| FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS |
What should I feed my Bengal cat? Any quality dry cat food should be their staple food and available to your cat at all times, along with plenty of water. Read the ingredients disclosure on the label. By law, the ingredients must be listed in order of, most first. You’ll be surprised to see that some of the more expensive dry foods, sold in pet supply stores and touted by vets, have chicken-by-products as their main ingredient. Think about it, what are chicken-by-products- at best feathers, at worst excrement, and those using it as their main ingredient, like Science Diet, should be avoided. Feed your cats as you should feed your children, good wholesome food. It’s not more expensive, but a bit more thought is necessary. Most folks, including myself, augment the dry food staple with one meal a day of moist cat food. Again, read the labels. Friskies chicken, in the large can is an excellent value with chicken as the main ingredient. Hint- most breeders mix raw meat with the moist food or feed separately once a day. I feel organ meat are clearly the best- chicken, beef or pork liver and beef or pork hearts, what ever is available inexpensively- there all good including kidney, for a change of pace. I personally witnessed my litters double in size since using this feeding regimen. It’s not difficult to do, just use a Fiskars type scissors to cut the defrosted organ meats into bite size pieces at meal time. Slightly heating the moist food right in the can before opening will take the chill off the cold organ meat when mixed. The Rational- wild cats, leopards, lions or any others, eat the organs of a fresh kill first in case they loose it to another predator. When they are full, the leave and only return if they do not have a fresh kill to eat. This indicates their preference for the organs. You’ll also see your cats pick the organ morsels out as well, once they become accustomed to it. Scientifically speaking, raw meat is rich in enzymes and amino acids that are destroyed in the cooking process. The most important is taurine, which is essential for cats and the building block for short twitch muscle mitochondria, is found in all meats but destroyed during cooking. You’ll notice all good cat foods are supplemented with taurine, and for those who like to connect the dots, is in abundance in rodent flesh. For a more detailed treatise on this subject, libraries have many good books on natural cat and pet care. One final note- don’t spoil your cat or kitten, it makes them finicky and you’ll be sorry. And of course, NO table scraps! One more morsel of advice to those with several cats: when you feed that one special meal a day, take a moment to see that they are all eating. Total anorexic behavior in cats for more than 2 days leads rapidly to Feline Hepatic Lipidosis and an immediate vet visit is in order, or you’ll loose your pet! What about supplements? As with humans, supplements are beneficial if used sparingly. I use Brewer’s Yeast for a well balanced B complex, Kelp powder for trace minerals and iodine, and Taurine, a naturally occurring amino acid found in meat which cats are unable to make internally. The problem with Taurine is that cooking destroys it, which is the reason all good commercial cat foods are supplemented with it. All of these are cheap and readily available at any health food store, but go easy with them! Remember, cats are only a fraction of the size of a person, so dose accordingly. I supplement once or twice a week with each of them separately in their one moist meal a day. NOTE: Too much Taurine will make your cat too energetic in the same way feeding turkey will make your cat sleepy because of the elevated content of L-tryptophan, another amino acid. Again err on the side of moderation- more is not better. What constitutes good value in a pedigree kitten? Health, longevity and the pursuit of happiness, the pet owners happiness that is, are most important when considering paying $200, $400, $600, or more for a pet cat. Kittens all too quickly become cats, and pedigree cats like Bengals, which have not been extensively interbred, or line bred for centuries or even thousands of years should live for17-20 years, with proper diet and weight control. Persian, Siamese and other breeds for the reason above may only live 10-12 years with good care. Good health and the absence of vet bills or special medications, therefore, would also represents excellent value- especially if amortized over 18 years or so. And an extra $400 spent on the original investment in a kitten, if you could even avoid 2 or 3 $100 diagnostic blood tests would look like a great value! The problem is, you really cannot predict good health in an animal bought at 8-10 weeks old. There are precautions, however, one can take beyond an initial vet check-up shortly after purchase. Choosing a reputable breeder (don’t be afraid to ask for references) and selecting a kitten from a litter where ALL the littermates are show quality animals for that breed, are two of these precautions. For Bengals, that means large, dark contrasting spots preferably with rosettes, a long slinky body with a wild looking face, small ears, white tummy with small dark spots, and an extremely soft, tight, shiny coat (glittery is best). In fact the coat of Bengal is actually referred to as a pelt. These breed conformity issues of course do not guarantee good health, but it will always indicate that the breeder is serious about improving the breed and cared enough to invest in top quality breeding stock. Typically, a Bengal breeder must pay a premium to breed show quality, or show winners, of 3 to 5 times the price for the same kitten or cat sold as a pet. You might ask, "why is all this important for selecting a healthy cat?" This is why- serious, reputable breeders do not waste their time, energy and money breeding animals that have poor genetics, or lack good health and vitality! There are sub-standard breeders out there- I can tell by the cats on their websites and even predict what they sell their kittens for. This brings this treatise to a final consideration- there is an additional quality that equates to value. Your pet’s disposition, temperament, and manners are not as easy to evaluate in terms of Cost vs. Enjoyment. But suffice to say that 15 years of contending with a shy, messy or contentious pet is more than any pet owner bargains for. Visit your breeder if possible- you’ll learn a lot. Ask to see both parents of the kitten you are interested in. Do they use cages? If so, are they clean and reasonably sweet smelling, large enough with exercise apparatus (ledges, etc.) and no evidence of un-eaten moist food? Are the cats alert and do their eyes follow you. They should, as you enter their domain. Are their coats disheveled? They should look as though they were just groomed. Any evidence of these things should raise a flag. A multiplicity of transgressions indicate maltreatment- a sure scenario for poor mannered and maladjusted pets.
Personally, I think a breeder that needs segregation periodically because of illness or territorial
disputes should have walk-in cages with exercise apparatus (ledges, etc.) as a minimum standard.
But optimally, I believe a breeder should stay within the spatial limitations of their home as a cattery.
The use of cages should only be used as a remedy for unintended situations. As with humans, ghetto style
cramping, poverty, and inattentive care givers produce mal-adjusted and mal-content individuals. I think
these precepts have universal acceptance, and there is no reason to believe it is any different with animals. |
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