The cat has lived alongside humans for thousands of years and has always remained a strong-willed and independent predator. Preying on small mammals such as mice, birds or even insects, the cat has always been mainly concerned with their meat. To this day, the cat has remained a true carnivore - but what has changed is its living environment.
Two thirds of the cat's body consists of water. That is why it is so important to offer mainly wet food - dry food should only play a supplementary role on their daily meal. When changing food, the proportion of meat in the meal is crucial - for species-appropriate conditions, cats need at least 85 to 90% meat in each meal, every day to absorb the necessary vital nutrients. In addition to meat, rich offal provides the necessary taurine content to provide the cat with a long and healthy life.
Meat is the priority:
Changing the cat's diet to Felins Plus®
With a meat content of over 85%, our Felins Plus® Meal Rolls are perfectly tailored to the needs of the cat, which as true carnivores, should receive mainly meat as their food. There are four delicious flavours available, three of which contain only one meat source. This makes them very suitable for allergy sufferers. One of our flavours consists of easily digestible chicken meat and pollock, which enriches the diet with valuable omega fatty acids.
- Felins Plus® Beef with squash and cottage cheese
- Felins Plus® Chicken with courgette and egg
- Felins Plus® Rabbit with carrot and catnip
- Felins Plus® Pollock with chicken and vegetables
All four flavours provide a balanced, needs-based complete meal with high-quality meat, fish, vitamins, minerals, taurine and eggshell powder for the cat's food change. They are ideal for combined feeding with our cold-pressed Felins Plus® Poultry & Fish. They can also be fed as a supplement to BARF or as a BARF substitute whilst on holiday. Should you like to know more about how to feed BARF to a cat, then take a look here.
Our cold-pressed Felins Plus® Poultry & Fish has an enormous advantage, in that it does not show any swelling behavior in the digestive tract and does not bind any liquids whilst being digested.
Nevertheless, it is of crucial health relevance for the cat when changing food that dry food only makes up a maximum of 20% of the daily food ration - the cat should get mainly wet food, such as our Felins Plus® Meal Rolls.
Are you absent from home during the day? Or do you find it difficult to leave wet food or a BARF meal out all day - especially as cats usually prefer to eat their food freshly prepared. Offering a small amount of our Felins Plus® Poultry & Fish as a general feed is a very good alternative. Due to the cold-pressing process, our natural dry cat food can easily be fed as a supplement to BARF or wet food during the food changeover.
Changing the food for cats. How to make it work!
Cats are imprinted on a type of food at an early age and usually prefer it for a lifetime, so cats must be slowly familiarised with a natural food. Especially if the cat is used to flavourings within the food, it often takes a little time and patience for a successful changeover.
- Sneak in Meal Rolls
You can slowly introduce the meal rolls by mixing them with the old wet food for the first few days. The previous food is then reduced bit by bit, depending on the cat's acceptance, while you increase the amount of our meal roll accordingly. - Mix dry food into wet food
If your cat likes to eat our meal roll or wet food, but refuses our dry food, you can improve the acceptance of the dry food by regularly mixing a few pellets into the wet food. Meanwhile, the dry food will continue to be offered as a single meal. Once the cat has become accustomed to the new taste and texture, it will eventually eat the dry food after a short time without having to mix wet food into it. - Making dry food more interesting in a playful way
For the first few days, you can playfully offer the cat a few pellets of our cold-pressed Felins Plus® Poultry & Fish. For example, you can throw her individual pellets so that they have to chase, or hide dry food in the room, which they then are supposed to look for. If you want to change the food, it is important not to mix the old dry food with the new one in a bowl, but to replace the meal completely. - Enrich flavour
You can add a splash of warm water to the empty packaging to allow the fat within the package to dissolve into a gravy. Then mix this liquid into the food. Our Salmon oil, fish, Full-cream Goat’s Milk Powder or our Organic Coconut Oil can also increase your cat's acceptance of the new food. - Special feeding tips
Many cats prefer flat ceramic bowls in an elevated position when feeding.
These are just a few examples of how to successfully change a feed. You know your cat the best, decide which of these tips is most likely to succeed and try this one first. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our team of experts. The same applies to existing diseases and symptoms.
Naturavetal® Info
For healthy digestion
Since food changes in the cat are accompanied by the intestinal flora getting to know something new, the first days of the change may be accompanied by increased or soft feaces. Depending on the cat, however, this will regulate itself within a few days.
Feeding recommendation
For Felins Plus® Meal Rolls
Kittens can eat as much as they want. From 6 months onwards, feed approx. 5% of the body weight (for seniors 3.5-5%) per day.
These guide values should be individually adapted to the cat’s temperament and age.
Naturavetal® Info
The right amount of food
The optimum amount of food depends on various factors such as activity level, age, season, physical and mental health and much more and should be assessed individually. Please inform yourself about the healthy average weight of your cat. Unfortunately, far too many cats today suffer from obesity.
Feeding recommendation for Felins Plus® Poultry & Fish
Feeding recommendation for Felins Plus® Dry Food
As a supplement to our Felins Plus® Meal Rolls or BARF
| Weight of the cat | Felins Plus® Poultry & Fish per day |
|---|---|
| Kittens and young cats (up to 12 months) | Only as an occasional supplement* |
| Cats up to 3 kg | Up to approx. 15 g per day* |
| Cats 4 - 6 kg | Up to approx. 15 - 20 g per day* |
| Cats 7 - 10 kg | Up to approx. 20 - 25 g per day* |
*Supplementary to the wet food daily ration.
Felins Plus® Poultry & Fish is the perfect complement to BARF or the Felins Plus® meal rolls. A cat's main food should always be wet food.
Tips for storing wet and dry food
The meal rolls should be stored in the refrigerator after opening and used within 3 to 4 days. It is possible to freeze them in portions. At temperatures up to 25 °C, the unopened sealed Felins Plus® Meal Rolls do not need to be refrigerated. You can simply store them in the cupboard.
The dry food should not be decanted after opening (for example, into a storage can). It is best to just leave it in the original paper bag and loosely roll it up. If you like, you can place the paper bag in a suitable container, but it should not be sealed in an airtight container. If you use a cup to remove food, it should be rinsed once or twice a week. You should not reach into the feed bag with your hands, as this can introduce germs into the feed from the outside. Felins Plus® Poultry & Fish is regularly checked for mites.
Naturavetal® Info
More feeding tips for cats
- A cold-pressed dry food should not be mixed together with other dry food - the change of food should be sharp change.
- Sensitive allergy sufferers benefit from being fed only one animal protein source per day. Not only in their main food, but also their snacks should come from one animal species. You can find more information about suitable snacks for cats here.
- Allow the cat to rest while eating.
- It may be better to feed several cats separately without stress.
- Several small meals are healthier than one large meal.
- Food that is too hot or too cold can cause diarrhea or vomiting. The optimal feeding temperature is room temperature.
Further information and frequently asked questions (FAQ) about changing your cat's diet
Changing a cat's diet may be necessary for various reasons. The cat can no longer tolerate its old food, it has developed an allergy or other illness that makes the old food no longer suitable, or you simply want to feed it a more species-appropriate diet. In all these cases it makes sense to switch to a more healthy and natural food.
Changing a cat's diet can take a few days to weeks, depending on how much the cat is imprinted on its old food. In addition, factors such as age and access to the outside as well as the character of the cat also play a role in how easily the cat accepts the change of food. If you would like to learn more about what needs to be considered when feeding older animals? Then feel free to take a look here.
If the cat suffers with diarrhea following a change of food, it may be a sign that it does not tolerate the new food well. However, a distinction should be made - If the cat suffers a major case of diarrhea, this is not a good sign. However, if the faeces is softer than usual, this is often a sign that the cat's intestinal flora simply needs to get used to the new food. The faeces will then solidify on their own within a few days.
If the cat refuses to eat it’s new food, it could be due to various factors. The cat may be accustomed to attractants and flavorings from it’s old food. If the new food is free of these artificial additives, it will just take some time for the cat to get used to it. However, refusal could be due to the consistency of the food, perhaps it is previously unknown to the cat, which it must first get to know.
Cats are usually imprinted on a type of food at an early age and usually prefer it for a lifetime. If the cat gets a previously unknown source of meat, this may also be the reason why it refuses food at the beginning. Be patient and try to get the cat used to the new food slowly. Salmon oil or whole goat's milk powder can support the transition in difficult cases.
We will be happy to provide you with comprehensive advice on the species-appropriate nutrition of your cat.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us by phone. We are here to help you with comprehensive advice. You can reach us Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. by phone at 0208 - 531 7804 or mail info@naturavetal.co.uk.
