What do sphinxes eat: the best food and natural nutrition

Food selection

A comparative table of natural and ready-made food will allow you to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each type of feeding (on a mobile device you can scroll the table horizontally with your finger):

Natural nutrition - pros and cons

Before buying a kitten, you need to find out what the owner-breeders fed it. This is very important, because the baby may persistently refuse unfamiliar food. This behavior often leads to exhaustion. Kittens are real conservatives when it comes to feeding.

If the breeders have accustomed the pet to natural products, it is advisable to continue their endeavor. There are positives and negatives to a natural diet that should be carefully considered.

Natural food should be close to the natural food of cats living in nature. Basically, the diet of wild animals consists of mother's milk, meat (mice, poultry), bird eggs, fish, and grass. Cereals, vegetables, and fruits enter the body by accident; cats occasionally try them out of hunger or curiosity.

At home, you should stick to a natural diet:

1. Meat dishes - prepared from chicken, turkey, veal/beef. Under natural conditions, cats eat raw meat products, but there is a high risk of infection with helminthiasis. Therefore, it is recommended to feed your pets with pre-boiled meat. As a last resort, the meat is frozen and doused with boiling water before serving.
2. Eggs are rarely present in the diet. It is enough to feed the cat 1-2 times every 7 days with quail eggs. From chicken, animals are given only the yolk, but it is better to exclude the protein, as it can cause allergies.
3. Fermented milk products help normalize the digestive process, so veterinarians advise including them in the diet. Cottage cheese, kefir, and yogurt are given separately from other dishes. You can offer these products to kittens who constantly want to eat.
4. Almost all raw fish To prevent the baby from being injured by sharp bones, the fish is cleaned of the spine. To get rid of small bones, boiled fish is passed through a meat grinder.
5. Kittens are allowed to give boiled liver, heart, and kidneys in small portions . In large quantities, these foods cause stomach upset, so they should be limited.
6. You can’t feed them with porridge alone, but you can add chopped boiled cereals to the meat . It is necessary to take into account that meat should make up at least 70% of the total food.
7. Meat pate can be prepared with boiled chopped vegetables . Vegetable supplements improve the digestive process and improve bowel movements.
8. If a cat goes outside for a walk, he can find grass on his own and chew it.. For pets who do not go outside at all, grass can be grown at home. You can buy seedlings at a pet store.

It is prohibited to feed sphinxes natural dishes from the human table. Salt, sugar, preservatives, and spices are added to foods consumed by people. Cats do not need such supplements, so it is harmful for them to eat sausage, sausages, canned meat and fish. Fried foods are also harmful. The main list of prohibited products includes the following:

• fried cutlets;
• pork in any form. Raw is fraught with helminthiasis, and boiled is too fatty and heavy for the stomach;
• sausages, sausages, sausages;
• chicken bones;
• smoked meat products;
• buns, candies, cookies, sweets;
• stewed meat, canned fish. They contain too much salt and spices that are harmful to your pet’s health;
• fresh milk. Many adult pets develop lactose intolerance, so it is better to avoid milk. It is replaced with fermented milk products, which have no less health value.

Advice from veterinarians and Sphynx owners

For those planning to get a Sphynx, it will be useful to know the following:

1. Before buying a kitten, you need to think several times whether you will be able to cope with caring for it. Since these hairless kittens require a lot of attention and special care. They need to devote no less time than a child.
2. Prepare everything at home for a new tenant: space, dishes, scratching post, tray, special cosmetics for care and washing. Remove all dangerous objects and flowers from the access area.
3. You should obtain the necessary information from the breeder about vaccinations, the kitten’s preferences, what food was provided, and whether there are any allergies.
4. It is necessary to correctly draw up a kitten’s menu according to age, taking into account the necessary vitamins, minerals and calories. It is necessary for the baby to develop correctly. You need to know what to feed Sphynx kittens.
5. It is necessary to feed from the same dish, in one place and at the same time. You cannot give food from the table. This is also harmful for the kitten, and it will grow up spoiled. Proper feeding will ensure the kitten has a long life.
6. You need to make sure that there is no spoiled food in the kitten’s dishes. It is necessary to always have clean drinking water in the bowl.
7. If food for a kitten is from a store, then it must meet all requirements for content, calorie content and age. Be sure to look at the date of manufacture.
8. You need to work with the kitten, he must have time to spend all his energy in a day.
9. You should be vaccinated on time, and if you have health problems, immediately contact a veterinary clinic; you should not allow yourself to self-medicate.

Feeding scheme

The number of feedings depends on the age of the pet. The younger the baby, the more often he needs to be fed. For example, a baby at the age of two months is fed at least 6-8 times a day - this is normal, because he would feed on mother’s milk just as often.

From 3 months, the frequency of feedings is reduced to 5-6 times, from 6 months – to 3 times. Pets over 9 months old eat well with two feedings.

Because of their hairless skin, Sphynx cats require increased nutrition. They usually eat whatever is put in their bowl, so the owner must regulate the amount of food. Excessive passion for food results in problems with excess weight. Sphynx cats should not be overfed to avoid obesity.

What to feed the Sphynx

Due to the lack of fur, hairless cats are forced to expend a lot of energy to heat the body. According to this, the Sphynx's menu should include high-calorie food. To feed cats, choose ready-made mixtures or natural products. Some owners mix both types of food. Each of these options has its pros and cons.

When selecting the optimal diet, the individual characteristics, well-being of the animal, and its taste preferences are taken into account.

Feeding according to financial and physical capabilities

Creating a natural menu on your own is quite a complicated matter. Therefore, it is recommended to contact a veterinarian who can calculate the amount of necessary products for each cat. Before making a choice in favor of natural products or industrial feeds, you need to evaluate your own strengths:

1. For meat, fish, eggs, you need to often go to the store, and it is enough to purchase ready-made food 1-2 months in advance. If you have time to visit grocery stores and markets, you can safely introduce your baby to natural dishes.
2. The lifestyle of animal owners plays an important role in the choice of diet. For example, if the owners are often away from home (business trips, courses, studies, travel), will neighbors or relatives boil meat for the cat, pick bones from fish, or prepare a healthy pate from liver and vegetables? Of course not, so it is better to accustom the kitten to ready-made food. What if you take your pet with you to the resort? On the road, the pet will find itself without food, and when it arrives at the seaside, the owners are unlikely to want to cook and bake meat and fish. Accordingly, the conclusion suggests itself: industrial feed in this situation is the best option.
3. If you make a choice in favor of natural nutrition, you must remember that to saturate the body with vitamin and mineral components, it is raw foods that are required. In nature, cats do not boil mice, and they eat freshly caught fish. If you cook meat, some of the essential vitamins and minerals will evaporate, so how will your pet replenish its reserves? When choosing between raw and boiled food, you need to understand what is more important: vitamins and minerals or the risk of infection with worms. Using dry or canned food from a pet store may not be as beneficial for the body as natural food, but it allows you to calculate the amount of incoming microelements, and is also safe in terms of helminth infection.

Recipes for natural delicacies

You can pamper your pet sphinx by preparing the following “yummy”:

1. Lightly boil chicken meat (1 kg) so that the top is cooked and the inside remains raw. Pass the meat together with cartilage, but without bones, through a meat grinder.
2. You need to boil 2 chicken eggs. Remove the white and chop the yolk. Mix with minced meat. For the resulting amount of meat you will need to add: 25 ml of vitamin E, 50 ml of a mixture of B vitamins, 20 ml of taurine and fish oil. Mix these ingredients in 150 ml of water and pour into the minced meat. Divide the resulting mixture into single portions and store in the freezer. Before feeding, warm up to a comfortable temperature in the microwave.

A small amount of additives is mixed into the minced meat (no more than 25-30%). Chopped and boiled cereals (15%) - buckwheat, rice, egg, oatmeal - are suitable for this purpose. For variety, boiled or fresh vegetables, crushed to a puree, are added to the meat (10-15%):

• carrots rich in carotene;
• zucchini , which saturate the body with elements such as potassium, magnesium and manganese;
• fresh cucumbers . Some felines love them very much because they are very watery and allow you to get drunk on a hot summer day;
• pumpkin is useful both raw and boiled. Cats love to eat it even without meat. The dish is useful because it has an anthelmintic effect;
• broccoli – it contains antioxidants that slow down the aging process;
• asparagus is a vitamin plant that improves digestion due to its high fiber content;
• green beans - especially green beans contain a large supply of fiber. Cats eat it fresh with pleasure;
• celery – rich in vitamins and minerals important for a complete diet;
• melon – many sphinxes adore its taste and aroma. It is given in small portions, peeled and seeds removed.

It is rare, but it is allowed to pamper your pet with fish delicacies. For example, chopped and boned salmon is mixed with steamed rice in a ratio of 9:1 (90 g of fish will take 10 g of porridge). The mixture is diluted with boiled water to the consistency of a thick soup.

You can make oatmeal with tuna. To do this, the fish is boiled, cleaned and passed through a meat grinder. Oatmeal is added in small quantities to minced fish. All ingredients are thoroughly mixed. If you prepare for future use, you can place portions into individual containers and freeze the dish. Be sure to reheat before serving.

How to accustom a cat to vegetables

Sphynxes do not really like experimenting with food, so they are gradually accustomed to new additives. New vegetables are added to meat or fish one at a time and in minimal quantities. Vegetable supplements are administered no more than once a day. After this, the cat’s reaction is noted: did he eat the entire portion with pleasure, did he have an upset stomach or vomiting after the new delicacy.

If the pet refuses the innovation, it is not recommended to insist. The next day you can try a new ingredient as a supplement. Some cats are happy to eat houseplants, but are reluctant to try vegetables. For such pets, it is recommended to purchase grass seedlings from a pet store and place them in an accessible place for germination. The cat will be happy to feast on tender greens.

In nature, animals eat grass to cleanse their stomach. Pets also need this. And although sphinxes have practically no hair, they manage to lick their shaggy friend (if the family has several pets of different breeds). Such friendly licking promotes the accumulation of fur in the stomach. Fresh grass helps clear the intestines of hairballs.

NATURAL FOOD FOR Sphynx

Eating a Sphynx on natural food involves:

• dominance of protein, but not fish,
• presence of carbohydrates, but in smaller quantities,
• a sufficient amount of vitamin base.

If you want to feed your pet only natural food, it is important to include in the diet:

1. Beef or poultry (without skin), rabbit - every day.
2. Chicken or beef by-products – liver, kidneys, lungs, heart – 2 times a week.
3. Cereals, cereals (oatmeal, rice, millet) – 2-3 times a week.
4. Chicken or quail eggs – once a week.
5. Vegetables (potatoes, cabbage (boiled only), carrots, zucchini, etc.) – 2 times a week.
6. Vitamin D, B, B1 - every day.
7. Cheese (unsalted) – once a week.

You can prepare minced meat with the addition of cereals and vegetables, make small cutlets, freeze it all in the freezer, so you will have ready-made food for the Sphynx every day.

The recipe for making such minced meat for the Sphinx is quite simple:

Take:

• 1 kg chicken breast, turkey or lean beef,
• 2 carrots, white or cauliflower,
• 150 g cheese,
• 1 yolk,
• a little greenery
• 1 tablespoon brewer's yeast,
• 20 drops of vitamin D.

Mix all this, divide into small cutlets and freeze.

The danger of cheap feed

It is not recommended to purchase food in bulk at the grocery store. Usually, this is how they sell cheap feed mixtures that will not bring any health benefits. Chemicals and dyes found in cheap pet food cause serious illnesses, including esophageal cancer. Manufacturers indicate the presence of chemical preservatives on the labels, so before purchasing the mixture you should carefully study the composition.

Manufacturers use the term “offal” to hide waste from the meat processing industry. At best, it will be skins and cartilage, and at worst, crushed bones. If the manufacturer indicates that the food consists of by-products, it is better to refuse to purchase it. This dish does not provide any nutritional value.

Pets may happily consume such food, but this does not mean that they understand its composition. Cats are well versed in natural meat and fish, but they do not understand anything about the chemical additives that manufacturers specifically include in low-grade products. Due to odor and taste enhancers, the dish attracts animals. They are deceived by the delicate aroma of chicken or turkey, and in return they receive a mixture that is far from meat in origin.

Therefore, if you decide to feed your pet a commercially produced formula, you need to carefully study the composition. It should contain meat or fish, but not offal.

What food to choose for your Sphynx

Food for Sphynxes should only be premium, super premium and holistic.

Premium dry food:

• Acana;
• Bosh.

Super premium food:

• Orijen;
• AATU;
• Eagle Pack;
• Hill's;
• Eukanuba;
• Iams;
• Nutro;
• Advance;
• Royal Canine.

Holistic class:

• Azmira;
• Canidae;
• Eagle Pack;
• Felidae

Almost all brands produce dry food specifically for elderly, pregnant cats, castrates, kittens, animals leading a sedentary lifestyle, and medicinal ones. Wet food is also divided into classes; it can be medicinal and dietary.

For example, Royal Canine produces specially dry food for sphinxes. However, reviews about the line are contradictory. It's all in the composition. The main share is occupied by dehydrated proteins of animal origin (poultry). It is impossible to determine exactly what part of the bird was used in production. The remaining ingredients are also named in general terms and it is impossible to understand exactly what they are obtained from. It contains unwanted grains - wheat and cereal flour.

Food from different manufacturers is not mixed, only one is fed. Each manufacturer has its own ingredients and dosage. If you mix, then we are no longer talking about balance.

A cat should always have plenty of water when feeding dry food. The animal needs to drink 2-3 times more water than it eats granules. If the sphinx turns out to be a “light drinker,” then the owner will either have to reconsider the diet and switch to natural food / wet canned food (which is expensive) or supplement the pet with a syringe. Some cats begin to drink more when they are given a drinking fountain instead of a regular water bowl.

Lack of water during dry feeding is a serious burden on the kidneys. The risk of urolithiasis and constipation increases, the consequence of which is intestinal damage.

It is strictly forbidden to feed Sphynxes with economy-class food, which is widely available on the shelves of regular stores. The fact is that the main source of protein in such products is plants: soybeans, corn, wheat. But vegetable protein is not absorbed by the cat’s body. The meat component is minimal; as a rule, it is offal, poultry feathers, and fat.

The lower the class of food, the more dyes, preservatives, and flavor enhancers it contains.

What to look for when choosing food

When deciding what to feed your Sphynx, the first thing you need to do is consult with a breeder and a veterinarian, preferably specializing in this breed. But the latter is rare. Secondly, carefully study the composition.

Premium food

Manufacturers of high-quality food produce special mixtures for feeding sphinxes. Let's look at the most popular of them.

Orijen Cat & Kitten

The product for cats is produced in Canada. If you carefully study the label, you will find out that the food is designed not only for adult cats, but also for pregnant cats, as well as kittens.

The food has a high protein content (42%), which is necessary for purebred representatives. The cost of heating the body is compensated by the increased consumption of protein foods. Fats in the feed are present in normal quantities (20%). On mobile, you can scroll the table horizontally with your finger:

Additionally, the production diet includes fruit, vegetable and plant ingredients:

• apples;
• blueberry;
• pumpkin;
• turnip;
• carrot;
• green peas;
• spinach;
• chicory root;
• mint.

In addition, the food contains the daily requirement of vitamins, macro- and microelements.

Purina Pro Plan Delicate

Suitable for adult pets who are too picky about food. The composition of the feed, except for the meat part, is presented:

• rice;
• animal and fish oil;
• yeast;
• egg powder;
• green peas and corn.

The ready-made diet is rich in antioxidants, omega fatty acids and a complex of vitamins. Large dry granules help cleanse teeth and gums of plaque and tartar. Thanks to its unique composition, the food helps normalize digestion.

Special diet for kittens

Bald babies require the introduction of complementary foods at the age of 1 month. They begin to feed them semolina porridge, then gradually add ground boiled meat (beef, chicken), and egg yolk. At two months, the diet is supplemented with fermented milk products (cottage cheese, kefir).

After reaching 3 months of age, the kitten’s diet can be significantly expanded. The meat should no longer be boiled and chopped; you can offer it frozen and cut into slices. The menu is supplemented with plants, vegetables and fruits.

If there is not enough time to prepare food, the kitten is transferred to ready-made mixtures (holistic, premium and super-premium categories). This could be special canned food or dry food. Before buying food, you need to carefully study the label - check the composition, date of manufacture and expiration date, as well as information about whether the food is suitable for babies. Popular brands of food for Sphynx kittens:

• Purina Pro Plan Junior Chicken;
• Royal Canin Babycat Instinctive for the little ones (up to 4 months);
• Royal Canin Kitten – for older pets (4-12 months);
• GO! Sensitivity + Shine Duck Cat Recipe Limited Ingredient Diet, Grain Free – for pets with sensitive stomachs and digestive problems.

Kitten in a new home. Features of nutrition in the first days

Particular attention is paid to the kitten's diet. You need to know how many times to feed a Sphynx kitten. Since this breed sometimes does not know when to eat. There are no special food requirements. Kittens are omnivores and have good digestion. They just eat much more often. Since a lot of energy is spent on warming the body. What to feed Sphynx kittens after they bring them home? There is a small requirement here. In the first days, the kitten should be fed the same food that the breeder had. Because for a child, changing a place of residence is stressful. Therefore, his diet needs to be changed gradually. You need to let the kitten adapt.

Pregnancy and proper nutrition

Kittens need adequate nutrition while still in the womb of their mother cat. Therefore, special attention is paid to the diet of the expectant mother. It is best if the pregnant woman is breastfed. The number of daily feedings is increased to 4 times a day. The food supply is also being increased. This will prevent the kittens from going hungry.

It is necessary to take into account that an adult Sphynx pet with an average body weight of 4 kg will need at least 320 kcal. A pregnant cat needs an increased portion. During pregnancy, the norm is 1000 kcal.

The daily menu should contain raw beef (at least 50% of the diet). Supplements in the form of vegetables and grains will help protect your pet from constipation. Giving fish is not recommended. Bone meal is used as a mineral addition to dishes. It is poured into minced meat 0.5 tsp each.

Fermented milk dishes are offered separately from the main meal. For example, cottage cheese for an afternoon snack, and kefir before bed.

Vitamins and supplements

When feeding the Sphynx with industrial food, there is no need to use vitamin supplements. They have to be added to a diet consisting of natural products, since a deficiency of vitamins can lead to a decrease in the animal’s immunity and deterioration of reproductive function.

Natural vitamin supplements may consist of:

• brewer's yeast, which replenishes the cat's body with B vitamins;
• fish oil rich in vitamin D;
• ready-made pharmaceutical mineral complexes.

Attention! Vitamin preparations can only be used after consultation with a veterinarian. It will help determine what vitamin the Sphynx lacks and in what quantity it should be added to food.

The composition and dosage of vitamin supplements is selected individually in accordance with the age, weight of the Canadian Sphynx, health status and living conditions of the cat.

Feed replacement

Even the most expensive and elite food can cause digestive upset in a pet. Problems with bowel movements, diarrhea, constipation, and general deterioration in health indicate that the body does not accept the food offered.

The kitten becomes restless, refuses to play with the owner, and eats reluctantly. It is necessary to contact a veterinarian and have the animal examined. If no objective reasons have been identified, then the deterioration of the condition is caused by poor nutrition. In this case, it is necessary to change the food.

The change in diet is approached gradually. Choose another feed manufacturer. Add some new ones to the old granules and offer them to the kitten. Sphynxes are very sensitive to substitution and at first they can sort out their food, choosing the usual one.

The replacement process is lengthy; if the cat categorically refuses to eat the new food, it is necessary to purchase another one. This is how the trial method is used to achieve a complete replacement of nutrition. You need to be patient, because the health of the pet is in the hands of the owner.

Number of bowls and serving size

What do those who are interested in what to feed a Sphynx kitten need to know and how to do it correctly? It is necessary that the kitten has two or three bowls. One contains water, which changes every day. The second bowl is where you will place the food. If the food is mixed, you will need a third bowl. It will contain natural food. Before each feeding, the dishes are washed well. It is advisable to feed by the hour. This will be convenient for both the kitten and the owner. In one meal, the kitten must replenish its energy reserves. There should not be much or little food. It’s not difficult to figure out what to feed a Sphynx kitten, but many people get confused about how much food should be in a single meal. On average, 5% of the total weight of the pet is taken. In addition to the main food, a special herb for cleaning the kitten’s stomach will not hurt. But indoor plants will have to be hidden. Otherwise, the kitten may start gnawing on them. Some house plants can be poisonous to kittens.