If you have a senior cat in your house, you no doubt are aware of the special needs and care that he may require because of his advanced age. One of the things that you should know about is how feeding him a cat food that is too high in protein can have negative effects on his health. The reason that protein can be harmful for your senior cat if you feed him too much of it is because senior cats actually require less protein than younger cats and they have weaker vital organs.
Because senior cats have weaker vital organs than younger cats do, they are generally less active and do not require as much protein to function as they once did. If you feed your senior cat too much protein, it can actually start to damage his vital organs like the kidneys and liver. When cats consume protein, their digestive systems need to breakdown the proteins to make their bodies be able to absorb all of the nutrients efficiently. Sometimes, if their body is flooded with too many proteins when they get older, the digestive system is not able to keep you with it and it can actually produce harmful products that the kidneys will have to work extra hard for to remove.
If the kidneys and livers in senior cats have to work too hard for too long, it can cause too much strain on them and make it very difficult for them to be able to rid all of the toxins out of their bodies. This can be potentially dangerous for them. You should monitor carefully the amount of protein that your senior cat takes in through his diet, and if you have any questions on what is the right amount, or how much is too much to feed him you should check with his vet. If your cat already has problems with his kidneys or liver, you may want to talk to your vet about choosing a formula of food that is right for him and that has lower levels of protein in it. You want to take care of your senior cat, so make sure that you are feeding him the best diet that you can and help ensure that you can keep him healthy.
Because senior cats have weaker vital organs than younger cats do, they are generally less active and do not require as much protein to function as they once did. If you feed your senior cat too much protein, it can actually start to damage his vital organs like the kidneys and liver. When cats consume protein, their digestive systems need to breakdown the proteins to make their bodies be able to absorb all of the nutrients efficiently. Sometimes, if their body is flooded with too many proteins when they get older, the digestive system is not able to keep you with it and it can actually produce harmful products that the kidneys will have to work extra hard for to remove.
If the kidneys and livers in senior cats have to work too hard for too long, it can cause too much strain on them and make it very difficult for them to be able to rid all of the toxins out of their bodies. This can be potentially dangerous for them. You should monitor carefully the amount of protein that your senior cat takes in through his diet, and if you have any questions on what is the right amount, or how much is too much to feed him you should check with his vet. If your cat already has problems with his kidneys or liver, you may want to talk to your vet about choosing a formula of food that is right for him and that has lower levels of protein in it. You want to take care of your senior cat, so make sure that you are feeding him the best diet that you can and help ensure that you can keep him healthy.
2 comments:
Many thanks for your article; not enough cat owners know that their cat might be better off on a lower protein diet.
nice article about protein...very informative and beneficial for me...thanks
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