Your Cat’s Behavior Can be Affected by Their Health
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Vet Bills Can Be Very Expensive
Keeping your cat healthy and happy should always be a top priority. There are many things you can do on a regular basis that can have a positive and helpful impact on your cat’s health. This list includes: easy access to fresh and clean water, the best quality food you can afford, food and water containers, some natural holistic type items as needed, plenty of sunshine, exercise, affection, and keeping the stress low.
Another area to monitor for your cat’s health is weight. Just like people, when cats get overweight they are more likely to have health issues. These issues are more likely to pop up as your cat gets a little older, but even younger cats can develop chronic health issues.
Having a good plan early on can really make a difference in the long run. When you have as many cats as we might at various times it really pays off to have a good plan. This not only helps kitty, but also your bank account. We try to use our vet when it’s necessary, but try to avoid extra stress for our cats, extra hassle, and extra costs by being in prevention mode always.
We will be doing an entire series devoted to cat health. This article will focus on the containers you might use for food and water for your cat. In the short term any container will do. However, over the long haul the choice you make will most likely make a big difference on your cat’s health. Your choices of food and water containers range from bowls made out of metal, plastic, ceramic, or glass.
Bowls made out of metal will often over time leach aluminum into the food or water. Having high levels of aluminum can cause all sorts of health issues for cats and humans alike. We only use these type of bowls as an emergency when we are out and about or it’s all that is available. They are durable and last for a long time, but are not really safe.
Plastic bowls are also very popular since they are cheap, unbreakable, and plentiful. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Unfortunately, plastic is also porous. This means that bacteria can build up within the plastic itself and eventually contaminate the food or water placed in it. This will happen even if it is cleaned. Yes, you are supposed to clean your cats food and water bowls regularly. You want to especially keep the water container cleaned. It’s easy to just keep refilling the water bowl, but it needs to be kept clean.
Bowls made out of ceramic are another more common option. You can get them cheap and they come in all types of shapes and sizes. These type of bowls are often nicely decorated with painted flowers etc. Ceramic is also porous, so you will have the same issues as plastic. Ceramic is also not very durable and can break or crumble over time. The extra pretty flowers and other decorations often contain lead which can leach into the food or water. Just for clarification lead being consumed by anything living is bad.
The best material to use for food and water bowls is glass. Thicker glass bowls with NO decorations are the best. They might cost a little more, but if you keep you eyes open and watch for sales, yard sales, Goodwill etc. your cost is still pretty low. They are not the most durable which is why you want to find thicker types and at times we will use a small piece of tape to help prevent the bowl from being knocked off a table or counter. Glass is NOT porous and can be cleaned easily. For the long term you want to try and use glass bowls that are plain. Any decorations usually contain led, or other toxic chemicals or metals.
Step one of healthy cat living is to make sure you primarily are using GLASS containers for their food and water. This will help keep your cat healthy and your wallet more happy. A healthy, happy cat is much less likely to have behavior issues. We will be discussing other health topics in future articles.
