A cat that during the stage of development has not received the minimum quota of calcium can have lifelong complications. For example, if a female, the hip does not grow enough and could have serious complications when the time of delivery. For the same reason can reach six years old and have lost half his teeth. We have complicated half the life that remains, only for not having attended their nutritional needs.

Another advantage for the balanced, is that in no way can contract certain infectious diseases such as toxoplasmosis or TB, to quote the best known.

Conclusions

During my years of watching cats in general I have noticed that cats who eat low-quality and lower price have no hair so shiny and smooth as those who eat the highly concentrated (Premium and super-premium). The difference is seen after a month of eating a food of good brand.

When you give your cat food without restrictions, you will notice that neither eats not three times, but fifteen or twenty times, in small amounts throughout the day. This is the way in which the cat will eat ‘green’, as it would in the wild. As a bonus, if one day you must leave at 6:00 and return at 24:00, you can do just fine without having to worry about returning to prepare for cat food.

It’s not really necessary but further work on the benefits of giving balanced food instead of home. The other reasons may fill an entire book, and that is not my intention in writing this short paper.

Both personally and professionally, my recommendation is to give balanced good quality brands they can trust to your veterinarian, since both he and I never consciously recommend a food that endangers the life of your pet.

Some cats have special habits: drink only from the taps, bath or showers …

When the cat does not drink enough, add a little milk to the drinking water is generally efficient to stimulate consumption. We can even add water to dry food. Some cats do not like, but some enjoy consuming hydrated.

Rate of drinking:

It is similar to the rate of consumption of food. The cat drinks as often as you eat, which means an average of 10 to 15 times per day if the food is freely available, even if the cat drinks only 6 to 12 ml at a time. If we encourage the cat to eat numerous small meals, water consumption will increase.

Composition of food:

A diet high in protein, increases the production of urea and consequently the production of urine. Then the cat drinks more to compensate for water removed.

Adding salt to the food obviously stimulates water intake, but we must warn against the overuse of this system. Too much salt can be dangerous as it accelerates the passage of water from cells into the blood, to restore the balance of mineral concentrations. Then the cat urinates more and cellular dehydration occurs. It is recommended not to exceed 2% salt in the food.

Here are some recommendations to make to the owners.

Water requirements of cats

Drinking, helps offset the loss of water, which occurs in different ways: salivary – feces – urine

Salivary losses (licking) and respiratory diseases are not very important. When the temperature is 31 º C, panting induces a loss of water of less than 40 ml per day.

The amount of water removed through the feces depends on the nature of the food and its digestibility: the more fiber is in food, water loss is more important.

The water loss is urinary. Dry feed, about half the water consumed is eliminated in this way, with canned food 2/3.

The cat has a reputation as a “poor drinker.” This is because it is able to concentrate much your urine (average density: 1045 compared to 1015 in dogs and humans). But if the concentration of the urine is very high, there is an increased risk of crystal precipitation and stone formation. Therefore, the cat should be encouraged to drink.

With regard to water consumption, the recommendations can be expressed:

- Based on body weight: 55 to 70 ml/kg./Day

- Based on energy consumption: 1 ml/kcal. metabolizable energy

Of course these requirements increase if water loss for physiological or pathological conditions: high temperatures, lactation, diarrhea, vomiting …

Source of water: food – beverage – produced

The cat has 3 available sources of water: the food, and drinking that occurs when used carbohydrates, proteins and fats. This “metabolic water” represents only 10 -15% of total water requirement.

When the cat eats wet food (canned, fresh meat or fish), amply covered water requirements with the water contained in the diet .. Under these conditions, does not drink or drink very little.

By contrast, when fed with dry food, drink to cover almost 100% of their water requirements.

To assess the suitability of a diet for the content of taurine, we measured blood levels of taurine in a cat has been fed for a while on this diet. The AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials), an organization that dictates the standard of manufacturing, distribution and sale of animal feed, requires measuring the concentration of taurine in blood supply twenty-six weeks elapsed on a diet test to include the heading “Maintenance” in a food.

For the heading “For All Life Stages” requires making measurements at six weeks of lactation in mother cats and ten weeks of growth after weaning kittens.

Application

All cat foods should contain taurine, an amino acid that is found only in natural conditions in the animal protein because cats can not synthesize enough alone.

* Blindness: Taurine is essential for proper development and functioning of cells of the retina. If insufficient taurine, cells of the retina do not work properly and may die, which may cause difficulty in vision and even blindness. This process is called feline central retinal degeneration.

* Heart Disease: Taurine is also necessary for normal functioning of heart muscle cells. Taurine deficiency causes weakness in the heart muscle, which in turn can cause heart failure. This condition is called cardiomyopathy and can be fatal.

* Poor Growth and Reproductive worst results: Taurine is necessary for growth and reproduction. Both the cat and kittens should maintain adequate levels of taurine during pregnancy, lactation and growth to ensure proper structural development.

Taurine is an essential amino acid important for normal functioning of the heart muscle, vision and reproduction in cats. It is also necessary to form the bile salts that aid in digestion. Unlike other amino acids, taurine is found as free amino acid in body tissues like the heart and eyes, and is not part of the protein. Most mammals can synthesize taurine from other amino acids. However, cats can not synthesize sufficient and, therefore, must acquire an additional sufficient amount of taurine in the diet to meet their needs. In particular, cats need meat to satisfy their requirements, because taurine is found only in animal protein.

Why not always included in the list of ingredients?

As taurine is found naturally in animal protein, including high-quality meat as the main ingredient in dry cat food ensures the adequate supply of taurine. The dry cat foods that contain enough high quality protein of animal origin offer adequate taurine without having to include taurine in the ingredient list. This is because the ingredients list contains only ingredients that are added in the preparation of the diet.

When Is Taurine in the list of ingredients?

Taurine is listed when added to dry cat foods that are low in animal protein and, therefore, little taurine per se. Canned cat foods also include taurine in the ingredient list because they must contain twice the taurine contained in dry food to maintain proper blood levels. Scientists are now beginning to understand how it affects the canning of food in the complex balance of taurine in the cat. All Iams ® cat food canned are supplemented with taurine to meet this increased need.

In recent years the scientific community has shown a growing interest in deepening the understanding of feline nutrition and have clarified many of the nutritional peculiarities of the cat. Current knowledge about feeding the cat show that this species has several features of their metabolism that result in some nutritional needs that are quite specific and quite different from those of the dog.

The cat is a carnivore, both from the zoological point of view as evolution, and thus reflected in their eating habits and anatomical structure. However, this does not mean you should eat only meat, but necessarily in your diet should include materials of animal origin. The cat’s natural diet based on hunting (birds, small rodents, reptiles, frogs, fish, insects, etc..) Of which not only consumes the flesh and bone tissues of the dam, but also swallowed the contents of digestive tract, often from plants.

Among the notable differences regarding feline feeding the dog, not only highlights that cats need a higher protein level, but also require relatively high amounts of an essential substance called taurine.

Unlike meat, milk and fish that contain high concentrations of taurine, this amino acid is non-existent in the plant. Thus, although the cat may take the products of plant origin, can not take for taurine, one of the reasons why it is imperative that your diet contains animal tissue.

Taurine is a white compound, crystalline, tasteless, still being an amino acid, is not part of the proteins and amino acids normally do. The cells that make some excitable tissues such as brain, retina, heart muscle, platelets and white blood cells are especially rich in taurine, and also especially sensitive to lack.

In the case of cats joining two factors: firstly has needs high taurine and the other, his body is unable to produce the necessary amount from other dietary factors. Need much and produces little.

Other animals such as dogs, are able to obtain enough from the components of the diet. The cat this possibility is limited by several factors: first for its inefficiency in the production of taurine, and secondly because it uses its own taurine or its precursors, for functions that may limit the availability of the amino acid to be affected tissue cells excitable, which require this for proper operation.

As decreases the ability to regenerate tissues, and are very slight wounds may take longer to heal than before, and reduced ability to fight infections and even increase the incidence of diseases like cancer.

The first signs that your dog is reaching old age are the graying, mainly in his mouth and his legs, the hair is thinner, like his skin, calluses are formed mainly on the elbows, chest and thighs from rubbing hard surfaces, your muscle mass will be decreased and thus their movements become slower and less agile, especially large breeds.

Behavioral changes associated with age

- Generally more lethargic, uninterested in what happens around him.
- There is greater sensitivity to pain and become more irritable.
- May begin to appear certain behaviors not previously presented as:
- Urinate and defecate inside the house
- Not wanting to go for a walk
- Sleep more during the day and less at night
- Not recognizing familiar people
- No pet will tolerate for long
- Be less tolerant with children.

If your dog already has more than 7 years old, you should take him to the vet at least twice a year so that you do an overhaul. At this time when it most needs to be pampered and do not separate yourself from your daily life, because this will cause stress and therefore behavioral problems, you have to take more care with their usual care and pay close attention to any changes in its behavior, so you can enjoy a wonderful quality of life, and that has led so far.

Digestive problems:

The first is the animal’s teeth, as if it has not had sufficient care or hygiene of the teeth, they began to fill with plaque which causes an inflammation and infection of the gums and can result in loss or affected teeth.

Digestion begins to be slower and less efficient because of the small muscles lose tone, which causes problems such as diarrhea or constipation.

It must be attentive to changes in your eating behavior, and distinguish whether due to aging or illness means you have to treat it on time.

Problems of sense:

The senses are weakened to some degree and are very common problems such as deafness, due to calcification of the inner ear bones, and reduction or loss of vision may be due to conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, retinal atrophy, etc.

There is a decrease in taste which leads to a disinterest in food and therefore a low weight.

The ability to regulate its temperature also decreases and prolonged exposure to cold can cause hypothermia, ie, lower your body temperature.

The urinary problems:

In old age the kidneys gradually lose part of their role but the dog may not show clinical signs until there is a significant loss, which usually causes kidney failure which is reflected as a loss of weight, poor absorption of the nutrients from food and lower the filtration capacity of the urine.

Heart problems:

During this stage the workload of the heart increases as there is a thickening of blood vessels, hampering circulation that can lead to heart failure may be a cause of death in older animals.

Locomotor problems:

Over time, dogs begin to have pains in your joints and even present a greater propensity to fracture it due to less absorption of minerals such as Calcium, bringing problems such as osteoporosis, which becomes worse in situations like obesity. Other problems such as arthritis that can lead to loss of weight and aching joints that refuse to move even for lunch.

Nutrition for older dogs:

Obesity is a factor that reduces life expectancy in dogs, which at this stage is increased by an accumulation of fat due to a reduction in digestive capacity of the dog. The lack or decreased exercise performed also contributes to this obesity.

Loss of appetite and therefore weight either dental problems or illness is also a factor in aging due to reduced supply of nutrients, since the cells lose the ability to regenerate and fulfill their normal functions.

The environment of older dogs:

Animals that live inside the houses tend to live longer than those on the outside this is because the care they have, for example, a warm place to sleep, proper cleaning of the environment, greater attention any changes in your health, etc.. Dogs that have had a constant care for life and have not been subjected to great stress get to live longer.

Health of older dogs:

Animals that have undergone certain degeneration in organs and tissues from diseases even present major problems to reach old age.