How to wean a cat from food and accustom to homemade food? Teaching a cat to homemade food: arguments in favor of a healthy diet How to get a cat to eat homemade food

Many people decide to get a cat and think that pouring ready-made food into her bowl is not at all difficult. And few people know that it harms the health of the pet. When a kitten appears in the family, which is already accustomed to such food, this does not mean that it needs to be poisoned further. It is necessary to wean the cat from dry food and accustom it to homemade food.

Irreparable damage to health from dry food

Such food can cause a lot of disorders, the most common of which include:

avitaminosis- many dry foods do not contain enough of certain vitamins, which are so necessary for the pet and which are found in homemade food;
dysbacteriosis- beneficial bacteria die in the stomach, and an upset occurs;
poisoning- a pet can be poisoned by various dyes that the food contains;
heart and kidney disease- since this food contains a lot of salt, the kidneys from it may suffer in the first place, because it is difficult for them to excrete them. Poor kidney function will provoke, in turn, heart failure;
allergy- ulcers may appear in the animal's mouth or hair will begin to fall out;
oncological diseases Most foods contain monosodium glutamate, which is known to cause tumors.

To avoid this kind of trouble, it is necessary to teach the cat to eat ordinary food.

Features of the daily diet of cats

However, in order for the animal to grow up healthy, simply feeding it with normal homemade food will not be enough. Nutrition must be balanced. Your pet's diet should include foods such as:

Meat - it is better to give it to an animal raw. It shouldn't be greasy. It is best to buy beef, turkey or chicken.
Fish. It must be boiled and given to your pet about 2-3 times a week. It also shouldn't be greasy.
Yolk. About once a week, the murka should eat 1 piece.
Liver. It is given boiled.
Variety of regular dairy products.
Soups and broths.
Various cereals.
Vegetables. In this matter, an individual approach is needed, since each animal has its own taste preferences. For example, someone likes potatoes or cucumber, and someone likes melon or watermelon. In any case, this is wonderful, and if your pet asks for vegetables, be sure to pamper him with them.

How to force an animal to eat unusual and tasteless food

The main thing is when you want to accustom a murka to normal food, then keep food fresh. Once a pet has tasted a stale dish, it will remember it for the rest of its life and will no longer touch such food at all. Also, make sure that there is always fresh water in the bowl.

In addition, a cat should eat one type of homemade food at a time, if it is soup, then only soup, if meat, then only meat, and so on. This will ensure the proper functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and in the future will not cause any health problems for your pet.

Cats need three meals a day, but if the animal does not eat for about two days, then it is urgent to seek help from a specialist.

If you want to accustom a cat to homemade food, first of all you should:

stock up on patience;
develop a step-by-step plan;
strictly follow all our advice.

It is necessary to gradually accustom the cat to homemade treats. To begin with, it is worth buying two types of food - dry and canned. With the help of the second, you can gradually accustom your pet to wet food.

3 stages of transition to homemade food:

You need to mix two types of food. First you need to mix a very small amount of canned food, gradually increasing the dose.
Over time, we replace the dose of dry food with meat and porridge.
It is necessary to reduce the dose of dry food by half in 5 days, and from canned food we leave only gravy.
When you introduce gravy into the diet, it would be wise to give the murka probiotics to support her stomach and normalize her intestinal flora.
Over time, the amount of gravy is also reduced and approach the moment when you need to drop just a couple of drops into homemade food for smell.
After that, the cat should be offered homemade food, which will make up its almost daily diet.

If you finally want to accustom your pet to homemade food, then at this stage you need to be prepared for a variety of problems, since the stomach needs time to adjust from dry food.

Show the iron character of the owner of the house

Weaning a pet from dry food is not an easy task, but in this matter you do not need to succumb to provocations and make concessions to your pet, refusing to introduce homemade food into the diet.

In the course of accustoming a cat to homemade food, you may encounter the fact that the animal will show stubbornness. But you also show your iron character. If you put homemade food to the animal and it didn’t even touch it for 20 minutes, hide the bowl. And try to feed him already in the afternoon.

If the cat does not eat, then it is not hungry. Don't beg her on your knees to eat homemade food.

Do not worry if the feedings of the cat were not successful, and she has not eaten for about three days. Of course, the fasting of an animal, which lasts more than a day, already carries a danger to the body. A cat may even lose weight and look very weak, but do not be afraid, having homemade food in front of her eyes, she will not choose death from hunger, no matter how tasty the food may seem to her.

Do not forget that the state of health depends on the nutrition of the cat at home. It is better to show the stamina of your character and not go to different tricks of a cunning pet than to sentence him to inevitable and terrible health problems.

Many people believe that caring for a cat is not difficult. It is enough to pour food from the bag into her bowl. What could be easier?

But such owners do not think that such food can harm the animal. If a cat accustomed to food has already fallen into your hands, it is absolutely not necessary to poison the fluffy further. With a little persistence and patience, you can wean your cat off food. How to do this, we will tell in today's article.

Why is it difficult to wean a cat from "drying"?

This task, indeed, can be quite difficult. When looking for a way to wean a cat from dry food, many pet owners may encounter surprising stubbornness of the animal. Cat habits are much more stable than human ones, and therefore it is more difficult to fight them. In addition, many people who have never dealt with these fluffy animals often simply do not know how to feed a domestic cat. What does she love? Can I give her soup, candy or milk?

Another difficulty is that most manufacturers add a variety of flavor enhancers, flavors and food additives to their feed. Cats get so used to this “chemistry” that sometimes it is simply impossible to shift their addictions. Compared to store-bought crackers, homemade food seems simply tasteless to them.

If you want to save money and buy cheap pet food, get ready to become a regular customer of the veterinarian. Budget "drying" contains a record amount of carcinogens, which a priori will not add health to your pet.

Why should you wean your cat off dry food?

If you are ready to think about how to wean a cat from food, then you have already understood what disadvantages canned food has:

In the vast majority of feed manufacturers introduce stimulants. The cat eats a lot, but saturation does not occur.
The stomach of an animal with this method of nutrition loses its ability to stretch. As a result, it becomes physically difficult for the cat to eat regular food.
Even the most expensive brands of dry food are far from perfect. They contain only chemical elements, nothing natural.
Cat food of more or less tolerable quality costs a lot of money. If you are trying to feed your pet on a budget, get ready to visit the veterinary clinic.
Ready-made cat food is most often small granules, pates, purees or small pieces. The animal does not need to load the teeth at all. It just swallows food. This is fraught with the appearance of tartar, plaque and other troubles.
The cat eats the same food. The composition of the granules is almost the same. Only the smell differs, and even then not always. This is easy to verify by opening two or three packs of food with different flavors at the same time and comparing their contents.

If you are still not sure if cats can eat raw meat, and prefer to get by with granules, check out the list of troubles that store-bought croutons can bring to your pet:

beriberi - in the vast majority of dry food, the amount of vitamins declared on the pack does not correspond to the internal contents;
kidney failure - "crackers" are terribly salty, so the kidneys of many animals simply cannot cope with the excretion of such an amount of salt;
dysbacteriosis - beneficial bacteria in the animal's stomach die over time, diarrhea may open;
allergies - if the cat food is not suitable, sores may appear and hair may fall out;
poisoning - cheap feed contains a lot of dyes that are completely unhealthy for the animal;
oncology - most dry food contains monosodium glutamate (a very dangerous substance that can cause cancer).

What should be included in the diet?

In order for your pet to live a long and healthy life, it needs to be properly fed. What do cats like to eat and what should be included in the weekly diet?

Try to give your cat the following foods regularly:

Raw lean meat. Great for chicken, rabbit, turkey or beef.
Fish. It also should not be greasy and be sure to undergo heat treatment.
Egg yolk. One piece a week is enough.

Various dairy products. Here, too, it is necessary to remember about fat content.
Broths and soups. Diversity is allowed here. The main thing is that the pet likes it.
Boiled liver and offal.
Raw and stewed vegetables. It all depends on the individual preferences of the animal. Someone likes melon, and someone likes cucumbers.
Cereals in the form of cereals and casseroles.

Many inexperienced owners are interested in whether cats can have cheese? On the one hand, it seems to be a dairy product, and on the other hand, it is quite fatty and can harm the animal. The answer in this case is quite simple. If you sometimes pamper your pet with a small piece, nothing bad will happen. But feeding a cat with cheese is not worth it regularly.

How to accustom a cat to natural products?

If you don't know how to wean your cat off food, take a look at one of the two options below.

Method number 1

The cat needs to be fed 3-4 times a day. Therefore, try to alternate "crackers" with regular food. Give the usual food in the morning. At this time of day, digestion only “wakes up”. To reduce the salinity of dry food, fill the serving with plenty of water. When the "crackers" are soaked, drain the liquid, and give the wet lumps to the cat.

Make sure your pet always has enough clean water.

For lunch and dinner, offer the animal natural food. Do not give in to the indignant cries of a pet demanding canned food. If the cat has not eaten, remove the bowl after 20-25 minutes until the next feeding.

Method number 2

This option consists of mixing canned food with regular food. On the first day, soak the "crackers", drain off excess water and dilute with homemade food. The proportion is approximately the following: for 5 parts of canned food, 1 part of "natural". Repeat the process for lunch and dinner. Feed the animal in this way for 3 to 5 days.

After that, start diluting the feed in a 4:2 ratio, and after a week, switch to a 3:3 option. Each week, reduce the portion of dry food by 1 part, and gradually increase the proportion of homemade food.

If you have found a suitable way to wean a cat from dry food, follow the action to the end. Do not fall for cat provocations and expressive "hungry" looks. Act confidently and assertively. Stick to your plan.

If an animal has declared a boycott, you should not starve him for weeks. It may be dangerous. Try to arouse interest in homemade food by offering some treats. Offer little by little different foods: a piece of meat, sausages, a slice of bread, a slice of cucumber, a slice of potato. A hungry animal is sure to be interested in something.

What Not to Do

Have you already chosen a way to wean a cat from food? Then remember a few rules:

Take your time. Sometimes it can take months to relearn. An abrupt change in the usual diet will ruin your relationship, lead to a boycott and changes in the well-being of the animal.
Don't spoil your pet. Of course, sometimes it’s not only possible to treat something tasty, but also necessary. But do not "put" food in the animal's mouth. You are not going to indulge all his whims for the rest of your life? That's not the way to start. The attitude towards the animal should remain even and friendly, as always.

Important Points

In the process of retraining an animal, it is important to be persistent and consistent. If you do not live alone, agree with all household members to act rationally. Take special care of children. Protecting their furry pet from the "monster and tyrant", they can feed him with the usual and favorite crackers. Such "concern" will nullify all efforts and fruitful work on retraining.

Explain to the children that you are not doing this because you do not like Barsik or Murka. But because you don't want fluffy to get sick. Ask for help and instruct your child to make sure that the pussy always has plenty of fresh water. More often than not, this tactic works flawlessly.

than should

What can be included in the diet of an adult animal, we have already told. Now let's talk about proportions. Proper nutrition that provides the cat with all the necessary elements should look something like this:

45% - meat and other protein foods (dairy products, eggs, sometimes fish);
20% - offal (offal, lungs, liver, heart);
20% - vegetables, cereals, various sources of fiber and trace elements;
5% - vitamin complexes, oil, bone meal.

Conclusion

Weaning your pet from not-too-healthy store-bought food can take a lot of time and effort. But in return you will get a beautiful and healthy animal. If something does not bother you, you should consult a veterinarian or a specialist in cat nutrition. He will be able to choose an individual diet for your pet and tell you how else you can wean the cat from dry food.

Many cat owners have experienced that a kitten bought from a breeder or cattery refuses to eat any other food than ready-made store-bought food. This behavior may be due to the fact that the old owners of the kitten fed him only this food, and he went to them. used to.

It is necessary to wean a kitten from such food not only because it is expensive to buy food for him, but also because it can harm his health. Almost all veterinarians say that from ready-made food (whether dry or wet), cats not only do not receive all the necessary vitamins, but it also harms them.

How can you teach a cat to homemade food? There are several ways - the most popular and effective method is to gradually replace food with other food. To do this, on the first day, you need to replace ten percent of the usual amount of food with regular food - if the kitten prefers wet food, you can add various cereals to it, and if he usually eats dry food, then it would be best if you prepare a special porridge for the kitten - it is made quite simply - you need to boil sausage trimmings (or you can cook some simple meat), and just add cereals there. Over time, every day or every other day, reduce the amount of food in the bowl, and over time, leave only homemade food altogether - the kitten will already get used to it and will eat it with pleasure.

There is a faster way - immediately put other food in his bowl instead of food - sooner or later the kitten will get hungry, and still eat what was given.

Let the kitten not eat cereals and soups, but it is unlikely that he will refuse a piece of meat or sausage. If he eats this, then next time try putting meat mixed with bread, pasta, or other food in his bowl. All the same, it is unlikely that you have the opportunity to feed him with meat alone. Gradually, he will get used to it, and will begin to eat it all without adding sausage.

Another option is to feed the kitten twice a day, preferably always at the same time. In the morning, put meat in a bowl instead of food, it can be beef or chicken, cut into small pieces. You can give the kitten both raw and boiled meat. If the kitten will not eat it, then just put it in the refrigerator. During the day, he will probably get hungry, and if in the evening you again offer him the same thing that was given in the morning, most likely he will still eat it. Surely, if this is repeated every day, and the kitten realizes that his favorite food will no longer be given to him, he will begin to eat homemade food.

If cat owners decide to switch their pets from a dry to a natural type of food, this happens most often for the following reasons:

pet health problems that require abandoning this type of feeding;
the impossibility to provide high-quality, expensive, industrial dry products of premium, super-premium class;
the desire to diversify the menu, maintain health, prolong the life of the cat by feeding natural, food that is not processed with preservatives.

How to retrain correctly? How to transfer a cat to homemade food, because animals are not always ready to share the owner's intentions and desperately resist innovation, refusing a new diet? Often such voluntary fasting continues for a long time. The cat does not eat, at best it can sniff food, as a result, it loses weight, there are violations of the general condition, behavior, and the appearance changes.

Why is it so difficult to wean a cat from ready-made food?

The composition of dry food, especially the economy class product line, includes a large number of attractants and additives - special ingredients designed to attract an animal, enhance the taste and smell of food, causing persistent addiction to such food. These components are mixed into all feed without exception, especially a lot of them in super-economy class products. Cats almost immediately become addicted to drugs by eating such food.

The absence of useful components is hidden by manufacturers due to the introduction of such chemicals. They significantly worsen the condition of the teeth, hair of pets, cause damage to the psyche, cause serious diseases, allergic reactions.

Danger of dry food

Often the true composition of the product is hidden by the manufacturer. Poor quality food often causes many side effects:

poisoning with chemicals: dyes and flavors;

the development of urolithiasis due to an excess of salts as preservatives, especially dangerous for castrated cats;

the occurrence of beriberi due to the lack of essential vitamins and minerals;

heart failure, allergic reactions;

dysbacteriosis - the death of beneficial intestinal microflora, manifested by indigestion, metabolic disorders, skin and coat problems.

Transferring a cat to homemade food

You can continue to feed the animal with the usual food, mixing little by little the various ingredients of another product, until the replacement is complete. The new type of food should be given to the animal in small quantities in small pieces, the size of which does not differ from the usual daily food. After 4-5 days, the volume of dry food is reduced to 50%, then the replacement occurs completely within 10-15 days.

If the pet prefers certain foods in addition to dry food, they are temporarily limited only to them until the cat is completely weaned from "drying".

If it is difficult to determine the taste preferences of the pet, it is worth offering several different dishes, putting them in different bowls. The cat will choose and take a fancy to a new food, then the cat is already completely transferred to homemade food.

There is such an option when the volume of ordinary food is cut, and the animal, without eating up completely, is saturated with another product, homemade, located nearby with the main, ordinary food.

Usually, the refusal of a cat from a new food plunges the owners into a panic - they worry that the pet is exhausted, sick, and will die. But the animal will not die of hunger if there is food nearby, even tasteless and unloved. Fears are unfounded, remember that you are acting for the benefit of your pet, the cat will reconcile, accept your conditions.

Is it possible to quickly transfer a cat to natural food, cat lovers will tell you:

more rapid adaptation to new food is facilitated by the addition of catnip, with time the supply is stopped, the animal gradually gets used to food;
a few pieces of dry food are placed on the meat to give the usual smell, deceiving the cat;
probiotics are useful during the transition - feeding with dry food impairs peristalsis, lactobacilli improve the digestion process, the microflora is updated, adaptation is easier;
during the transition to natural food, vitamins are recommended;
the bowl of food is removed after 15-20 minutes, regardless of whether food remains in it or not.

Diet for home feeding

The main product in this type of food is meat, about 80%. The rest is cereals, vitamins, vegetable supplements. Natural feeding requires an accurate calculation of the daily intake of food, the opinion that the cat herself knows how much she needs to eat is wrong. Often, fluffy handsome men, not knowing the measure, gobbling up delicious foods on both cheeks, gain excess weight, heart and respiratory problems. Different ages are taken into account when compiling the daily menu.

How to calculate the nutritional rate of a kitten

Two and a half months is the age to wean a baby from its mother. Until the age of nine months, the kitten should receive food no more than 10% of its weight. With a weight of 2000 g, the weight of a daily portion is 200 g. 50% is meat food, 50% is fish products.

How to calculate the amount of food per day for an adult cat

An adult animal needs only 5% of its weight in feed. With an animal weight of 5 kg - 250 g of natural food, consisting of equal parts of sour-milk and meat products. 20 g of vegetables and a few drops of vegetable oil are allowed. Active pets that spend a lot of energy are given more food, inactive, obese, elderly pets need less.

What can you give a cat

The main components of natural cat nutrition are:

fish is a favorite product of fluffy beauties, marine varieties are recommended both raw and boiled. Boiled fish should be cleaned of bones, easily separated from the pulp, they can be swallowed unchewed or stuck in the esophagus;
meat - low-fat chicken, beef, lamb, rabbit meat, horse meat, scalded with boiling water are allowed. Pork is banned;
offal - liver, lungs, heart, kidneys - are introduced into the diet 2 times a week - nutritional value, their usefulness is low. With signs of poor digestion: vomiting, diarrhea - offal is excluded from the animal's menu;
fermented milk products - kefir, cottage cheese, starter cultures of medium fat content. Fat-free ones cause upset stools. Cats do not tolerate milk well - the number of enzymes that break down lactose decreases with age;
vegetables - any are allowed: cabbage, carrots, peppers, pumpkin. A combination is possible. They are given in a chopped raw form, you can mix it with meat. Potato - excluded;
eggs - chicken, quail are suitable. Yolk, protein are mixed. Give separately or with kefir, cottage cheese.

A pet’s illness or surgery is a reason to visit a veterinarian to correct the animal’s nutrition.

Chicken necks have proven themselves well for natural feeding of cats. They are prepared as follows: scroll twice through a meat grinder to grind hard bones, add a little boiled rice or buckwheat, grated carrots. Mix.

Natural food - natural healthy food for your felines. With good care, good attitude, positive attitude of the owners, well-designed feeding ration, the animal will be healthy, happy, and will live a long full life next to the owners.