Advice for cat owners

Pregnant cats and kittens

What to I feed my pregnant cat?

It is recommended that during the last three weeks of pregnancy to change from adult to kitten food. The cat needs about 25% more energy in the last third of pregnancy and during the lactation phase to prevent her from breaking down her own energy reserves. You should provide the cat with food at anytime during this period, since it must eat small quantities several times a day. Kitten food should be fed until weaning the kittens.

Will the kitten get diarrhea from switching the food?

No, but the changeover should be gradual. As soon as the baby teeth have broken through, the kittens may be fed cat food. In order to accustom them to hard food, a suitable food for young cats is first soaked in GimCat Cat-Milk or water and offered as a mash. The amount of liquid is gradually reduced. At the beginning of the feedings, fresh water must always be available. In order to make the consumption of hard food easier, the dry food pellets should be small and have a soft texture.

Can adult cats have milk?

Most cats like milk a lot. Unfortunately, the digestive tract of mature cats is no longer designed for the digestion of milk, or their ingredients, as is still the case with kittens. This often leads to diarrhea. For adult cats there is a special lactose-reduced cat milk.

Urinary tract and digestive system

What should I do if my cat has urinary stones?

There are various kinds of urinary stones (e.g., calcium oxalate stones, struvite stones). What is good for one kind of urinary stone, may make another worse. Therefore one can say little about prevention. Here are some tips that have general validity:

Stimulate fluid intake (for example, offer more wet food, milk for cats, pudding, yoghurt, various water types and drinking vessels, offer GimCat ShinyCat Snacks)

Feed high quality egg whites (eg ShinyCat)

Do not feed too much vitamin D

Feed several small meals a day

There are studies that show that well digestible, energetic food increases the amount of fluid intake. Furthermore, it is a good idea to always offer wet food, mixed with dry food, under or on it, very small portions and slightly warmed.

Grind up their favorite dry foo and sprinkle it over a small portion of wet food etc. Does the cat prefer fish over meat, or chicken over beef? Select the wet food accordingly. This accustoms the cat to the intake of wet food.