Reasons why tuna treats for cats need to be limited

There are three main reasons why tuna treats for cats should be limited:

• Mercury poisoning and light lead poisoning
• Tuna is overfished. In the interests of conservation tuna needs to left alone to recover
• Tuna is an unbalanced food for cats

Would it be possible to slightly poison your cat if you fed them canned tuna all the time?

Canned tuna wouldn't cause lead poisoning in your cat, but there are other health concerns with feeding it all the time. Here's the breakdown:

• Lead: The amount of lead in canned tuna is very low and regulated for human consumption. It's unlikely to be enough to poison your cat.
• Mercury: Canned tuna, especially albacore, can be high in mercury. Frequent consumption can lead to mercury poisoning in cats, causing problems like loss of coordination and vision issues.
• Nutritional Imbalance: Canned tuna lacks essential nutrients cats need for a complete diet. Long-term feeding can lead to deficiencies and health problems.

Here's what to do instead:

• Treats: Offer canned tuna as an occasional treat, not a main food source. Opt for skipjack tuna due to lower mercury content.
• Cat Food: Feed your cat a high-quality, balanced cat food formulated to meet their nutritional needs.

If you're worried about your cat's diet, consult your veterinarian. They can recommend a healthy feeding plan and address any concerns about mercury or other potential issues

Why is canned tuna high in mercury?

Canned tuna can be high in mercury because tuna are high up the food chain. Here's the science behind it:

• Mercury's Origin: Mercury enters the oceans from natural sources like volcanoes and human activities like industrial pollution.
• Bioaccumulation: Bacteria convert mercury into methylmercury, a form absorbed by small fish.
• Predatory Cycle: Larger fish, like tuna, consume these smaller fish, inheriting their mercury. Unlike other toxins, mercury doesn't get flushed out, so it accumulates in the tuna's tissues over time.

Species Matters:

• High Mercury: Albacore tuna, a larger species, tends to have the highest mercury content.
• Lower Mercury: Skipjack tuna, a smaller variety, generally has lower mercury levels.

Safe Consumption:

• Variety is Key: Include various types of seafood in your diet to avoid exceeding recommended mercury limits.
• Government Resources: The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) https://www.fda.gov/ and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) https://www.epa.gov/ provide guidelines on safe fish consumption.

By understanding where mercury comes from and how it accumulates in tuna, you can make informed choices about incorporating this nutritious fish into your diet without exceeding safe mercury levels.

Is there lead inside tuna?

Yes, there can be trace amounts of lead in tuna. However, the levels are typically very low and well below the safety limits set by regulatory agencies.

Lead is a naturally occurring element that can also enter the environment through human activities such as pollution. Fish absorb lead from the water they live in and the food they eat. Larger, predatory fish like tuna tend to have higher levels of lead than smaller fish because they accumulate lead over time as they consume other fish.

According to a study published in the journal Food Chemistry, the lead content of tuna can vary depending on the species, with albacore tuna having the highest levels and skipjack tuna having the lowest levels. The study also found that the lead content of tuna was higher in canned tuna than in fresh tuna. This is likely because the canning process can concentrate lead from the bones of the fish.

While there is some lead in tuna, the levels are generally considered to be safe for human consumption. The FDA has set a maximum allowable level of lead in canned tuna of 0.3 parts per million (ppm). Studies have shown that consuming tuna at moderate levels (less than two cans per week) is not associated with any adverse health effects.

If you are concerned about your lead intake, you can limit your consumption of albacore tuna and choose skipjack tuna instead. You can also limit your overall intake of canned tuna and choose other types of seafood, such as salmon or shrimp, which are lower in lead.

Is tuna being overfished worldwide?

Yes, tuna is being overfished worldwide. Here's a breakdown of the situation:

• High Demand, Strained Stocks: The global demand for tuna, particularly bluefin tuna prized for sushi, has driven fishing pressure beyond sustainable levels for several species.
• Overfished Species: Pacific bluefin tuna is a prime example, once depleted to just 2.6% of its unfished level. Atlantic bigeye and Indian Ocean yellowfin tuna populations are also experiencing overfishing due to rising catch levels.
• Impact on Ecosystem: Overfishing disrupts the marine food chain as tuna are top predators. This can lead to population imbalances and harm the overall ocean ecosystem.
• Conservation Efforts: International organizations and some regional fisheries management bodies have implemented measures to control catches and rebuild populations. However, challenges remain in ensuring truly sustainable fishing practices.
• Skipjack Resilience: While currently abundant, skipjack tuna, the most common canned tuna variety, could become vulnerable if not managed properly.

Overall, tuna overfishing is a serious threat to the health of our oceans and these fish populations. Look for tuna products that are certified sustainable by organizations like the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to support responsible fishing practices.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

I ask my cat if he wants wet food and he answers

One of the difficulties for a cat caregiver is ensuring that your cat eats all or nearly all the wet food that you give him/her. You have to minimise waste both for financial reasons and because it is a pain in the bum getting rid of waste cat food. Giving it to the foxes is perhaps the best way if your neighbours don't know about it or accept it. Judging by the stories in the internet sometimes neighbours get angry about feeding wildlife by feeding feral cats. 

Anyway, this is how I minimise wet cat food waste. I ask him. Literally. Of course I also understand his body language and the signals he sends to me when he is interested in a meal but sometimes cats can fool their owners in this regard because they want a treat and not regular food. It is hard to tell the difference.

What I do is this:

• I ask in English if he wants wet food
• I place my cat on the kitchen counter - yes, I feed my cat on the kitchen counter. Some people do.
• I hold up a sachet of wet food - a small sachet to make sure he eats all of it - near his face.
• If he is interested and genuinely in the mood to eat because he is sufficiently hungry he head butts my hand. The one that is holding the cat food sachet. 
• He wants it. I remove the food carefully to avoid splashing some on the counter. Sachets can he hard to tear open. I always use a knife to ensure that all the food is extracted. Waste not want not.
• He eats all the food.

The key is his answer in the affirmative response by head butting my hand. This means he butts the top of his head against it. This is scent exchange - depositing scent on my hand but it also serves as a positive response to my question under these circumstances.

How did I get to this form of communication? It took several years of routine. As they say, patience is all when it comes to training a cat.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Automatic cat feeder controllable by a smart phone is a bad idea

The Mail Online promotes what the author considers to be a wonderful device for a cat owner. It says that you can feed your kitties from your phone. The device costs about £80. It is an automatic cat feeder which will keep your pet happy but not hungry and it can even stop them from overeating! Great.

And they start off by saying that if you go out to work during the day and then after a hard day's work you like to have a pint with your pals in a local public house, and then get home around 10 PM, you can feed your feline during those long hours apart.

Automatic cat feeder controllable by a smart phone is a bad idea.

This must be a very poor idea for a cat owner and worse for their cat. The device promotes feline separation anxiety. It encourages people to stay away from their cat all day and long into the evening.

RELATED: How long can I leave my cat ‘home alone’?

And if their cat lives in an apartment with nothing to stimulate them throughout those long hours, what are you going to end up with? A nervous, anxious cat, stressed up to the nines. It is just not going to work.

Dry foods

This high-tech piece of kit feeds dry cat food all the time as it has to. It can only feed dry foods. The general consensus today is that you should feed dry cat food occasionally or perhaps at night for grazing but it is not a good idea to feed dry cat food 100% of the time because it is too unnatural. 

Domestic cats do not compensate adequately for the unnatural dryness of the food which means that it keeps longer and therefore is more convenient for the owner but in terms of pure feline health it is not as good as a good quality wet cat food.

Cystitis

This is the kind of arrangement that could lead to the cat suffering from cystitis because there is not enough liquid in their diet and too much stress in their life. A recipe for this well-known bladder infection.

Voice recording

It seems, however, that the manufacturers have, to a very minor extent, taken on board what I mention above about separation anxiety. A nod to the problem and a weak attempt to deal with it. 

They allow the cat owner to record their voice into the machine which then plays it back automatically. This allows the cat to at least hear their owner's voice.

Is that going to be enough? No, is the short answer. I am sorry for being so negative but I do not believe that these sorts of devices are useful. They may be worse than that. They encourage poor cat caregiving.

Lifestyle unsuited to cat caregiving?

They encourage people to believe that they can work all day and go out all evening while believing that they are doing a good job in looking after their cat companion. I am afraid not. There is no substitute for being with your cat. With making contact with your cat. With playing with your cat. And with petting your cat.

Domestic cats like contact. They need physical contact. They want to feel the hand of their owner. They want to touch the hand of their owner. They want to sit on their lap and so on. All this is obviously impossible if the man or woman is in a wine bar chatting with his or her mates after a hard day's work.

Firstly, I don't think a person should have a cat companion if they habitually work long hours and then go to the pub afterwards. This person should suspend the idea of being a cat owner and wait until their lifestyle is more suited.

And don't believe what the bumf says about this device. It misses the most important aspect of the human-to-cat relationship: direct contact with your cat and being in the presence of your cat on a regular and substantial basis.

Man who owns the world's tallest domestic cat spends almost $500 per month on pet food

Physician, Dr. William Powers, is known for being the man who owns two world record domestic cats: the domestic cat with the world's longest tail and the domestic cat who is the tallest to the shoulder. The former is a silver tabby Maine Coon and the latter is an F2 Savannah cat whose name is Fenrir Antares Powers. The Maine Coon's name is Altair Cygnus Powers. He is also known for losing 2 world record-holding domestic cats in a devastating house fire.

Powers and his overweight world record holding F2 Savannah cat. Image: Photo: Guinness World Records 

When I read that he spent upwards of $500 per month on pet food it made me perk up a little bit and I ask myself why and how because it seems to me to be an enormous amount of money.

And the reason is this: firstly, he has six cats in all including the two mentioned. And perhaps more importantly, he prepares a special diet for his F2 Savannah cat who is always hungry. 

The last point is an important one because not that long ago, I wrote an article stating that in my opinion this F2 Savannah cat was overweight at that time. It appears that Dr. Powers has been giving in to his Savannah cat's demands for more food. 

And I wonder whether he is having trouble keeping his Savannah cat entertained and stimulated. Perhaps the cat is bored but I feel fairly certain that he was overweight and at 36 pounds that, too, would seem to be excessive even for such a large domestic cat.

Apparently, he's a very friendly and outgoing Savannah cat but he is very big, as expected, for a domestic cat. And no doubt he is active because Savannah cats are active or more so than typical domestic cats. They are also more intelligent and therefore need more stimulation which in turn results in more activity.

He makes a custom diet made out of raw meat, mainly chicken but sometimes other animal sources. And he adds supplements like essential amino acids, long chain fatty acids, porcine bonemeal and other additives such as nutritional yeast flavour.

So, seems that he provides a raw diet for a Savannah cat as the main diet. This doesn't surprise me at all. He probably feels that it is necessary as this cat has a lot of serval DNA in him and a well-prepared raw diet containing all the nutrients that a domestic cat requires plus excellent storage is probably going to be better than standard high quality wet cat food. 

But that is a matter of debate and most veterinarians recommend that cat owners do not prepare a raw diet for their cat.

Of course, this doctor is going to be more critical about food preparation and so on which is why he is probably well-qualified to do what he does.

We don't know what the other cats get but I suspect that it is more of a standard commercially prepared cat food diet.

How often should domestic cats be fed in 24 hours?

 A lot has been said about the frequency and number of meals over 24 hours. I think 2 meals a day is too low a number (but Cornell, VCA Hospitals and most other sources disagree with me 😢 - they advocate 2x). 

There could/should be more meals but less quantity in each meal I believe. I believe this to be more natural but it is up for debate (definitely). Although the domestic cat's wild ancestor, the North African wildcat, eats 7-20 small meals over 24 hours according to Science Direct. The domestic cat has inherited all of the wildcats attributes. We follow the ancestor to figure out these issues.

How often should domestic cats be fed in 24 hours? Image: MikeB

RELATED: Some more on the topic.

I also believe that the typical sachet of wet cat food contains too much at one sitting. In my experience cats are more inclined to eat all of their food if the sachet is small. They tend to leave some otherwise which is annoying for a number of reasons including where do you put it and it is a waste of money. I believe that larger amounts can be too much for the domestic cat's stomach which is the size of a ping pong ball!

RELATED: How big is a cat’s stomach? And are we feeding our cats all wrong?

I also think that wet cat food should be the default selection (to replicate the rodent as the classic meal) and dry should be for night time grazing. Dry has to contain a lot of carbs to make it. And it is addictive because of the flavourings. 

If your cat is obese and, on a diet, has he lost weight? If not, he'll need to be more active, I am afraid. I sense that this is a problem as many cat owners are working and out all day. Not enough play time for full-time indoor cats. And he'll have to eat less. No magic formula. No treats too! 😊. Tough love comes to mind. 

But it should be a gradual change in food reduction as quick change can cause hepatic lipidosis. Sorry if this sounds too tough. One last point: dry cat food + stress can = cystitis. I am not saying this alaays happens but it can occur. Inappropriate elimination is quite a big issue with cat ownership and not infrequently it is for the above reason.

Picture of a full-bellied lion cub after feeding

 

Full bellied lion cub. Image: Reddit user u/asilvertintedrose on Reddit. I don't expect that this person is the photographer, however.

This lion cub looks zonked out after feeding to the maximum on raw flesh judging by the blood on his forelegs and on his muzzle and on chin. And of course, we can't forget the belly, which is completely full, but you can't blame a lion cub for eating to the maximum because they are never quite sure when the next meal is going to arrive.

I think that it is a great picture. It is almost too good to be true and looks as though that it might have been set up but then again, the blood looks very real.

The distended belly is enormous I wonder whether he has overdone the feeding. I have never seen a lion cub with such a full belly. I think that he has eaten enough to keep him alive for a week ✔️😊.

It is a convenient moment to talk about feeding. You might know that in general, lions eat enormous amounts of meat (flesh) at a sitting. One male was recorded eating 33 kg of meat during a night.

In a pride of lions, as expected, the strongest male lion will eat first followed by other members of the pride. Lionesses will feed before cubs and cubs get the scraps.

Arguably, by human standards, a lion pride is a misogynistic society because although females conduct most of the hunts the top male lion feeds first followed by the other males. As mentioned, the females feed secondly and then the cubs who have a hierarchy of their own.

Sometimes male lions tolerate showing their food with cubs.

The point being made is that as cubs get the scraps, it is unsurprising that you will see a cub as you see in the photograph on this page, fully sated after overeating because he or she has probably struggled hard to get what was available and therefore they ate the whole lot just in case there'd be a long break before the next meal.

3-hour old wet cat food in bowl? Your cat might prefer it.

My personal experience tells me that if you put down a sachet of wet cat food into a cat food bowl and your cat rejects it for whatever reason, you should cover it up with a plate (stop flies laying eggs) and wait at least a few hours depending upon the ambient temperature because your cat might come back and eat it. In fact, it can be left for much longer depending on the air temperature and your cat's preferences.

He might do this because (1) he is a little hungrier three hours later and (2) the food is a little smellier. And some cats are more dependent on others on the food being smelly. Some cats, also, are more naturally scavengers and they don't mind if the wet cat food smells a bit.

My cat eating 3-hour old wet cat food.

The advantage of using this method is that you throw away less cat food. Throwing away a full bowl of cat food or even a half full bowl is troublesome for two reasons (1) you are wasting money and in this era of cost-of-living crisis you don't want to waste money even pennies and (2) throwing away substantial amounts of wet cat food is problematic because it smells. 

You put it in the waste bin, but it smells and sometimes flies deposit their eggs on the food before you can throw it away which results in maggots crawling all over the place. You don't want to throw away wet cat food you can help it.

Wet cat food bowl used for 5 meals without washing it. Image: MikeB

And on occasions, when you put down just the right amount of wet cat food and your cat is nicely hungry, he will eat everything in the bowl, and you will not even need to clean the bowl in preparation for the next helping of wet cat food!

Indoor/outdoor cat becomes very hungry in the winter

On social media, a cat owner tells us that she has lived with her cat for about a year.  During the summer months, her cat is very much an indoor/outdoor cat. She spends all day, every day outside and prefers to sleep outside under a certain plant in her back garden. She says that "during summer she was out all day barely eating her food". She's not sure but she says "maybe she was catching mice".

Indoor/outdoor cat. This is not the cat referred to in the article. Image: by Sa Ka from Pixabay.

RELATED: Are indoor or indoor/outdoor cats healthier?

Since the weather has turned and become much less agreeable for an indoor/outdoor cat she's become more "homely". She does not like the rain very much. And "she is suddenly so hungry!"

Whatever she feeds her, she demands more. She says that "some days I break and give her another tiny bit of biscuits or another day one of the kids got excited and fed her another packet".

Well, the woman is providing her cat with only dry cat food and not enough of it, it seems to me. The received wisdom of cat experts is that this is incorrect. Good quality wet cat food is better than dry cat food as it contains more water (70% compared to around 10%). Domestic cats do not drink enough water to compensate for the lack of water in dry cat food. This leads them to being mildly dehydrated. Therefore, cats must be provided with wet cat food.

As to the fact that she is suddenly very hungry this must be because she is a great hunter and during the summer months, she obtains most of her food through hunting, probably mice, near where she lives. And clearly, she does not bring her food back into the home. Not all cats do this. And/or she was being fed by a neighbour but the hunting theory is almost certainly the correct one.

A lot of domestic cat hunting takes place out of sight and out of mind of their owners. This applies to all domestic cats allowed outside. Although, we know too, that many cats like to bring their 'kills' inside the home, extend the hunt inside the home and then finally kill and eat their prey in a quiet corner of their "den".

The question on the social media site (mumsnet.com) regarding this cat is that she is a "very hungry cat". That's a question because she is asking "why is my cat suddenly very hungry?". The answer is she's not hunting any more in the winter months and therefore requires feeding. And she is not being fed enough and the wrong food by the sound of it.

REALATED: 16 tips on cat worms and deworming.

A side issue is that she should be dewormed regularly to get rid of endoparasites that she is ingesting with the mice. It is almost certain that she has worms after summer months of mice hunting.

How do I stop my neighbour feeding my cat?

The best idea that I can think of to stop your neighbour feeding your cat is this one. You fit a dietary alert collar to your wandering cat. The collar has the following message on it: PLEASE DO NOT FEED ME and on the buckle, there is a medical warning sign. If you can buy a customised collar whereby the manufacturer allows you to choose your own words then you could put something like the following on it: I'M ALLERGIC TO CERTAIN FOODS - PLEASE DO NOT FEED ME! This is better.

Dietary alert collar

Alternatively, you can buy a collar with the above words on it and with a tag attached to the collar which certainly can be customised on which you can put a warning about your cat being allergic to certain foods but don't tell them what foods, obviously. This might frighten your neighbour to stop feeding your cat.

Dietary alert collar for a cat who is being fed by a neighbour and becoming obese. Screenshot.

I think the best way to stop your neighbour feeding your cat is through fear! That sounds a bit harsh but I don't think you will succeed by simply talking to your neighbour.

Clearly, you can put on the collar's tag the name of your cat and the phone number which would allow your neighbour to telephone you and discuss the matter and then you could ask them to stop feeding your cat but, as mentioned, I think this has a high chance of failure.

I say that because when a wondering cat constantly visits a nice home occupied by a nice person, they will enjoy the experience and come back. This is not a criticism of the home in which they live. It is just that some domestic cats don't feel attached quite so strongly to their human caregiver. All domestic cats have this slightly loose relationship in any case.

It doesn't matter how good a caregiver you are; some cats are going to wander and it doesn't matter how sensible the neighbour is. If they have a nice cat constantly visiting and they enjoy their company they might be tempted - even if told not to - to feed them.

But a stern warning which sends a message that if they feed your cat, they might harm them would, I believe, have a greater prospect of success.

This perennial problem is being faced by Fiona Keddie Ord who lives in Amersham, UK. The city has a Facebook page and her two cats, Simba and Arlo, wander off regularly. She lives in a nice part of the country and she does not want to keep them inside permanently because they enjoy the outside which is apparently pretty safe.

Arlo (right, white socks) & Simba (left, no socks). Image: FB.

RELATED: Woman issues flyer asking neighbours to stop feeding her cat. Who’s at fault?

But her neighbour feeds them and she is concerned about them putting on weight. She posted on the Amersham Facebook page a polite request saying:

“A gentle and polite request. These are our beloved cats, Arlo (right, white socks) & Simba (left, no socks). Simba often wanders from home for days because we suspect he is being fed treats from other homes. If so, please do not.

"He is fed the correct amounts of healthy food and additional food is not good for cats. We have to take him for his yearly health check and can’t because he is irregularly home. These cats are well looked after.

"You should never feed other owners’ animals. They may need specific foods, they may become overfed. If you come across an animal that seems mistreated or not looked after, take to a local vet to track owners or report. Do not assume and feed treats. Thank you.”

I don't know whether the post succeeded but she received lots of comments from other members of this Facebook page, one of whom suggested that she keeps cats indoors full-time, which she rejected.

Another queried why neighbours sometimes feed other neighbours' cats. They know it's not a good thing to do and they know it might upset their neighbour and cause a health problem in the cat because they might become obese. This is because cats will eat even when they're not angry sometimes. But they still do it. It's human nature.

What they should be doing really is discourage their neighbour's cats coming onto their property by gently shooing them away or making it clear to the cat that they are unwelcome. A gentle person might find this hard to do particularly when they are an animal lover. Punishment should not be involved. It should be 'divine intervention'.

RELATED: Cat punishment versus divine intervention.

But it clearly is the best thing to do unless the cat is in a bad way and underfed. Under these circumstances the neighbour's reaction should be entirely different. They have a duty to care for that cat and if necessary, take them to the local veterinarian for a checkup and treatment if they can't contact the neighbour and even if the can because the neighbour will probably be irresponsible.

I can tell when my cat is genuinely hungry by his weight

It sounds improbable but I can tell when my cat is genuinely hungry by his weight when I pick him up. I can feel the differences in his weight. I believe that cat caregivers need to fully understand when their cat is genuinely hungry and will eat the food that is put down before them as opposed to those times when domestic cats sometimes are seeking what I will call "food therapy". Too much wet cat food is wasted. Think how many millions of tons of cat food is waster annually.

My cat has a 'primordial pouch'! Not call domestic cats have them. As you can see he has a perfect body weight or BMI! That's because he is active and eats well.

  

Sometimes domestic cats eat out of boredom I believe or because it is just there and instinctively, they eat some of it. But I know my cat's weight or the feel of his weight by picking him up. And I can tell the difference between when he has lost some weight and when he has gained a little bit of weight. The difference is subtle.

When he feels light, I believe that if he is asking for food at those times, he is genuinely hungry and will eat the entire bowl of food that I put down for him. This has been proved true time and again.

If I'm correct, it is a useful check. I don't know about you but I feel that I waste too much cat food. I decide to give him food with care and with as near certainty as possible that he will eat it. However, sometimes he shows some interest but then leaves it. In that instance you have almost certainly thrown away an entire sachet of wet cat food. 

Perhaps cats vary in this aspect of their behavior. Perhaps some cats are more predictable. But then again perhaps some cats always eat their food and are obese as a consequence.

Sometimes, and I stress that this is quite rare, he does come back to wet food that has been left out for quite a long time and eats it. He does this because it smells stronger and domestic cats are scavengers unlike their wild forebears and so he might scavenge some hours-old wet cat food during the night.

I'm trying to figure out some scientific reason why there is a link between my cat being genuinely hungry and being lighter than normal. I think is because he has gone to the toilet and a few or more hours after going to the toilet his eating rhythms kick in and he is ready for food. That is a guess. Or he is simply more active at some times and eats later than normal. Under these circumstances he burns some fat and therefore feels lighter.

But I can quite definitely detect the difference in how much he weighs simply by picking him up. I can also combine this with palpitating his body. Sometimes he feels a little bit thinner than at other times. There's a natural weight fluctuation. I am sure that this is entirely normal and happens with humans.

Detecting his weight helps guide me as to whether he needs genuinely needs food or not.

Scientists say that domestic cats prefer to get free meals rather than work for them! Big deal.

I really can't understand what the UC Davis scientists are getting at in this study, which concluded that cats prefer to get free meals rather than work for them. They say that cats are unusual in that they prefer to eat from a bowl, given to them, rather than use an interactive feeder which makes it harder to get at the food. This is an invite for cat haters to say that cats are lazy good-for-nothings.

My cat using an interactive puzzle feeder. He is going against the grain in this activity according to the UC Davis study.

They say other animals, even giraffes, prefer the challenge of trying to get to food i.e. work for it, and don't like it served up. I find it extraordinary and I find it even more extraordinary that the scientists have spent time to come up with something which is very obvious.

Domestic cats have been domesticated for 10,000 years. They have become accustomed to feeding off bowls provided by their human caretaker. The domestic cat has been trained to eat from a bowl. They have learned to ask for food with a meow. This is how they interact with their human companions. It's a form of mutual training. The cat training the human to provide food and the cat eating food largely when and how the human desires.

So, what do you expect? You cannot expect a cat to prefer to use a puzzle feeder unless there is some other benefit in using it. Interestingly, my cat at the moment prefers to use an interactive, puzzle feeder rather than eating dry cat food from a bowl (see above). However, there is a good reason; his dry food bowl is on the kitchen counter. He has to jump up to it, whereas, his puzzle feeder is on the kitchen floor. It has to be because it's a ball and he pushes it around which allows pellets of dry cat food to fall out.

I think that animals find the route of least resistance when they are looking for food, given the choice or opportunity. The same applies to people. And what is strange is that in the write-up of this study they say that a body of research shows that 'most species' including, as mentioned, giraffes and wolves prefer to work for their food. But these are wild animals. How can you compare wild animals with domestic animals? I don't think you can, certainly not in this context.

Perhaps the write-up is inadequate or incomplete. But for me, this study is hopeless and lacks common sense. It lacks accuracy. The scientists say that domestic cats aren't lazy. But they also say that the reason why cats prefer to freeload for their food is unclear. How can it be unclear? Am I missing something? The reason why they freeload for food is because it is easier to get their meal that way.

Cats don't think rationally but they know how to get a meal more easily.

Associated: Contrafreeloading and the domestic cat - this is the same story but written up in an entirely different way. The lead author for this study is Mikel Delgado, a cat behaviorist and research affiliate at UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

Does your cat circle the food bowl as if scavenging from a dead animal?

Perhaps my cat is unusual but I don't think he is. There is one aspect of him which is a little unusual in that he was raised for the first six or so weeks of his life as a feral cat by his mother in the urban environment of West London. Therefore perhaps he has a little bit more of the wild in him than is typical of domestic cats. 

Picture: MikeB. He behaves like a North African wildcat.

Nonetheless, he sometimes likes to circle a food bowl when I put the food down as if he is gingerly and cautiously approaching the carcass of an animal that he has found in the wild and which he wants to scavenge from. He is unsure about food in the bowl even though he has been fed it countless times before. He sniffs the food carefully before consuming it. This is also part of an instinctively cautious approach to feeding which must be a throwback to his wild cat ancestor, the North African wild cat.

It is another reminder that domestic cats are a whisker away from their wild ancestor. Doctor John Bradshaw says that one of the big differences between domestic cats and domestic dogs is that dogs are more fully domesticated. And they've been domesticated for far longer than cats.

It is estimated that dogs have been domesticated for around 20,000 years although the experts are unsure. In contrast, it is believed that cats have been domesticated for half that time at around 10,000 years.

Can we speculate and argue that in a further 10,000 years domestic cats will be behaving more like dogs!? It is highly plausible. Domestic cats are on a road of domestication. It is an ongoing process. The journey is not over and I would expect the character and behaviour of the domestic cat to evolve through future domestication to one which is quite different to today.

Man feeds the cat of the woman he raped and strangled to death

NEWS AND VIEWS-TURKEY: Allegedly a man fed the cat of the woman that he had raped and strangled to death before waving to security cameras as he left her apartment.

Photos: Newsflash.

Eray Hakver, 24, met his girlfriend Cennet Tuba Tokbas, 22 (see above) , at her apartment in the Turkish province of Denizli on November 10 last year. They dated for two months. They were having sex when he allegedly choked her to death. It is then reported that he fed her cat and left. He then called his mother to tell her that the woman might be dead. She was a final year art student at the Pamukkale University.

His mother called the police and reported her son. He repeated what he told his mother to the police. He said that she did not resist. His DNA was found under the woman's fingernails which suggested that the woman had tried to fight back in contrast to what he said.

Investigators believe that it was a planned attack because of his calm demeanour throughout. It's alleged that he is pretending that it was an accident during a sex game that went wrong. There are calls for him to be imprisoned for life and he is due to be tried in the high criminal court in the not too distant future.

Report: The Sun.

Comment: was this is a callous statement because the woman said to him that her cat was a better partner than him?

Do owners of full-time indoor cats do enough to satisfy their cat's feeding requirements?

Cats confined to the indoors are dependent upon their owners entirely when it comes to feeding. The way a domestic cat feeds should reflect how their wild ancestor feeds. It is also said that cats naturally eat several small meals per day. The feeding of domestic cats, confined to the indoors, should try and introduce some sort of hunting behaviour which is perhaps attempted with food puzzles. I don't believe in food puzzles because they don't work as far as my cats are concerned but they do attempt to replicate hunting prey. In other words it's an attempt for a full-time indoor cat to feed naturally.

Are some dry cat food pellets toos small promoting swallowing without chewing? Image: PoC.

The feeding of a domestic cat should promote their physical and mental/behavioural health and they should be given a choice to allow them to find what they like best. Choice is a massive factor in the feeding of domestic cats in my view. I strongly believe in having a selection of foods with which I can provide my cat. I know that he likes variety and change.

My new publication in Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice with Dr. Leticia Dantas on feeding cats for optimal well-being is out and free to download until 9/18!https://t.co/Tu3OJEmzM5 pic.twitter.com/sIddNXJ27K

— Mikel Delgado, PhD I voted and got a flu shot #BLM (@mikel_maria) July 31, 2020

Note: the link in the tweet above no long works as free access which is disappointing but the feeder is interesting.

Free feeding from a permanently available dry cat food bowl is perhaps the most common way that we feed cats. It's okay provided the cat doing the free feeding is not putting on weight or has gained weight and is classified as obese and is provided with alternatives which must be wet foods to compensate for the lack of moisture in dry cat food. Domestic cats do drink more water when they eat dry foods but it is strongly argued that they do not compensate adequately and therefore they can maintain a state of mild dehydration about which the owner is unaware and which has a slightly damaging effect on the cat's health.

The point of this short post is to say that it is fine to keep your cat indoors all the time in the interest of safety but you can't, I believe, do it casually. It places an added burden upon the cat's human caretaker in terms of feeding arrangements and entertainment. It is much harder to create a natural environment for a cat indoors and if you don't there might be health consequences for the cat. They can become bored, obese and mildly depressed at best. They become stifled but they accept it and adapt to it. But it is not a full life.

The alternative, to allow a cat outside is perhaps equally bad because of the dangers outside. This is a great dilemma for cat owners because neither option is entirely satisfactory. Does this not point to the elephant in the room? The inbuilt partial failure of cat domestication. 

Feral cat feeders cannot let their cats down by stopping

NEWS AND OPINION: Sometimes, kind people who feed feral cats start doing it accidentally. Perhaps they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is how Pauline Tribe and Rose Magic of Durban, South Africa started. Pauline said something which brings home one of the underlying problems (if that is a fair description) of feeding feral cats. You can't stop because once you start the cats rely on you for feeding them and you cannot let them down at that point. If you start you have to continue because you take responsibility and the cats rely on you. It is as if you become their owner (guardian).

Pauline and Rose. Photo: iol.co.za

It is a self-imposed situation born out of an emotional connection with the cats and a desire to help because some people cannot walk by and ignore vulnerable animals. And they cannot stop for the same emotional reasons.

This is a good thing because it provides a constant source of motivation and there's no doubt this is needed because both Pauline and Rose get up at 2:30 AM every morning and have done so for the last 10 years to feed the cats! The total number of cats fluctuate but it is more than 70. They finish feeding by 7:30 AM and then go to work. It is quite amazing when you think about it. They both work and spend half the night feeding cats.

They also take in some cats and care for them at home. These cats are sick or injured in some way. After they've done that they prepare the food and water for the next morning. They get to bed by about 10 PM, said Pauline.

They first started when they were walking down the promenade on the beachfront and saw four or five cats crying for food. They popped into the local supermarket and got them some biscuits. They ate them up eagerly and so they decided to carry on feeding them. She said that "we were in the wrong place at the wrong time". She's joking but there is a hint of an admission in that statement that this pair of kind ladies started a long journey of caring for unwanted animals which is a burden to them in one respect. There can be no doubt about that. They have to do it because, as mentioned, they can't stop on an emotional level. But there's no doubt that on occasions they must feel that they wish that they could stop.

There are other issues. What do the other residents think about what they're doing? I think they are fantastic and long may they go on doing it but there are some people who strongly dislike the feeding of feral cats for various reasons. They may dislike the people who feed feral cats and therefore Pauline and Rose may have some enemies. So despite their kindness and decency they may have acquired people who dislike them. That is hardly a reward their efforts.

Source of news: iol.co.za. These are my thoughts.

Feeding your cat once a day improves their health

You may have heard about the study from the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada). The researchers say that feeding your cat once a day with the same quantity of food that you would have given them over the entire 24 hours, improves their health. They suggest that a once-a-day feeding to some extent mimics a mild form of fasting and fasting improves health. This is a known benefit in people. So I think that this one meal a day suggestion is partly based upon the concept of intermittent fasting to improve health.

Does once a day feeding mimic wild and feral cat feeding? I think not.
Photo in public domain.

The researchers say that when you feed a domestic cat once-a-day they have higher levels of protein in their blood, leaner bodies and higher levels of hormones which are linked to appetite regulation. The regime allows cats to build more protein and improve muscle mass. The cats are more satisfied with their food and they are less likely to beg for food throughout the day.

The once-a-day feeding goes against the general consensus of all cat experts. The general feeling is that domestic should be fed several times a day with small amounts. The stomach is small and therefore small and frequent amounts is the better policy. I would suggest that the stomach size of cat is a barrier to feeding one large meal in 24 hours. A domestic cat's stomach is the size of a ping-pong ball approximately. How can you provide them with 24-hours of nutrients with a stomach that size?

I get the message about fasting and the improvements that it might bring but I think in practical terms and in the sense that it goes against the general consensus, this advice is probably a nonstarter. It may apply to certain cats and it certainly may help obese cats. We know that obesity is widespread amongst the domestic population in the West.

Another practical aspect of this advice is that the majority of cat owners, I would suggest, allow their cats to free feed on dry cat food. This is not good but it happens. It is convenient. To ask these cat owners to go to once-a-day feeding with wet cat food may be too big a call. The transference from dry to wet would benefit their cats, however. There are health negatives associated with dry cat food and health positives linked to wet cat food. Some of the current major feline health problems are arguably linked to their diet and obesity.

The study concerned 80 healthy cats. One group was fed four times a day for three weeks. A second group was fed just once a day with the same amount of food. For another three weeks the participants were switched over. The researchers monitored their health outcomes, metabolism, physical activity and body weight. The admit that their suggestion goes against the grain and say that the regime should be considered on an individual cat basis.

Cat Trivia: Domestic Cat Milk Contains Eight Times More Protein Than Human Milk

Domestic cat milk contains eight times more protein than human milk and three times as much fat. Did you know that? I think is an interesting bit of domestic cat trivia as I've called it. I also think it's pretty impressive.

Kittens grow rapidly (hardly surprising feeding on that kind of milk) as their mother uses her body reserves to produce milk. In one study it was found that mothers lost about 5.7 g per day when lactating. Kittens from larger litters are smaller and put on weight more slowly than kittens from smaller litters.

Female cat can give birth to between one and ten kittens. The average litter is about four or five kittens.

The largest litter ever recorded was 13 kittens. Each kitten weighs about 3% of their mother's body weight at birth or around 90 to 110 grams.

Source: Wild Cats of the World pages 108 and 109. Get this book.

What To Feed Feral Cats

Although dry cat food is not as good as wet (high in carbs and too dry), it is more practical for feeding feral cats because it can be left and it won't go off. Any brand of dry cat food would do; the best quality affordable.

Update: Experienced feral cat caretaker writes this:

No, no, no to an absolute dry kibble diet for ferals. That's a lazy mans' way. It's time consuming, but what I do is prepare my feeders as much as I can ahead of time. All feeders have wet food layering the bottom and then covered with dry. They don't get any less than what I give to the darlings inside my home. I don't see them as "less than". They are equals. I make no less than 4 visits to my colonies per day. Early morns are the big feed fest, late morn is checking water supply and taking up leftover food, early afternoon is "snack" feeders put down, and late afternoon is taking up feeders and replenishing water. Because it's scorching hot in summer here, fresh water is a must. I'm especially vigilent during these months.

If the person can supervise the feeding then wet could be put down but it needs to be taken up quite soon afterwards depending on the ambient temperature. It goes off rapidly in warm weather in my experience. I can remember Martha Kane's husband, Richard Vella, feeding feral cat colonies in Malta with dry cat food. Here is the video:



When feeding with dry food, fresh water should also be put down. There should always be a supply of fresh water  - common sense.

Feeding early in the morning would seem to make sense. Feral cats feed throughout the day. Evening and morning are probably favorite times as they coincide with their hunting activities.

One cup of dry cat food per cat per day would appear to be sufficient. If there is food left over it is probably too much and vice versa.

Dee an experienced cat lover may like to add to this in a comment. 

Curing Feline Inflammatory Bowel Disease

It has been argued by a well-known veterinarian, Dr Hodgkins,  that there is a cure for feline inflammatory bowel disease and it is to provide the cat with a high-quality raw food diet.  This means a raw food diet with an added all-in-one supplement which ensures that it is balanced.  The reason why this could be an excellent cure for a disease, which is normally simply managed (with immune suppressing drugs), is because the cause of feline IBD is said to be commercial cat food which contains ingredients and substances which are perceived as foreign invaders to the cat's immune system.

If you remove these foreign invaders - the unhealthy ingredients in typically dry cat food - then you take away the allergen which stimulates the unnecessary allergic reaction within the cat's gut. That is the, perhaps oversimplified, theory but it does work in practice as well.

There has to be a warning that goes with this suggested medical treatment for, what is as yet, a not completely understood cat health problem.  Raw food diets need to be prepared carefully in order to avoid contamination and cross contamination and to ensure that it is balanced because as we know the domestic cat needs certain essential ingredients such as taurine and arginine.

However, common sense dictates that if a cat has been suffering from chronic IBD for some time (diarrhea and vomiting) and various treatments have been tried without real success, resorting to a raw food diet is a simple choice. It is highly likely to prove successful.  Cat owners should not balk from trying it out despite the fact that many veterinarians believe that cat owners are unable to prepare a raw food diet is to a satisfactory standard.  There is an argument that many more cat owners should in fact routinely provide a raw food diet for their cat as a means to improve overall health and prevent diseases such as IBD in a cat who is sensitive to the ingredients of commercial cat food.

You may ask why not simply give your cat hypoallergenic cat food.  The truth is that this is product is not that successful, certainly in the dry cat food form because you are still feeding an unnatural food.  For mild feline IBD, wet hypoallergenic cat food may prove successful and second-generation versions of this cat food are better than earlier versions but it must be wet i.e. canned cat food.  A raw food diet goes to the next stage.  It is, of course, a wholly natural diet.

Photo: Gangster Car Driver

Cat Food Wars - Dominance and Subservience

This is not exactly a war over cat food but you can see how stresses can be built up in multi-cat households in areas where there are food bowls and where there is the cat litter. Cats will or might compete for either. These are areas where a hierarchy between cats is shown up and where a dominant cat will push out a more subservient cat.

I think this is quite an interesting animated GIF, which are a series of still images strung together to make a video that repeats itself. Each image is in the GIF format.

Clearly in this instance the ginger tabby is dominant over the bicolour ginger and white who is overweight so perhaps being pushed out of the food bowl is a good thing. I wonder if the slight overweight problem that the bicolour cat has is linked in any way to his or her subservience to the ginger cat? Perhaps he's pushed out and therefore he is keen to get at the food when there is a chance and hence he eats too much as a precaution against not being able to get to a food bowl when they are put down.

The experts would say that it is important to make sure that a subservient cat has a place to hide and then each cat gets its own food bowl and as best as possible is allowed to get to it. Cat litter trays should also be considered carefully in multi-cat households because you can get competition around a cat litter tray. All this means is that the subservient cat is liable to become stressed and it is a cat owner's duty to make sure that all her cats are content!

This does, though, seemed to be a setup situation. Although, it does not detract from what can go on in multi-cat households.