While cats can be very dear companions, they can also be quite complicated, especially when it comes to their diet and feeding habits.
This often leaves pet owners confused and slightly frustrated when it seems their cat refuses to eat for seemingly no reason. Whether it be the type of food, timing or even the environment, a cat’s eating habit can easily be affected, making it hard for cat owners to ensure that they get all the right nutrients to life a healthy and happy life.
In fact, new research from ORIJEN Petfoods reveals that 31% of cat owners do not know what to feed their cats to support their health and nutrition and 40% rely on the pet food selection at their local supermarket to determine their cat’s diet instead of seeking professional advice. This in turn may explain why they find themselves with a fussy eater.
When it comes to the ingredients they are being fed, 41% of cat owners don’t think that their feline should eat meat at every meal even though cats are obligated carnivores, given their ancestral roots, and should therefore be fed meat.
Super-premium pet food brand ORIJEN, and TV Vet Dr Marc Abraham OBE, discuss why our beloved felines’ taste buds change just as much as ours, what pet owners should do to cater to those ever-changing taste buds and the importance of a rotational diet.
Cats can appear more responsive to bitter flavours
Just like us, cats are responsive to four basic tastes: sour, bitter, salt and sweet.However, being strict carnivores, their response to ‘sweet’ appears a great deal weaker than ours, while they appear to possess a greater ability to detect bitter tastes giving them various advantages. Their bitter taste receptors are highly developed to help them stay away from toxins in their environment, such as house plants. So if you have a fussy cat at home, consider opting for food that’s less sweet and more bitter, you might find they’re more interested.
The environment can affect a cat’s feeding habits
While a cat’s sense of smell plays a large part in whether or not they will eat what’s being presented to them, another less obvious factor that has a direct influence is the environment in which they eat. It is important to keep in mind heavy-traffic exposure, noisy areas, presence of other animals, including other pets in your household, dirty food bowls, or even nearby litter trays. These can all deter cats from eating, so always be mindful of your cat’s eating behaviour, and make any necessary adjustments to allow them to feel as comfortable as possible when eating.
Don’t be afraid to mix it up
While some cats may appear content to eat a single type and flavour of food, others may develop complex eating preferences, and become very selective about what foods they’ll entertain and accept. Feeding your cat two or three different diets making subtle changes to palatability including texture, flavour, odour, and taste, is known as rotational feeding and, as long as all transitions are made gradually, can often provide much needed variety. Most cats like to explore, so try new and different foods; ORIJEN offers a variety of nutrients and flavour that will keep your cat’s mouth-watering for every meal, while offering them a great variety of proteins and amino acids. Rotational feeding may also help prevent your cat from developing an exclusive desire for one food.
Often best to serve them warmer food
Cats are known to be very smart animals with many keen senses; it’s really no secret that their acute hearing and sharp vision makes them wired for motion and darkness. However, the feline sense of taste is believed to be much less intricate than some other animals, even ours. Cats only have 473 taste buds, compared to humans who have on average 9,000 taste buds. One of the ways they make up for this numeric deficiency is with a superior, much more sensitive sense of smell, which is why cats often prefer their food served warmer, mimicking aromatic freshly killed prey, rather than cold.
Get vet approval
When considering rotational feeding, please always check with your vet first, as some cats with sensitive stomachs may not be 100% suited, so watch out for gastrointestinal related symptoms like diarrhoea when gradually transitioning to the next diet. Food rotation and variety, usually providing different recipes with different meat proteins, can occur on a monthly, daily or weekly basis, depending on the individual. Taking into account your vet’s professional advice will help you choose whichever feeding pattern and flavour is best for your cat.
