Essential Guide to Feeding Stray Cats: Tips & Care

Section 1: The Dietary Situation of Feral Cats

Without a fixed feeding schedule, stray cats often resort to foraging in dumpsters for garbage, consuming the carcasses of animals that have died from accidents or medications, and hunting wild birds and small mammals. This not only prevents them from obtaining clean and hygienic food in a timely manner but also significantly impacts the surrounding environment. Moreover, the difficulty in accessing clean water sources in urban areas exacerbates the problem, significantly increasing the risk of food poisoning and even death due to unclean diets.

Section 2: Criteria for Choosing Cat Food

Basic Principles:

Opt for cat food produced by reputable brands with clear labels indicating the fat and protein content, as well as detailed information about the ingredients and their proportions. The core values are cleanliness, hygiene, and safety. Examples include Royal (about 1520 yuan per pound), McFadyen (510 yuan per pound), Lelong (515 yuan per pound), Jinsu (2530 yuan per pound), and Meishi (2028 yuan per pound) and so on.

Points to Consider:

It is generally recommended to choose cat food with protein content above 25%, and if your budget allows, opt for food with over 30% protein.

Try to select cat food with clearly stated ingredients, such as chicken, chicken meal, salmon fish meal, frozen turkey, etc., rather than vague terms like "meat meal".

Avoid vegetarian cat food and certain wellknown toxic cat food brands.

Before purchasing, search online (e.g., Baidu or WeChat) to check if the brand has had any serious food safety issues detected within the past six months (such as bacterial contamination or aflatoxin overexposure).

Section 3: Canned Food, Cat Treats, FreezeDried Products, and Fresh Pouches

Basic Principles:

Always opt for canned food, cat treats, freezedried products, and fresh pouches from reputable brands or manufacturers, ensuring that the ingredients and their proportions are clearly labeled. Examples include Weilott, Jinsiang, McFadyen, Zhenzhi, Fuli Xian, Jujujia, Xiaopei, Royal, Yiqin, Wanyi, Xibao, Xueshiya, and more.

Points to Consider:

Before purchasing, search online to check if the brand has had any serious bacterial contamination issues or aflatoxin overexposure detected within the past six months.

Avoid purchasing products without clear branding, such as plain cans, bulk freezedried products, etc.

Section 4: Human Food

Do not feed your cat human food or leftovers! Human food often contains large amounts of spices, scallions, garlic, and various seasonings that can be highly toxic to cats. For instance, onions, garlic, and chives can be fatal to cats and dogs; grapes can cause acute kidney failure; cherries and tomatoes can lead to cyanide poisoning and solanine poisoning, respectively; highsugar foods can trigger diabetes in cats; and chili can irritate the cat's gastrointestinal tract, potentially causing hemorrhagic disorders...

However, plain, boneless, skinless, boiled meat without any seasonings can be given as a treat in small quantities to cats, but it should not be used as a longterm or sole substitute for commercial cat food. Proper homemade cat food that can replace commercial cat food requires a balanced mix of calcium powder, potassium iodide, taurine, liver, vitamins, and more, and it needs to be varied frequently in terms of meat types and cuts. If not prepared scientifically, homemade food can be as harmful as toxic commercial food.

As for raw meat and bones, it is not recommended to use these for feeding, as the choice of bone type and part is crucial, and inappropriate bones or cooked bones can damage a cat's teeth and digestive tract. Additionally, if the source of raw meat and bones is not appropriate, cats can easily contract Brucellosis and Pseudorabies, which can not only harm the cats but also pose a threat to humans in the area.

Section 5: Feeding Methods and Location Selection

1. Prepare the food, clean drinking water, and two clean containers (one for food and one for water; avoid using tin cans as they can cut the cat; consider using clean takeout boxes, lids, or discarded bowls/plates).

2. Find a secluded corner where cats are often seen, away from human activity, such as a corner of a wall, inside bushes, or under a tree root. Try to keep the location hidden to avoid attracting cruel people and to prevent inconvenience to cleaners.

3. Place the food and water in separate containers and position them, then step back a safe distance.

4. After a few hours (such as overnight or half a day), discard the remaining food and water from the bowls, clean the containers, and replace them with fresh food and water.

5. A cat's meal should consist of about 12 handfuls of cat food; do not overfeed to prevent vomiting and food waste.