Feeding Your Sphynx

Until recently, owners of all sorts of felines thought that feeding our cats was as simple as slapping down a can of generic cat food and allowing the kitties to feast! Well, throughout the years, it has been proven, time and time again, that this is not true- what we put into our pets also equates what we get back from them, in regard to their health.

While we are talking specifically about Sphynx cats and kittens, you may also apply this knowledge to your typical alley cat as well.

Typically, pet food is made with grade D meat, per the USDA’s standards. What does ‘grade D’ mean to the common person? Grade D simply means that the meat is already dead, dying or diseased before it reaches the rendering plant. Generally speaking, pet foods you can purchase from the grocery store use Grade D meat- no matter how much money the companies might pump into their television advertising.

If you are going to own a Sphynx, please do not feed your kitten/cat grocery store cat food unless it is absolutely necessary (everyone falls upon hard times here and there) and if you do feed these foods, realize that you will need to get your cat back onto a quality cat food as soon as possible or the lack of quality food will soon reflect in your cat’s health as well as skin/coat.

The next step in pet food is the so-called premium brands. These are often the foods that your veterinarian will recommend. Well, if an actual veterinarian recommends the food- there can’t be anything wrong with it, can there? Actually, yes. Vets are required to have a vast body of knowledge about medical conditions within our animals- they cannot be expected to be nutritionists as well (although there are a few vets out there who dabble in this area). If your veterinarian recommends a food, realize- it’s a recommendation. Not a requirement. Not an order. A recommendation.

What do you do with this recommendation? You pick up a bag of the food that your vet recommended and start looking at the ingredients. The first ingredient on a bag of excellent pet food should be meat- in my opinion, a meat meal is fine too (this is debatable). You should avoid foods that contain corn or soy- they are simply fillers that have no nutritional value and actually have been proven to cause allergic reactions within cats and dogs.

If the food does not contain soy or corn and actually has meat listed as the first ingredient, then your veterinarian may have recommended a great brand! If it doesn’t- don’t worry. There are great brands out there that a lot of vets don’t even know about yet.

Here is a short list of super premium quality cat foods… There are other good foods out there, so don’t expect this list to be all-inclusive, by any means.

Felidae

Spa Select by Blue Buffalo (purchase at Petsmart)

Innova Evo

Chicken Soup for the Cat Lovers’ Soul

If you cannot locate these foods, please feel free to contact me and I’ll help you pick out a great food in your area.