What A Cat Eats

What a cat eats is mixed in with their behavior and cravings. Here are some cat facts about food, milk, and some dangerous “nos.”

Cat’s Protein Needs

• A cat needs about twice the percentage of protein, 25 percent, in its diet than a dog, which eats about 13 percent protein.
• Cats require intake of more protein than most animals.  Enzymes in their livers absorb much of the protein before it is used by their bodies.

Stalking Prey

• Cats are much better at stalking mice than they are at stalking birds.  About 90% of birds escape the lunge of a cat, versus only 20% of “mice escapes.” Before a cat eats a bird, it removes it’s feathers. Feathers look great, but don’t taste great, and are practically unswallowable.

Road Kill

• Even though a cat looks dainty and clean, they can eat some pretty gross things.  After a cat kills a small rodent or mammal, it swallows the prey with the grain of the hair, head first.   Guess you have to be a cat to understand the attraction and swallowing process.
• Cats by nature, kill deer mice but rarely eat them.  Apparently they are not palatable food. 

Baby, Baby

• Americans spend almost 4 billion a year on cat food, more than they spend on baby food.  Who knew? 

The Cat’s Raspy Tongue

• The cat tongue is mostly raspy to enable the cat to remove as much meat as possible from the bones of its prey and to help in grooming. 
• The abrasive part, filiform papillae, of the tongue contains no taste buds.  The taste buds are at the tip, sides, and base of the tongue.

Mighty Tasty!

• Cat’s tongues react to sourness and bitterness but are not sensitive to sweetness. This may ge a protecive device because ingesting sugar usually causes digestive problems.

Picky Eaters

• Cats prefer to eat their food at 86 degrees F, which is why they don’t immediately gulp down the half-eaten can of food from the refrigerator.

Cat’s and Milk

• Cats cannot digest lactose and are therefore allergic to milk, which will give them diarrhea.  However, they can eat yogurt without any problems.  Put that saucer of milk away!
• The milk of a mother cat contains three times the protein of cow’s milk and six times the protein of human milk. 

Beware, Cats Like to Eat This!

• Cats love to eat liver, which is high in vitamin A, but too much of it is dangerous to the cat’s life and may cause hemorrhaging and bone problems.  Variety is the spice of life!

Aspirin – Not for your Cat!

• Aspirin, an all-purpose medicine for humans, is poisonous to cats. 

Watch out for AntiFreeze!

• Cats have an unusual preference for antifreeze, ethylene glycol, which, of course, is poisonous.  Keep them away from antifreeze!

Cat Laps

• When a cat laps up water, it takes several “practice laps” before it actually swallows the liquid.  I guess the tongue has to get in rhythm first.

Other Forbidden Food for Cats

• No Chocolate! As with Dodgs, do not let your cat eat chocolate bars.  They contain both theobromine, an alkaloid that is toxic to cats, and oxalic acid, which prevents absorption of calcium, necessary for the cat’s bone growth and maintenance.

Beware of Frogs!

• Toads are not the favorite prey of cats, although cats usually try to play with them because of their “hopping and moving” habits.  Cats may even try to take a bite, but don’t let them, as toads exude a poison called bufotalin, also not good for dogs.

Dining Out? Location, Location, Location!

• Just as you wouldn’t like to eat in the bathroom of your home, don’t put a litterbox near where you feed your dat.  By nature, cats do not like to perform these two biological functions in the same area, and will be  reluctant to eat if the litterbox is too close to their food.  Well, would you?

Poisonous Flowers and Plants for Cats

• andromeda
• azalea
• bittersweet
• boxwood
• crown of thorn
• Daphne
• dumb cane (diefenbachia)
• elephant ear (caladium)
• foxglove
• holly
• English ivy
• hydrangea
• Jerusalem cherry
• lantana
• laurel
• lily-of-the-vally
• mistletoe
• monkshood
• oleander
• philodrendron
• pine needles
• poinsettia
• prifet
• rhododendron
• sheep laurel
• snow-on-the-mountain

How Many Cats Is Too Many?

I think two is plenty, but not so for Felinophiles Jack and Donna Wright of Kingston, Ontario.  They spend about $250 a day on dat food and kitty litter, and about $300 a day on veterinarian fees.  The reason is that they own 600 cats!!  The Wrights say “We love each and every one of our 600 cats…our cats are like our children!” 

And I thought 250+ foster children was a lot of meowing!

-Sassy’s Mom, the cat’s meow