top containers may play a role in the development of hyperthyroidism in cats. This may be due to bisphenol A used in the pop-top can coating leaching into the food, so it is suggested to place unused food in reusable containers to prevent contamination.

Cat food is formulated to address the specific nutritional requirements of cats. Although cats are obligate carnivores, most commercial cat food contains both animal and plant material, supplemented with vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

An important nutrient is the amino acid derivative taurine, as cats cannot synthesize the compound. Cats fed a taurine-deficient dog food may develop retinal degeneration and go blind.

Most store-bought cat food comes in either dry form, also known in the US as kibble, or wet canned form. Some manufacturers sell frozen raw diets and premix products to cater to owners who feed raw.

Dry food (8-10% moisture) is generally made by extrusion cooking under high heat and pressure. Fat may then be sprayed on the food to increase palatability, and other minor ingredients, such as heat-sensitive vitamins, which would be destroyed in the extrusion process, may be added.

Major brand-name dry cat food manufacturers often use primarily grain-based ingredients with animal protein by-products or animal digest to cut cost. Higher end foods offered as 'premium', 'natural' or 'holistic' formulas contain less or no grain, and a higher percentage of animal protein.

However, grain-free dry diets still contain carbohydrates, from sources such as potato or tapioca. The starch in those ingredients allows the kibble to hold its shape. Cats have no metabolic need for carbohydrates as the feline system prefers to create glucose from protein.

Dry cat food has an advantage over wet in convenience and price – besides usually being significantly cheaper, dry cat food can also be left out for the cat to eat at will over the course of several days, whereas canned or raw cat food spoils or becomes unappetizing after several hours.

It should be noted, however, that even dry food, since it is sprayed with fats as noted above, becomes rancid and stale as it oxidizes. Using a free feeding practice can also contribute to overeating, and ultimately obesity. Dry food is recommended by some based on the idea that cats break apart dry foods with their teeth, which causes the food to scrape off dental calculus. The degree of benefit this provides has been disputed in recent years.

Protein is one of the basic building blocks of any body, whether it's a cat's or a human's. Hair and nails are mostly made of protein. It's used to build and repair tissues as well as make enzymes, hormones, and other body chemicals.

Along with fat and carbohydrate, protein is a "macronutrient," meaning that both animals and humans need relatively large amounts of it to provide the bulk of their energy. Vitamins and minerals, which are needed in smaller quantities, are called "micronutrients."

But unlike fat and carbohydrate, the body does not have a store of protein that is readily available, and therefore has no reservoir to draw on when it needs a new supply.

As carnivores, cats have developed dietary needs that are different from other species. They require a high-protein diet to maintain lean muscle mass, bright and healthy eyes, stronger immunity, a healthy skin and coat, high energy levels and overall healthy weight.

Proteins consist of amino acids, most of which are essential nutrients that the body cannot create. Therefore cats are only able to create the amino acids that they need by consuming a high protein diet.

In fact, a diet high in protein and lower in carbohydrate is one of the best ways to prevent obesity and can even help overweight cats slim down.

So, you can keep your cat healthy by feeding them a premium pet food rich in essential nutrients and the optimal balance of protein, fat and carbohydrate.

3. Fats, Oils and Preservatives

LOOK FOR: Named fats from quality sources like--chicken fat, lamb fat, sunflower oil, herring oil, etc. Natural preservatives like mixed tocopeherols and Vitamin E from whole foods are preferable.

WHY?

Fats and oils from named, nutritious animals and plants provide a rich source of essential fatty acids that help produce healthy skin and lustrous coats. The natural quality preservatives in proper balance to your cat's foods ensure they get all the necessary nutrients for life and good health every day.

AVOID:

Fats from non-specific sources like--animal fat, poultry fat, vegetable oil. Also stay away from synthetic preservatives like BHA, BHT and ethoxyquin.

REASON:

Because the standards for pet foods are much less than for human food, pet food manufacturers are allowed to use rendered animal fat, vegetable fats and oils that have been rejected as inedible for humans. They can include rancid oils and fats or used restaurant grease, which have been disguised with flavor enhancers made from processed by-products.

Plus synthetic preservatives like butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and ethoxyquin can cause liver and kidney damage or even cancer. They are used solely for a longer shelf life, not nutrition.

4. Vitamins, Minerals and Supplements

LOOK FOR:

Antioxidants from natural sources like fruits and vegetables. Vitamins like Ascorbic Acid, Beta Carotene, Biotin, etc. Chelated minerals may also be added like iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, etc.

WHY?

These are all natural or food sources of quality nutrition and supplements ensuring your cat stays healthy and lives longer.

AVOID:

Artificial flavors and colors. Another common additive is propylene glycol, a less toxic version of antifreeze used in cars.

REASON:

The flavors and colors are added by the manufacturers to make them look more appealing to pet owners and taste more appealing to cats (and dogs). While propylene glycol adds a sweet taste to the food, it should NOT be part of your cat's daily food fare.

If you've ever felt confused about how to choose the healthiest cat food for your feline companion, you're not alone. The pet food recall sent many spinning.

Most pet owners are aware that pet food manufacturers are required by law to list all of the product ingredients in order of weight. While that is helpful, an organized checklist is more useful when shopping. Here are some guidelines from top animal food experts.


Cat Food Ingredients in Order of Importance

1. Proteins

LOOK FOR: Meat or fish named on the label with words like--chicken, turkey, lamb, beef, herring, salmon, etc. Also acceptable are concentrated named meat proteins like--chicken meal, turkey meal, lamb meal, herring meal, etc.

WHY? Cats are what scientists call "obligate carnivores". This means that they are designed to eat a meat diet. When you're choosing a food for your cat, you want it to have all the available nutrients to provide for good energy, strong muscle tone and a
stable immune system so the meat protein source should be primary.

AVOID: Unnamed food ingredients with words like--poultry by products, meat and bone meal, meat meal, poultry meal, animal digest, etc. Also avoid protein fillers like--corn gluten meal, wheat gluten, egg product meal, soybean meal, wheat germ meal.

TIP: If you look at a cat food label and group all the grain ingredients together, they are often more primary than the meat pictured by manufacturers. This disguises protein ingredients that are inferior, portraying them as nutritious.

REASON: Cat foods containing by-products, meat and bone meal or non-specific, generic meat meals are often rejected leftovers from the human food chain. That means they can contain "4-D" nutrient-deficient animal protein sources such as:

* Dead animals (including meat with sodium pentobarbital, the most common euthanasia drug though industry sources deny they use dead dogs and cats, however there are no laws or regulations against it).

* Dying animals (including those that FDA meat inspectors reject for the human food chain plus dying animals from zoos and pet farms).

* Diseased animals (according to federal meat inspection regulations, fuel oil, kerosene, crude carbolic acid, and citronella can be used to denature diseased meat before rendering).

* Disabled animals (including those who are too weak to walk due to disease or malnutrition).

2. Carbohydrates and Vegetables

LOOK FOR: Whole grains like brown rice and barley or starches like whole potatoes or sweet potatoes. Whole fruits and vegetables like carrots, tomatoes, alfalfa, apples, cranberries, etc.

WHY? These whole grains and starches are actually digestible by cats providing a good source of energy. The whole fruits and veggies provide an excellent source of fiber plus natural occurring vitamins and minerals.

AVOID: Vegetable proteins and gluten, which are indigestible and cause allergies for cats, are made from refined flours, wheat, mill runs, brewer's rice, etc. Also watch out for processed fruits and vegetables like dehydrated potatoes, tomato pumice and alfalfa meal.

REASON: Vegetable proteins, especially soybean meal protein, have become favorites of pet food manufacturers because they are cheap sources of protein, giving them bigger profits and making it appear that cats are getting good protein. Glutens made from flours are merely cheap binders or "glue" in pet foods. Both sources can result in severe nutritional deficiencies.

You may not know it but nutrition is a very important factor when it comes to keeping your puss healthy. Their complex bodies require certain things to be able to perform general everyday tasks. Just like us, cats need plenty of food and water but it's what is in their food that counts.

The most part of a cat's diet is protein. Protein supplies them with amino acids. Amino acids are needed in order for the body to manufacture antibodies, enzymes, tissues and a proper PH balance.

Protein is found in foods such as meat and fish, so it is ideal to give your cat meals that contain ingredients such as these. Fat is also required in your cats diet as it gives them an energy source for all that climbing and running around they do!

Along with fat and protein, minerals and vitamins also play a big part in their diet. Minerals and vitamins go hand in hand with having a healthy body so make sure that you pick out a good quality cat food that has all of the nutrients your cat requires.

It's also a great idea to feed dry food as it keeps their teeth healthy and hopefully gets rid of any built up tartar! If you have any concerns or questions regarding nutritional requirements for cats, make an appointment with your vet to obtain a greater insight on this topic.

The other day I was walking my dog in our favourite off-leash beach, and I noticed a strange-looking baby stroller go by. It was completely covered and had a window screen at the front to allow its occupant a view. Not quite.

To my surprise, it turned out the occupant wasn’t Bubble Boy, but a large tabby cat.

I’d seen elderly dogs wheeled around, but a cat? For cat owners, there is no controversy more ongoing than the question of whether or not to allow one’s favourite feline outdoors. Some will go to great lengths to make up for indoor confinement, such as the owner of this tabby did, wheeling her big guy around in a covered stroller to get his fresh air and entertainment for the day.

It doesn’t stop there.

The owner of an indoor cat can purchase cat-proof fencing, outdoor cages, runs, pens and harnesses to keep their little prowler properly contained while outside. The belief is that an indoor cat is kept safe from getting lost, stolen, or killed by another animal, or becoming the target of cruelty or an accident, as well as health hazards such as poison, disease and parasites.

The Humane Society of the U.S. estimates the average life expectancy of an outdoor, roaming cat to be 3 to 5 years, while the indoor kitty averages 17-plus years. Though my cat, Mrs. Peel, lived to the ripe old age of 20 and enjoyed moseying around the great outdoors, I can understand the fear.

If anyone has ever seen an animal suffer from ingesting anti-freeze fluid, you’d probably quite happily push your pet around in a stroller for the rest of its life.

Some people even keep their cat indoors to protect other living creatures from their cat, such as the estimated millions of birds that become kitty bait each year. In her wild youth, Mrs. Peel was also a rather skilled and relentless menace to the bird population.

The reasons for denying one’s cat the not-so-great outdoors are therefore plenty. The only argument against it, really, is that it’s worth the risk if kitty’s happiness is at stake. In other words, an indoor life is not a life worth having for a cat, or so goes my own logic. It’s also something of a hassle, especially in summer months when you’d like to leave your doors and windows open.

But let’s say you want to wean your cat off the roaming life and keep her happy indoors? Make the inside of your home appealing, for starters. Create inviting places to lie in the window and bask in the sun; ensure there are scratching posts and clean litter boxes (one per cat) available; keep toys and cat nip around.

And if it becomes impossible for your cat to adapt to the shut-in life, consider all the outdoor options out there for runs, pens, fencing — and of course, the stroller.