Your cat's nutrition is important for a healthy & happy life. petMD experts help you to know what to feed your cat, how much food to feed, and the differences in cat foods, so your cat gets optimum nutrition.
Nutrition Nuggets is the newest offshoot of petMD's Cat Nutrition Center. Each week Dr. Coates will use her expertise and wisdom to blog about the intricacies of cat nutrition.
An appropriate diet can play an important role in the management of many feline diseases. Think about the special foods that veterinarians prescribe for cats suffering from kidney, heart, or thyroid disease. However, a cat’s diet is never more important than when treating diabetes mellitus. Diet... READ MORE
How do you feed your cat? Is it the same thing day in and day out, or do you spice it up a little and offer different foods from time to time? There is no right answer to this question. As with most aspects of cat care, it depends on the individual.
READ MORE
Feline pancreatitis is a maddening disease. It is often difficult to diagnose, veterinarians are usually unsure of its underlying cause, and it can be resistant to treatment. Why then, should making recommendations about what to feed cats with pancreatitis be any different?
READ MORE
I had a case a few years ago that still nags at me. My patient was (shall I just be blunt?) fat. Oscar was an affable orange tabby. He weighed 17 pounds and should have tipped the scales at about 11. His owner had recently moved to town and was looking for help getting Oscar to lose weight.
READ MORE
Today over on Nutrition Nuggets for dogs, I started a discussion on the variability that exists in the diet pet food market. Now let’s look at how owners can actually use the numbers printed on the label of these products to help dogs and cats lose weight.
READ MORE
I promise today’s post will be the last on cats and water … for awhile at least.
Last week, I came to the conclusion that healthy cats are “smart” enough to figure out when they need to drink and will keep themselves well hydrated whether they eat dry or canned food. Note... READ MORE
Today I want to talk about cats and water. Cats obviously need water to survive, but controversy surrounds exactly where it should come from and how much they should take in to thrive.
I think the disagreements center around the fact that domestic cats evolved from desert-dwelling ancestors. You’ll... READ MORE
Today on the canine version of Nutrition Nuggets, I introduced the idea that dietary sources of fat for dogs and cats shouldn’t be classified as being “good” or “bad” as they are in human medicine. As I was researching that concept, I ran across an article, written by veterinary... READ MORE
I am on vacation this week. Rather than leave you hanging while I’m catching up on some much needed R & R, I thought I’d channel Linda Richman of Saturday Night Live “Coffee Talk” fame.
“Talk amongst yourselves. I’ll give you a [link to a] topic. Discuss!”
READ MORE
... graduated with honors from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in 1999. In the years since, she has practiced veterinary medicine in Virginia, Wyoming, and Colorado. She is the author of several books about veterinary medicine and animal care, including the Dictionary of Veterinary Terms, Vet-Speak Deciphered for the Non-Veterinarian .
Jennifer also writes short stories that focus on the strength and importance of the human-animal bond and freelance articles relating to a variety of animal care and veterinary topics. Dr. Coates lives in Fort Collins, Colorado with her husband, daughter, and pets.
