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by Derek Rogers
Looking along the aisles of your local pet food store, you will find an enormous selection of so-called gourmet cat foods available. These foods usually claim to include exotic human-like ingredients, such as shrimp, lobster, filet mignon, prawns, and even rare Kobe beef from Japan. The question is whether or not these foods taste better and are better for your cat.
Cats and Their Food
Cats need a different type of diet than humans and dogs. While the latter can eat and digest animal and plant matter fairly easily, cats are considered obligate carnivores. This means they are physically better able to digest meat products than anything else.
Another reason for the meat-heavy diet is a need for taurine, an acid found in the flesh of animals. Cats need taurine in their diets because their bodies can't produce it. Without taurine, cats can end up losing their sight.
You might think that offering your cat any type of meat-based food would appeal to them but that's not always the case. Cats can be such picky eaters they will literally starve themselves if they don't want to eat what is being offered.
And that brings us back to the main question: Are gourmet cat foods tastier?
Does it Taste Better?
The truth is that there's no real way humans can determine what tastes better for their cat. Cats are unique creatures. They have their own preferences when it comes to food. No third party can really predict what any one cat will like anymore than someone who doesn't know you can guess your dietary preferences.
Gourmet cat foods can be appealing because of their variety of flavours. Cats do enjoy a variety of flavours and can become bored if they are fed even something scrumptious day after day.
However, some cats like to keep it simple and are just as happy eating the cheap foods.
The only way to know for sure what tastes best is to ask your cat.
The Bigger Question
While cats may have their own preferences for food, you need to make sure the food they choose from provides them with all of the nutrients they need for a healthy diet. Gourmet foods may cost more to buy but that doesn't necessarily mean they will provide the best health benefits for your cat.
When you choose a cat food, you need to look at the list of ingredients carefully.
Here are some pointers:
* First ingredient - On any cat food, the first ingredient should be some type of real meat or fish. You do not want "chicken meal," for example. If possible, the first handful of ingredients should all be real meat.
* Anything artificial - Most foods do need some types of preservatives to keep it from spoiling. However, the food should not include artificial flavours or colours.
* Filler ingredients - Cheap pet foods often contain a lot of filler, such as rice or grains, which doesn't do much for your pet's health but do help them cut their own production costs.
If you pay attention to labels using the pointers above, you'll be able to find the tastiest and the healthiest food for your cat.
About the Author
Derek Rogers is a freelance writer who represents a number of UK businesses. For information on gourmet cat foods, he recommends Seapets, one of the UK's leading suppliers of cat foods.
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Paper Training a Dog - Easy Steps to Paper Training Your Dog
by David Marshall
If you live in a small apartment that has limited access to green spaces, the paper training method will be great. It will also be the only possible way to train your puppy if you work full-time and nobody can walk the dog while you are away.
First, Choose a specific area of the house for your to use as toilet area, pick a area such kitchen or laundry this area are free of carpet and making easy for clean.
Place newspaper thickly in a corner of this room. Spread the newspaper area pretty big, since your pup has no idea that she's meant to go on the paper at all. Watch the dog carefully and as soon as you notice it to whimper, sniffing the ground and running in circles, bring the dog immediately the spot where you want it to do its business. When the dog goes potty in the right newspaper-covered spot, praise it lavishly, before removing the soiled paper.
Replace the newspaper and spread in a select area where your dog used as a toilet. At first, your puppy will eliminate pretty much at random on the paper. It's important for the paper-training process that she only gets to go on the paper. If your dog make an accident simply wash the area with warm water and rinse with diluted vinegar to kill the odor the dog has left.
When your dog is consistently eliminating on the newspaper start to take some pieces away until eventually it only has one or two pieces of newspaper left to wee on.
Use terms for "going potty" consistently and praise him when it goes potty on the right spot. Have treats available to give the dog rewards when it has done the right thing quite well.
Feed your dog at specific, scheduled times (for example, a meal at 8 am, 1 pm, and 7 pm) to encourage her to develop an "elimination timetable". This will help you and the dog avoid accidents during a time when it is difficult to move to its potty spot.
With this practical steps and consistency and care you could teach your dog to eliminate at the right place using paper training.
About the Author
David Marshall is Freelancer and Owner http://Advice-for-Dog-Obedience-Training. Visit David's Blog for learn more in Dog Training
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