A Resource Guide to Feline Health, Behavior, and Nutrition
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A Resource Guide to Feline Health, Behavior, and Nutrition Welcome to your EVERYTHING CAT resource Guide! Smitten with Kittens My husband, Steve, and I cohabitate with two teenagers, Maddox and Adia, two huskies, Sasha and Saint, and two feline furballs, Leche and Mojo. Our home is lively--full of howls and meows--and our exuberant animals are the glue to our family. -- Courtney Wennerstrom Plus, tips and tricks for feline enrichment to help your cats live their very best 9 lives! *note--this is a guide for adult cats, who Courtney lovingly refers to as "kittens" occasionally. Please stay tuned for more articles specifically about kitten health, behavior, and nutrition--and what to do if you find a litter in your neighborhood. Revised: July 2021 Photo Credit: Belle Vie Photography Courtney and her feline sidekicks, Mojo and Leche Leche, a “foster-fail,” is the feline love of my life. He sports a tuxedo and resembles a dairy cow--hence his name. Highly social, Leche loves hanging out with the dogs, sitting on my computer, cuddling, and sleeping on my hip. I love him more than I could ever describe. Mojo, our beautiful, food-obsessed Maine Coon, appreciates chasing moths and escaping our busy household to visit the neighbor cat--he has a crush :)--even though he is not supposed to go outside. He and my husband are inseparable, so it's not unusual for Mojo to groom Steve’s bald head, which is hilarious:) Despite how much our family adores our feisty felines, as a first-time cat mom, I will admit that I have made some mistakes. Mojo has kidney disease and Leche, who is FIV- positive, has bladder issues. If I had known when I first adopted them all the things I now understand about cat nutrition, I might have been able to prevent their kidney or bladder problems altogether. But we all live and learn. And when it comes to cats, we are all still learning. Even the experts--animal behaviorists, scientists, specialty veterinarians, and animal welfare professionals--are just scratching the surface of what makes cats tick, chatter, pounce, and purr, both as individuals and as a species. New research and findings mean that we are constantly revising our theories and approaches to veterinary medicine; gaining insight into feline psychology; and discovering how humans and cats interact and communicate. It therefore behooves us to be as curious about our cats as our cats are about everything else. Because we’re all smitten with kittens, I wrote this as a comprehensive-- but certainly not exhaustive--guide for fellow cat parents who, like me, want to improve their parenting skills. I sincerely hope this synthesis of current trends and expert resources will help you navigate and translate the feline world almost as easily as our cats soak up sunshine. Photo Credit: Belle Vie Photography 2 Table of Contents Part 1. Research has been going to the dogs—that is changing, and it’s a good thing for our feline friends 4 Cutting-edge Research on Cats 5 The Feline Cultural Paradox 5 Research on the Human-Cat Bond 7 Part 2. Cat Behavior and Health Are Deeply Intertwined-- and the surprising connection is Enrichment 8 CATitude: Is your Cat Bored, Stressed, or Understimulated? 9 How to Know if Your Cat is Sick 9 How to Give a Cat a Pill or Medication 10 Enrichment for Cats = the Key to long, healthy lives 10 Preventative Medicine and Precautions 11 Spay and Neuter--It’s the Cat’s Meow 11 Microchip and Register Your Cats 12 Cat First Aid & CPR and Poison Control 12 Litter boxes 13 Part 3. Feline Nutrition and Diet 14 Veterinarians DO Understand Nutrition 15 Wet Food IS Better than just Dry 15 Best Wet Foods for Cats 16 Best Dry and Freeze-Dried Foods for Cats 16 Human Foods for Cats 16 Cat Food Recalls 16 Homemade Diets for Cats 17 Cooked Cat Food 17 Raw Cat Food 17 Dietary Supplements for Cats 17 TIPS for Feeding Your Cats 18 Do the Best You Can with What You Have 18 Photo Credit: Belle Vie Photography PART 1 Research has been Going to the Dogs--that is changing, and it’s a Good Thing for our Feline Friends Photo Credit: Belle Vie Photography 4 Part 1 Cutting-edge Research on Cats Cats are enigmatic, wondrous creatures. They twirl around our legs, purr contentedly in our laps, chirp for affection, chase our shoestrings, and melt us into puddles with their adorable antics. There is something familiar yet also alien about these beings who stalk our feet and bite us, apropos of nothing, only to turn around 5 seconds later and curl up in our laps. Lively, and often unpredictable, cats have taken over our homes and hearts. Our fascination with cats--both big and small--reflects just how profound our bond with them truly is. Yet despite how they intrigue and mesmerize us, we are only just beginning to study and understand them in meaningful ways. The good news is that researchers are asking more sophisticated questions now--not just about why cats behave the way they do, but investigating lines of inquiry that just might teach us how to speak their language. The Feline Cultural Paradox Photo Credit: Gabrielle Lail In clinical research and reporting, cats have traditionally gotten the short end of the proverbial stick compared to their canine counterparts. James Gorman explores the differential treatment of cats and dogs in this New York Times article, examining how attitudes towards animals have shaped how we study and perceive them. He turns to Elinor Karlsson--a geneticist who works on dog genomes, but who also has three cats of her own--for insight. She affirms that, “the research has lagged behind in cats. I think they are taken less seriously than dogs, probably to do with societal biases”. These biases underscore the paradoxical position cats occupy in the cultural imagination. On the one hand, they are estimated to be even more popular pets than dogs, and they completely dominate the Internet. On the other hand, if no longer directly associated with bad omens or evil, they continue to fall prey to remnants of outdated superstitions. Black cats may not connote bad luck anymore, but many people still misinterpret cat body language or behavior as spiteful, even though researchers agree that cats simply are not capable of malice. From their exalted status as beloved companions--to cultural tropes that feminize and link cats to the female body; a shocking lack of legislation to protect big cats from being held in captivity; and damaging misconceptions that cats are low maintenance pets who basically care for and entertain themselves--cats are simultaneously revered, elevated, mistreated, neglected, and abused. As a result of lingering negative views of cats, we tend to spend more money and invest more time and energy on our dogs; are less likely to seek professional help for feline behavior problems (which are often health issues); are less willing to search for them when they are lost (too often assuming they have run away rather than thinking they need help getting home); and more likely to punish or turn them out of doors for things they truly cannot control without our love and intervention. 5 Part 1 Photo Credit: Gabrielle Lail Luckily, this is changing First, a shout out to the many organizations devoted to improving all nine of our cats’ lives, and even to adding one more. The Ten Movement, for instance--whose name puns on giving cats an extra life--works tirelessly to increase spay/neuter numbers and drastically reduce euthanasia rates in shelters to give cats an opportunity to thrive. They encourage transparency between shelters and their communities, and are doing everything in their power to create a culture that accepts and supports community cats by spaying and neutering and allowing them to live freely. Their super cool mascot--Scooter, a neutered male cat who struts around in aviator sunglasses and a gold chain--has made an enormous impact for the no-kill movement. The results of such large-scale ideological shifts towards respecting ALL cats-- informed by recent movements initiated by animal welfare professionals and cat enthusiasts--are reflected in new research trends. Steve Dale, Certified Animal Behavior Consultant and AAPP monthly columnist, serves on the board at Every Cat Health Foundation--a nonprofit dedicated to understanding feline psychology and enhancing veterinary medicine. Dale is effusive in his praise of the catastic work they do, and from everything I’ve read, it’s well deserved: If you have a cat, you can pretty much thank the Every Cat Health Foundation (formerly known as the Winn Feline Foundation)--for everything we know about cat health and welfare. Since its creation by the late Robert Winn in 1968, this non- profit has funded nearly $8 million for cat health studies. Arguably no organization on the planet has had the impact for cat health, behavior and welfare. —Steve Dale The Foundation for Feline Renal Research seeks better treatments for kidney and other diseases, and various other impressive organizations--listed and described here by Catster-- focus on many types of cancers or rare diseases. These are good options for feline devotees who want to donate to cat science. As an aside, I’ve read that only 2- 3% of all philanthropic dollars go to animal welfare, so the need is real and pressing. 6 Part 1 Research on the Human-Cat Bond Moreover, researchers are more focused than ever before on the human-animal bond, rather than just on studying cats in isolation.