-- Read the label of cat foods to pick the best food for you cat. A few things to
look for are:_____________________________________________
* Meat as a first ingredient and not meat by products or grains
* No food coloring - this can cause intestinal and skin allergies. Food
should look natural or brown. It should not be red, green, yellow or any
other bright color.
* No chemical preservatives - if you cannot read the names or it doesn't
specifically say that the chemical is a source of a vitamin or mineral then
you don't want that food.___________________________________
* PH balanced for urinary health - be careful with this one. Most foods
for cats are designed to create an acidic urine to prevent the most common
urinary crystal. If your cat doesn't have a urinary problem already then try
to find one that is designed to create a neutral pH rather than an acidic one.

Types -__Feed cats a combination of can and dry if possible. Cats can often become fixated on textures of foods and, if they are not used to different textures, will not recognize_ them as food. This means that a cat that is not used to can food, for example, will not accept it if can food is offered later - which is what is often done with sick cats since can food has more odor and taste to it. That is not the time to get a cat to try new textures.

Quantity-_Most cats need to eat no more than 1/4 cup (2 ounces) of dry food every 12 hours. Indoor cats especially will eat more if it is available from boredom or to take it away from the other cats or from sheer gluttony and will gain weight. Can food needs to be kept to a minimum -1 teaspoon once or twice a day is sufficient in addition to the dry food. ___________________________________________________