C is for Cat

While I may not be a lion, I'm still a carnivore. Just like every domestic house cat. We all eat meat.

First, cats must eat fresh meat. Because we don't have the metabolic means to digest ripe food and get rid of any toxic byproducts, we have very specific taste and scent capabilities that stop us from eating anything not fresh. This is what people call pickiness, but we are evolutionarily picky for good reasons!

So all my food must be fresh. Of course, it can be frozen first and then defrosted, but never try to feed me any 'old' meat - save that for the dogs!

Forget the vegetables too - I don't need them. I am an 'obligate carnivore', meaning I don't consume, nor do I need, any plant matter.

An obligate or true carnivore is an animal that must eat meat in order to survive.

I may nibble on other products you present to me, especially animal products like eggs and bone marrow. (I'm very fond of my weekly egg-yolk treat). But true carnivores lack the physiology required for the efficient digestion of vegetable matter, and, in fact, some carnivorous mammals eat vegetation specifically as an emetic. Let me explain this further ....

I also eat grass. Not for any nutritional value of course, grass is pretty indigestible for me. It's mainly fibre and I don't have the enzyme needed to digest it. However, grass plays a key role in my digestive process.

If you have a strong stomach yourself you can read on .....

Eating grass makes me regurgitate or, to put this in plain English, vomit. I don't normally have the chance to munch on some live prey (your ankles don't count) but if I ever do, that's when I really need some grass to wrap itself around some undigested mouse parts and get regurgitated. Eating grass helps in removing furballs too.

Like all cats, I need

* Protein from a meat, fish, or poultry source
* Taurine, an essential amino acid
* Certain other vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and fatty acids
* Water

That's it, basically.

I don't need carbohydrates, although corn, wheat, and/or rice are used as fillers for both canned and dry cat foods. Other ingredients, such as binders, flavouring, and colouring, are added by cat food manufacturers to make the food look nicer to humans.

Canned food or Kibble? All cats should get a variety of food, both dry and canned and please don't forget the water!

Cans of cat Food are a basic staple in my diet.

It's high in protein, low in carbohydrates
Canned cat food tends to be high in protein and low in carbohydrates (read the label to make sure) which is a good balance and pretty similar to a natural birds-and-mice diet.

Canned food keeps me hydrated
The moisture in cat food makes it more palatable and prevents dehydration. For a cat like myself, with arthritis, I'm not really able to get up and go to the water bowl as often as I should.

Lots of Flavours
I enjoy food that smells good and most canned food has a strong smell. The woman buys those small portions for me so I get plenty of variety.

Of course, I get fresh food too but not every day. Chicken breast when I'm lucky and some boneless fish every week.

The word Charisma was obviously coined to describe cats.

Just look at what it means - a personality characterised by personal charm and magnetism (attractiveness), along with innate and powerfully sophisticated abilities of interpersonal communication and persuasion. If you're charismatic, you're capable of using your personal being, rather than logic alone, to interface with others in a personal and direct manner.

Have you ever met a cat that was not charismatic?

Not every person can be charismatic, but there is a simple fact of human nature that states all people want to be liked. (Cats don't suffer from this).

When you have cat who is properly fed, you have a real companion. You have a friend who greets you when you come home, wakes you up in the middle of the night to make sure you don't die in your sleep and presents you with a smile in the morning . And bestows upon you, occasionally, a dead rodent.

There are plenty of people who can't get by without their cat companions, just ask the woman who feeds me.