My cats are my fur babies.
I have two Tonkinese adult females, named Koshka and Nezumi, who had the privilege of a home visit from a Vet, Justine, from Eukanuba last week.
After checking them out and listening to their health reports – major concerns were coughing and difficulty jumping – Justine recommended they try Adult Cat Food Indoor Hairball Relief Formula for their coughing, and she said a 4kg bag is enough food for both cats for about 6 weeks. I was interested to hear that fleas lead to coughing. How, you ask? Well if cats overgroom their fur from biting fleas, they get excess hair and furballs in the gut. This is the easiest thing to eliminate; if the coughing is due to past illness such as cat influenza, you can’t cure it, only manage it.
I am to give them 50 grams each a day (i.e. a 25g scoop each twice a day) to make sure all their nutritional needs are being met. However, if I do ever fed them any extras (including cat food, leftover meat, treats etc) then compensate and give them slightly less food – just a bit less in the scoop. Note: do remember to reduce feed quantities in wintertime, as cats are less active outdoors.
Justine commented it could be worthwhile to take a before and after photo of the cats coats to see if we can notice any visible difference by the end of the 6 weeks.
Next we talked about their difficulty jumping. Cat arthritis in hip joints is targeted with supplements in Eukanuba Senior for ageing cats, with glucosamine and chondroitin joint supplements. You can also get joint supplements in pill form from your vet. It’s also importantto keep them as slim as possible, as hormones in fat cause inflammation, heart disease, joint disease and can effect cat cancer and skin disease.
Older cats should have blood tests done every six months for general health, as cats can mask ailments until they’re quite advanced, and prevention is better than cure.
Megan Robinson
6th May 2014
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