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YOUR CAT HAS NEEDS YOU MAY NOT KNOW
We try to be honest with ourselves but especially with our companion animal.
The close coexistence between mankind and cat has put a strain on the nature of our felines, which have gone from being skilled nocturnal hunters to "sofa" domestic animals. There have been real changes in their daily needs, food and otherwise, while keeping some ethological and ancestral aspects intact.
My name is Sonia, I am a veterinarian, and I am part of the staff of Almo Nature.
Below I will tell you about some changes that have occurred for the cat in these years of life alongside the human being, but also how it has retained some "wild instinct" linked to its nature. Important aspects to take into consideration to respect its nature and its “new” nutritional needs.
YOUR CAT IS DIFFERENT
Today the cat is a house cat, with new habits and comforts that we could not have imagined just 10 years ago. Your cat sleeps under the sheets or in warm blankets on comfortable pillows. The luckiest ones have tree-like perches scattered around the house, where they can climb, nail or rest. In fact, cats love to stay high to keep the situation under control!
Giving the cat the possibility of accessing high spaces or setting up special raised shelves, so that it can control the living room as a hunting area, favors a reduction of stress that can accumulate when, for example, if the cat only lives in an apartment without any access to the outside.
The indoor cat, in fact, has already reduced its predatory activities to a minimum, often limiting itself to chasing the unfortunate fly that entered the house. The cat enjoys the comfort of a full bowl and an owner who adores him and is willing to offer him ever tastier food to satisfy his palate.
This new state of comfort saves the cat a large amount of energy that in the past was used to hunt, defend itself or to escape. The rhythms of his life have changed and consequently also his caloric and therefore nutritional needs.
It is important and necessary to adapt the diet to these changes. We have to offer them
quality recipes following a correct and nutritionally balanced diet, that will help him to avoid excess calories and possible related problems.
PROTECTS AND ENHANCES ITS NATURAL INSTINCT
Even if your cat sleeps curled up in a chair and runs towards you when you return home, he still retains innate behaviors and attitudes linked to his nature, especially when we talk about his nutrition.
THE CAT AND WATER
In nature, cats tend to drink little. In fact, its main source of hydration is their meal. The hunted prey provides it with the needed quantity of "liquidity “, which is necessary for the body to carry out its functions. In nature cats do not particularly like still and stagnant water (such as puddles) but prefer fresh and running water. Does that behavior remind you of anything?
I really think that many of you turn sometimes on the tap at home to offer running water to your cat while having a bowl that is always overflowed. Water is essential for the life of every living being, including the cat. Make sure that your cat has access to water and offer it to him when he asks for it. Cat drinking fountains often solve this aspect by responding to its need for running water!
SMALL AND FREQUENT MEALS
The cat is a nocturnal hunter, which explains why it often becomes very active in the late evenings. During its hunting expeditions, in nature, it can even consume 10 - 12 prey per day, independently regulating the number of calories consumed, reducing the quantity of food introduced and not the number of meals.
This aspect should make us reflect on how, even inside our home / house, it is important to preserve this way of feeding to respect its instincts.
Splitting the "daily" ration by offering small and frequent meals throughout the day, including night, can become a correct dietary routine for our companion animal to follow.
Almo Nature's nutritional advice has always been to alternate the humid daily, to help the cat to stay hydrated, with kibbles, to indulge his instinct of small meals distributed during the day / night.
ALTERNATING FEEDING FOR CAT
Preserving the nature of our companion animal and paying attention to their real needs, the nutritional advice we propose follows all these aspects.
The pet food market today is very large and offers great choice. Almo Nature recommends alternating wet food with dry food to get the best of both diets, respecting our cat’s needs. We call it alternating feeding.
Wet food at least 60% Wet food must represent the main part of the daily meal to support proper hydration. It can be offered in the morning and in the evening and, even if the cat eats wet recipes, the water - clean and fresh - must always be available.
Offering different flavors by rotating them, such as white or red meat, or fish will support a varied diet thus offering different nutrients and a better nutritional balance.
And what about kibbles? Feeding only kibbles in the long run could lead to kidney problems but offered in the right quantity can and must be part of the cat's diet, which can also bring advantages.
Kibbles can make up about 40% of a cat's daily meal.
How can they be beneficial?
- In favor of frequent small meals. Leave the daily dose of kibbles available for the whole day. In this way the cat can consume them between his main meals or during the night, because let's remember that the cat remains a nocturnal hunter and often walks around the house at night!
- To complete the alternating power supply. The kibbles provide all the necessary and important nutrients to ensure a nutritionally balanced diet - they are in fact complete foods!
- Promote chewing with benefits for their teeth and digestion.
What if your cat struggles to eat dry food? That is no problem, you will be able to find complete wet recipes to be associated with complementary ones, always following the nutritional advice. In this way, you can still ensure a varied diet, a correct nutritional balance and, indirectly, adequate hydration.
ALMO NATURE`S PROPOSAL
Almo Nature offers several products lines that can help to organize better your cat's food. The HFC line represents the highest quality of the ingredients we use for the preparation of our foods. The Holistic line offers functional recipes to support your cat in particular situations and the Daily wet line a wide variety of quality ingredients at the right price point.
All Almo Nature recipes are maintenance recipes, i.e., foods that meet your cat's nutritional needs while preserving the physiological - natural - state of well-being.
If your pet is determining a drug treatment because of some health problem and it is still following a veterinary diet, or a diet suggested by his veterinarian, ask when it will be possible to return to a good food routine with high quality maintenance recipes.
NO IMPROVISED DIY!
Not everyone agrees with the idea of feeding your cat with commercial food and they prefer cooked meals! It is important, however, to be aware which are the nutritional needs of our cats, knowing which and how many minerals, vitamins and amino acids are to be added to their bowl to ensure a nutritionally balanced meal. In fact, improvised do-it-yourself is not a valid option for the well-being of your cat, if not adopted correctly and with the help of a nutritionist veterinarian, you risk promoting malnutrition.
If you choose a home diet for your companion animal, the advice is to be followed by a veterinary nutritionist who will be able to set up and maintain a nutritionally balanced diet for your cat.
OUR COMMITMENT
Almo Nature is an Italian company based in Genoa that when it comes to new food ideas, for cats or dogs, Almo Nature thinks always about the wellbeing of our animals. Because be aware, we are all a human companion for our animals!
A company that has decided to be engaged in various fields.
The most known? To offer our companion animal high quality food, nutritionally balanced, prepared with high quality standards, to ensure excellent, complete, and balanced daily nutrition.
The work, however, goes much further! Thanks to the Reintegration Economy and the Fondazione Capellino in fact, all revenues (deducted costs, investments and taxes) deriving from the sale of food are destined to safeguard biodiversity and fight climate change. So, by choosing the quality of Almo Nature for your cat, you are directly contributing to support projects for the common good.
