Do I need to wean my cat off food? How to wean a cat off dry food: the best methods when changing its diet. Benefits of natural cat nutrition

Despite the convenience and minimal time spent feeding cats with dry food, many decide to switch their pets from kibble to natural food. The reason may be problems with the cat's health, the desire to provide the pet with better and healthier nutrition, or the inability to purchase dry elite food due to its high cost. But a good owner will not constantly stuff his pet with economy-class croquettes, since their composition is far from perfect in terms of benefits for the cat’s body.

The composition of the finished feed, indicated on the label of the can or bag, includes:

• animal and vegetable proteins;
• fats;
• carbohydrates (mostly potatoes or corn);
• vitamins;
• minerals;
• preservatives and antioxidants (these chemicals are necessary to increase the shelf life of the product);
• food colorings;
• fillers (soy, starch or MCC polysaccharide).

Good to know: Manufacturers of dry cat food do not always indicate the presence of several other special additives in its composition: taste enhancers, flavors, attractants (attractive substances) and additives (addictive substances). These "cunning" additives not only make your cat eat kibble with appetite, but also turn her into a "drug addict." Therefore, an animal accustomed to dry food often has difficulty switching to natural food, which, of course, is both tastier and healthier.

Methods for transitioning a cat from dry food

Some cats immediately begin to eat natural food with pleasure. But it is often difficult to quickly wean a cat off dry food; he stubbornly refuses the dishes prepared by the owner, and demonstratively symbolically “buries” the offered food with his paw. This is not surprising: after croquettes generously flavored with flavoring additives, natural meat seems bland to the cat, and it takes time for the taste buds to restore sensitivity.

Helpful advice: To make it easier for a cat’s digestive system to adapt to new food, when switching from dry food, at least for the first time, it is recommended to give the animal a probiotic - a bioactive supplement containing lacto- and bifidobacteria. Your veterinarian can tell you which probiotic is best for your pet.

There are several practice-tested methods that can quickly wean a cat off dry food, or at least make this process relatively painless for the animal.

Preparatory stage

It can be easier to wean a cat off dry food if you rid the animal of the addiction syndrome caused by attractants and additives that are included in all croquettes without exception. The amount of these substances in different types of feed differs. To stop the effect of flavoring additives, buy high-quality food that contains less of them. To do this, consult your veterinarian, read the ingredients listed on the label, or decide by simply smelling the kibble. They should not have a sharp, strong odor. Mix the new “drying” with the usual one, gradually replacing the old food over the course of a week until it is completely eliminated.

The hard method: “There will be no more croquettes”

This is the fastest way to wean your cat off dry food. In one day, the entire supply of dry food is removed from the house (not hidden, but removed, because cats have an excellent sense of smell). Homemade food is placed in a bowl. It is replaced several times a day with a fresh portion. It is quite possible that the cat will ignore the new food, and will prefer to remain hungry for a day or two... Then the survival instinct will kick in, and natural food will go with a bang.

But if you are not sure that you and your household will have the courage and perseverance to endure the plaintive moaning of your beloved cat for several days in a row, choose another method. Cats are smart animals, and if your pet makes you indulge her at least once and you give her dry food, she will be sure that she can always achieve her goal and sooner or later get the coveted croquettes.

Gentle method

This method of weaning a cat off dry food involves gradually reducing its amount in the daily diet. For example, you can put only natural food in the feeder in the morning - a hungry cat most likely will not refuse it. And in the afternoon she will receive her favorite “drying”. It is advisable to prepare homemade meals (at least during the adaptation period) from the products that your pet loves most. Food preferences can be easily determined experimentally. Gradually, the amount of dry food should be reduced, and at the final stage, simply place two feeders next to each other, one with a small amount of croquettes, the other with a natural dish. Having not eaten a small portion of “drying”, the animal will be forced to eat the contents of another bowl. This “re-education” may take several weeks, but the owners will be deprived of nervous stress.

Switching to natural food through wet food

All cats enjoy eating delicious canned meat and fish from pouch bags or jars. Over the course of 4-7 days, replace some of the dry food in the feeder with wet food until there are no kibble left in the feeder. Then start mixing pieces of boiled meat into the canned food, then some vegetables, and lastly the porridge. It is important that natural food does not differ in size and consistency from wet food. The period of such a gradual transition can take up to 2 weeks, and there are usually no problems with “declaring a hunger strike”.

Benefits of natural cat nutrition

Food prepared at home is closer to the natural “menu” of predators, representatives of which are the felines. Ideally, from 60 to 80% of a cat's daily diet should consist of meat products, of which only a fifth or sixth can be represented by offal. Another 20% is occupied by cereals, vegetables, vitamins and minerals.

No type of dry food is prepared using this recipe, since its cost would be too high. Most often, animal protein in croquettes is represented by by-products; in premium food it is up to 50%, in dry canned economy class it is only 5-6%. By providing your cat with food that matches the nature of this animal, you maintain its health and prolong its life.

Dry cat food is not complete nutrition and can lead to health problems for your pet. In addition, such food provokes food addiction, as a result of which the animal gets used to such food and begins to refuse normal food. Therefore, it is important to know how to wean your cat off dry food and replace it with natural products.

How to switch a cat from Whiskas, Proplan, Kitiket to natural food

Whiskas is the most addictive in cats, so in this case, in order to switch the cat to healthy food, it will take a lot of time and patience of the pet owner. You can wean off Whiskas by gradually reducing the amount of food and replacing it with new but healthy products. This method is most suitable for feeding kittens.

To switch an adult cat from Whiskas to homemade food, you need to put natural food in a bowl. Even if the animal does not want to try a new product, you should not despair - after a few days of fasting, the cat will still begin to eat healthy food. The basic rule in this case is to always have fresh food in the bowl. only quality food!

Both methods are ideal for weaning kittens and adult animals off.

Important! It is not allowed to add natural products to this food, since such food overloads the animal’s digestive system.

Any specialist will say that foods such as Kitiket or its analogue can lead to various diseases in cats. To prevent this from happening, it is important to wean your pets from using them.

To do this, you need to stop giving cats this food altogether, and constantly put fresh food in the bowl, preferably starting with meat (you can try boiled beef or liver). After some time, the pet will begin to eat it. After this, you can introduce vegetable dishes, offal and grains. Such methods help wean cats off other dry industrial foods.

In some cases, with severe addiction, the weaning process can last from one to two months. Therefore, you should not despair, it is important to go towards the goal - and then the result will not keep you waiting. After all, the main task of the shift is the health of the pet.

The main mistakes owners make when changing the type of cat diet

A pet's pitiful look is not a reason to pour Whiskas into a bowl.

When changing cat food from dry food to natural products, owners make a number of mistakes.

Here are the most common ones:

• It takes a long time to transition from feed to regular food - from two to three weeks. Therefore, owners should be patient and in no case, using a certain method of weaning from food, follow the lead of their beloved animal, no matter how sorry it is and no matter how much pain it experiences. This is especially true in situations where the owner simply stopped feeding the cat commercial food.
• It is also important not to rush when changing the type of food. An abrupt transition can provoke health problems in a cat, for example.
• There is no need to pamper the animal by replacing food with various delicacies.
• You need to understand that the process of changing the diet for animals is a stressful situation. Therefore, you need to endure “strikes” and your pet’s bad mood. It is necessary to show love and patience towards the cat. If the cat does try a new product, it should be petted and praised for it.

Important! A normal, healthy diet for cats should contain about 45 percent meat products and protein of animal origin, 20 percent each of vegetables, grains and offal. And only 5 percent is allocated to various additives (bone meal, oil, vitamin and mineral complexes).

How to wean a cat off industrial food: effective ways

It is easier to wean kittens off dry food by offering them natural food.

You can accustom your cat to normal food using the following methods:

• Gradual reduction in the amount of dry food. Experts advise placing two bowls first: one with natural food, and the other with dry food to which the cat is accustomed. It is recommended to reduce the amount of industrial food daily, keeping it to a minimum. It is quite possible that a pet that will not eat enough will begin to try natural food.
• Mixing normal food into the food. The main principle of this method is consistency and gradualism. With each meal, it is necessary to add natural products to the food, which over time will completely replace the food.
• Feeding your favorite food. If an animal, in addition to industrial food, loves a certain product, you can give it in larger quantities. Gradually, using this method, you can wean your cat off food and switch it to natural food. If the animal's preferences are unknown, you should try putting several foods in separate bowls. Depending on what food the animal is partial to, you can determine what food you can replace the food with first.
• Relieving the effects of food additives. You need to understand that dry food has many additives that make your beloved pet “addicted” to such food. You can replace it, which does not have a pungent odor or taste. First, it is added in small quantities to the cat’s usual food, then the proportions are increased and by the end of the week it is completely transferred to food without food additives, which will be easier to replace with homemade food.

Natural food is added to dry food when weaning a cat.

When mixing homemade food into the feed, it is advisable to first use meat (boiled and finely chopped), then vegetables. At the last stage of changing the diet, you can start adding grains (this can be done by the end of the second or third week).

The most radical way is to never feed your cat industrial food again. Naturally, this will be very difficult, and at first the animal may stop eating altogether. But over time, the instinct of self-preservation will win - and the cat will begin to eat normal food.

Important! When adding natural products to food, it is desirable that at first they do not differ too much in consistency and size from dry food.

Thus, weaning a cat off food and accustoming it to homemade food is a long and difficult process, since food additives are addictive. However, this is quite possible if the owner adheres to exact recommendations and does not make mistakes when changing the cat’s diet.

The video talks about the dangers of dry cat food:

The nutritious nutrition that a cat receives ensures good health and helps prevent the occurrence of many problems with it. Food belonging to the budget class, both soft and dry, is not of high quality and cannot be the cat’s main diet. If for some reason the cat is accustomed to Whiskas, it must be weaned off such unhealthy diet and switched to a nutritious diet. Due to their very high cost, only a few can afford high-quality ready-made food, and therefore most often the pet is accustomed to ordinary natural food. Veterinarians and animal owners who are faced with a similar problem can answer in detail the question of how to wean a cat off Whiskas.

Why is it difficult to wean

Having realized the need to switch his cat to a normal diet, the owner often faces difficulties, since weaning a cat off Whiskas is always a difficult process. This is not due to the fact that the animal does not know other food and therefore does not perceive it as something edible. You shouldn't complain about your cat's stubbornness. The whole problem is that budget food, including Whiskas, contains special additives to give it an attractive taste and aroma. The cat gets used to them like a drug and therefore is not ready to eat normally.

Addiction does not come from just one serving. When Whiskas is given several times a year because the owner has to go on business for a day, the cat will not have time to get used to the food and will not get sick from all the chemicals that it contains. If you feed your pet Whiskas constantly or often, then nothing good can be expected, and in addition to addiction, serious diseases of the intestines, liver and kidneys will soon arise.

How to wean

A cat that is accustomed to artificial food can be successfully weaned off it using one of several proven methods.

• Radical. This method is applicable only to healthy animals, since if the cat has health problems, stress from a sudden change in food will not lead to anything good. With this method, synthetic food is simply eliminated at once, and natural food is placed in the bowl. The owner should be firm and not give in to the pitiful meowing of the cat, which may completely refuse to eat for 5-7 days. Gradually he will come to terms with the fact that there is no usual food, and will begin to eat what is given to him.
• Smooth. With this method, natural food is gradually mixed into the usual food. Gradually its volume is increased until Whiskas is completely replaced. The process usually takes up to 1 month. At first, it is more convenient to train by introducing boiled meat, cut into cubes, since it is easier to disguise as synthetic food.

When changing food, it is not uncommon for a cat to experience diarrhea or constipation, which is a normal reaction of the body when they begin to give the pet complete food instead of Whiskas. This phenomenon is especially pronounced with the radical weaning method. If digestive problems do not stop within 1 week, you will need to consult a specialist. It may be necessary to feed your pet with medications to restore the intestinal microflora that Whiskas has disrupted.

Many owners who initially gave their cats exclusively dry food at some point decide to switch them to natural products. There can be a lot of reasons for this, but most often this happens due to the need to save money, because good mixtures are not cheap. In addition, many of them are produced abroad, and due to the depreciation of the ruble, their price has increased significantly. In addition, a change in diet is often determined by the health status of the pet. Be that as it may, cats do not always willingly agree to such changes - they refuse unusual food and prefer to starve.

In this article we will tell you the easiest way to wean your cat off its usual dry food.

Why is there a problem?

The simplest method is to starve the cat out. True, it will not suit everyone, but only mentally stable people, because not everyone will be able to endure the pitiful meow, the unhappy look of a pet and the reproaches of loved ones.

In most cases, owners who decide to accustom cats to home-cooked food make a lot of mistakes because they do not understand what exactly needs to be done and are not familiar with the psychology of their pets.

In turn, cats refuse proper food largely only because they are generally prone to conformism. It is most difficult for those who have not eaten natural food since childhood.

In reality, weaning an animal is not difficult if you use a few tips below.

The right thing is done by the owner who is not in a hurry to complete the transition to natural food in one day. The thing is that a radical change in diet will most likely make your cat boycott new types of food that are unfamiliar to him. Therefore, the process is extended for at least a week, and even better, 10 days.

In this situation, the main thing is not to follow the lead of mustachioed manipulators. Do not forget - their ostentatious hunger strike is nothing more than a game for the public. Science knows of no cases of a healthy animal dying of hunger next to a full bowl.

Provide your pet with fresh water and give him time to think. Ignore pitiful moans and sad looks as unreasonable. It will take willpower, but the result is more important here.

Those owners who try to force cats to eat by offering them gourmet foods, running after them with a bowl, etc. are doing something very wrong. You shouldn’t pamper your pet, otherwise you’ll have to walk half-bent over his catness all his life. You won’t be able to behave this way all the time, and animals experience a change in attitude extremely painfully and often become depressed.

And never forget that most cheap food is simply stuffed with various additives that cause physiological dependence in cats. It is this circumstance that most often determines the animal’s intolerant attitude towards a natural diet. This phenomenon is purely temporary and soon enough the taste buds will regenerate and the animal will become interested in normal natural nutrition.

When creating a natural diet, owners must remember the correct ratio of products:

• meat in it is up to 45 percent;
• eggs, fish, cottage cheese, etc. – approximately 5;
• offal – 20;
• the same amount of cereals, vegetables, herbs, fruits;
• flavoring additives (oil, vitamins, microelements) – 5.

Soft option

There is another way - it is more loyal and less traumatic. Its essence is simple - instead of the usual food, start giving expensive food that does not have a strong odor. This will free the animal from physiological dependence.

You should do this:

• for the first 5 days, add premium mixture (Whiskas, Royal Canin) to the usual mixture, reducing the amount of the former;
• on the 6th day, give only expensive food;
• after this comes the stage of transferring to high-quality canned food;
• here they also begin to mix wet food into the dry food;
• and finally, the latter is gradually diluted with normal food according to the same scheme.

In general, it will take about a month of time. Throughout the entire period, it is necessary to follow the feeding regime and not give the animal treats between meals. In the future, it is worth remembering that all leftover natural products (if the cat has not eaten within 20 minutes) are put into the refrigerator.

What we must not forget

Offer your pet fresh food every day until he capitulates and starts eating. Such innovations can cause stress in a cat. Therefore, it is better to mix new products with dry food over the course of several days, gradually reducing the proportion of the latter.

During this period, it is important to ensure that no one else in the family feeds the cat “crackers” behind your back.

Be kind to the animal, but remain strict and strict when it comes to nutrition. Pets have a fairly sharp mind and understand perfectly how to make their owners feel sorry for themselves.

I use “natural”, do not forget to add vitamins and microelements to it.

Remember, too much fish in your diet can be harmful to your pet’s health. The phosphorus contained in it provokes kidney disease.

Good afternoon to all cat lovers and, part-time, visitors and readers of the blog “Obsolute Cat”. Here again a topic has arisen, seemingly well-trodden far and wide. What to feed cats: artificial food or natural products?

What are artificial feeds?

There is also plenty written and said about artificial food for cats today. But basically this is a discussion about which food is better: premium or economy class? What is cheaper and what do cats eat better? The question of whether a cat needs to be fed artificial food at all is rarely raised.

Mostly canned food and dry food for cats are bought because we are lazy. Yes, yes, let's call a spade a spade. First of all, we take care of ourselves. When purchasing artificial food, we don’t bother ourselves with the question “what to give the cat for dinner.” I bought canned food, opened it, poured it into a bowl - and that’s it. Minimum expenditure of thought processes and time.

Natural food is healthier than artificial food.

Advertising of food also greatly contributed to their popularity and somewhat distorted our understanding of a cat’s diet. It is thanks to advertising that we know for certain that cats simply “need” cereals and other silage. But let me remind you that a cat is a carnivorous predator, which by definition cannot become a vegetarian.

In order to understand what ready-made food should consist of, you can remember what the menu of a cat in the village consists of (as close as possible to natural conditions). These are mainly small rodents, less often birds, and even less often fish and insects (moths and grasshoppers). All this is divided into:

• meat - animal proteins;
• bones and skin - calcium and phosphorus.

All that is contained in the victim's stomach is plant fibers and grains. Separately, cats eat grass occasionally for reasons of maintaining their health.

Cats do not eat fermented milk products on their own. Only as kittens in their cat childhood, and if a person allows it. Raw milk in the stomach of an adult cat almost immediately curdles and is not digested.

What follows from all of the above? The fact is that ideally the food should contain all these ingredients in natural proportions. Namely:

• meat – 45%;
• animal protein (egg or milk) – 20%;
• entrails, bones, offal – 10%;
• vegetable components (vegetables, cereals) – 20%;
• the rest is natural mineral supplements and vitamins - another 5%.

But, unfortunately, there are no ideal feeds. They would be too expensive and unprofitable to produce.

So what are we (or rather cats) offered as cheaper food to produce? In order not to be unfounded, we simply read what is written in small letters on a can or bag of food:

• chemical preservatives, sugar substitutes and antioxidants (you can’t live without them);
• by-products (good in principle, but who can guarantee that blood or feather meal, tails, sinews and other waste from slaughterhouses do not go there);
• dyes, flavor enhancers;
• fillers (cellulose, soy, starch).

If the presence of chemical components is at the very least reflected on labels, then with by-products and fillers it is somewhat more complicated. The legislation of many countries does not say at all that the manufacturing company is obliged to indicate a complete list of what is included in the by-products. And no one knows what may be hidden under this formulation.

Cats eat all of the budget line food with by-products of “plant and animal origin” with great appetite due to the presence of generously sprinkled flavoring additives. It’s hardly worth talking about their usefulness. Quite the contrary.

Cats get hooked on artificial food and then not only do they not eat anything other than dry food, but they also often have health problems:

• then the metabolism is disturbed, and cats become fat before our eyes;
• then tumors develop out of the blue;
• or even some British Vicomte de Bragelonne suddenly dies from liver or kidney failure due to many years of excessive consumption of food.

So how to wean a cat off artificial food and switch it to natural food?

If you are patient, your cat's diet can be changed.

Therefore, many cat lovers either initially try not to give food to cats, or are wondering how to switch a cat to natural food.

When we got our first cat, Muska, we (to be honest) treated and pampered her with Whiskas and Perfect Fit. And then it turned out that Muska refused all types of food, preferring to wait until we bought food. And then there are growing rumors and news that the food is not safe.

In short, we decided to wean the cat off food and give her natural food. Not so. Muska had already gotten used to the delicious-smelling pillows and stubbornly waited for them, rejecting and avoiding bowls of sausage or fish. I took a strong stand, despite my wife's protests and her threats to go to animal rights court. The supply of food was abruptly stopped, and the cat’s oxygen was, as they say, cut off. Every day several times I offered Muska a choice of meat, sausage, or fish. She sniffed, but did not touch, continuing to beg with cries for food (which was not available).

This went on for a day, two, three... a week. Hungry cat cries and wife’s persuasion not to torture the unfortunate animal. But the main thing is to remain adamant at this moment. Once you give me an indulgence, that’s it, you don’t have to start a second time. The cat will be one hundred percent sure that sooner or later she will receive food.

“Hunger is not a aunt, hunger is a uncle. Hunger is a big man!” Such epithets are not in vain. No matter what happens, the very first instinct of an animal is self-preservation. Live! At any cost, by any means, just live! No animal in its right mind would die of hunger if there was even the slightest possibility of maintaining its life. In the frozen tundra, beyond the Arctic Circle, starving wild dogs gnaw pieces of the frozen feces of their brethren who were here, just so as not to die. So here, in a warm house, on a cozy sofa, a cat will not die of hunger in front of a bowl full of natural food, just because it wants Whiskas. Believe me.

After a week and a half of hunger strike, the cat began to eat boiled meat. Further – more, I learned what fish and porridge are. Today we do not know what artificial food is and are completely indifferent to the jars and bags of food temptingly displayed on the shelves. We initially gave our second cat, Marsik, only natural food.

What do I, being so smart, feed my cats?

I'm telling you:

• boiled meat (beef, chicken);
• boiled duck and goose liver (heart, kidneys) when cutting poultry;
• boiled sea fish (hake, pollock, blue whiting);
• milk porridge (semolina, rice);
• porridge with canned fish (saury);
• soup in meat broth with carrots and meat;
• Borsch with sour cream;
• cottage cheese with sour cream (it doesn’t always work, but I give it regularly);
• meatballs with stewed vegetables;
• boiled sausage (milk sausages, amateur sausages, doctor’s sausage).

That's basically it. Although no, not everything:

• In the summer, sometimes I bring them grass from the garden and the cats are eager to “graze.”
• For the winter, I prepared a bunch of natural hay for them.
• Well, there’s also a box of vitamins.

That's it now. And look at . How strong and healthy they are. None of them are obese, despite the breed's tendency. The cats are lean, active and in athletic shape.

KotoDigest

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