I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This SHEBA cat food shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study about happy and healthy cats for Collective Bias and their client.
Two of our three cats are getting on in years. They are moving more slowly and are no longer jumping up high. Overall, they are less active than they were during their younger days. One of them is also starting to not chew his food very much and sometimes it comes back up. We had been feeding our cats quality dry cat food formulated for improving digestive health, but recently we became open to giving moist cat food a test run. SHEBA cat food contains no grains or corn, so we decided to see how well our beloved cats would do with quality moist food.
One of the main reasons we did not serve moist cat food to our cats in the past was because we thought it would be too costly. Then I discovered that, if I stocked up on cans of cat food when there is a coupon available or when they are on sale, then cost is not really an issue. I found the single SHEBA cat food cans at Walmart for just $.50 each (love when I find rollback prices) plus there is a SHEBA cat food coupon available for a free can when you buy six. Some stores even carry value packs.
Many pet owners say that cats need variety and others say their cats do not care for change. Personally, I think it varies from one cat to another. We decided to buy several different varieties of SHEBA to see which ones our cats liked the most. The pâté is ground food, while the 'cuts' are whole pieces and chunks. We knew the pâté would be easier to eat, but we decided to try the Tuna Entrée cuts first. Needless to say, taste was not an issue. So far, all 3 cats seem to have taken to the food well, without any stomach issues. The results were the same when we tried the Salmon Entrée pâté. With each serving, our cats licked the dish clean. It was wonderful to see all 3 so happy, but we were also relieved that this food seems easier to keep down for our male cat. Another plus is that it is easier to control his portions this way, rather than leaving dry food out all the time. (He is a little on the robust side.)
In addition to giving our cats quality food, we do our best to keep them active. Even when they do not want to move, they simply cannot resist a laser pointer or their favorite feathers-on-a-stick toy. When they have had enough, they sit or lay down to let us know, while still keeping one eye on the toy.
Something else I've noticed about our aging cats is that they cannot groom themselves like they used to. This could be because they are less flexible or because they are rounder than they once were. Even though they may protest at first, they will always allow us to brush them or use the grooming mitt on them.
Not all our cats like to play with cat toys beyond the laser pointer, but our male cat does. He loves to hug and rub his face on crinkly pillow toys, especially if there is catnip in them.
One last thing we do to make sure our aging cats are happy is to give them multiple places to retreat to when they want quiet. This is usually our bedroom. I often find them sleeping on or under our bed. We also make sure there are several windows around the house, where they can climb up to sit and look outside. Two of our three cats are a little on the large side, so we make sure there is furniture in front of the windows, since the two larger ones cannot fit on the windowsills comfortably. Whenever possible, we try to at least crack the windows because our cats seem to enjoy the fresh air.
What do you do to keep your cats happy and healthy?
