Answering questions about feeding Bengals

Socialising kittens is very satisfing, because all activities come natural. Imagine this: In the morning before breakfast you are welcomed by a basket filled with sleepy kittens. Some of them are still sleepy and after extensive yawning and stretching they open their eyes slightly, look at you and decide to  sleep a little more.

Others decide to wake up and start a new day. When they see you they stretch their legs, yawn a bit and slowly get up. After more stretching and yawning they will come to you, look at you and socializing starts…..You will raise the kitten out of the playpen and hold it near to your heart. You start talking to the kitten and he is meowing back so you start “knuffelen”. It means hugging, cuddling, snuggle and more….

Answering questions about a perfect feeding program is a whole different story…………..

 

When I was taking the course feeding cats got specific attention.

A specialised veterinarian lectured  two mornings about the latest research’s, gave us a reader, showed us video’s and answers all our questions. I have made notes, and notes and more notes. This was a topic that made me conscious that the more I learned the less I knew.

There are different ideas about feeding Bengals, because it’s a breed close to nature some breeders say that they will need a diet of meat.  Bengals are  active and have  muscular bodies so a diet of just meat can cause a lack of protein, vitamins, minerals, crude ash and fibres. That means that you have to know what your cats need.

 

We went to a show with a friend and her kitten who was the same age as ours, but she only gave her kitten meat. The Austrian examiner’s view was that my friends kitten should not be showed because she was too slim. Our kitten went home with a chalice so we had a long discussion with examiner about  feeding Bengals. The examiner breeds Bengals and we learned a lot of his practical advice and we still are learning from him. It goes without saying that we don't feed our Bengals exclusively raw meat.
 

To answer the questions I have got about feeding Bengals I like to give you one straight answer, but there isn’t one. Our homework was to research cats food on sale and I went to my store. I spent a whole morning studying the different brands of cats food and reading the labels about the ingredients and analysis of the manufacturers. The salesman was not interested in merley selling catfood and soon we both studied the different brands and because we are in The Netherlands, we had coffee while doing that. Cat lovers are very special people and soon we were joined by cat owners who gave us their opinion about the brand they give to their beloved cats.

I can give you a summary of our experience.

·        We give our cats premium food with no additions of colouring or flavouring agents, with easy digestibly and nutrient bioavailable of various ingredients.

·        People like variation, Bengals do not. When you have to change food, do it with baby steps.

      We give our Bengals every day fresh dry food and fresh water. At 6 PM we give them meat. We buy the meat in frozen ”sausages” and defrost them the night before. We also give them chicken breast and fish both first boiled in water. There is no need to give them treats, we give them premium food that has certain aromatic volatile compounds and give that as a treat. They love that.

·        Never give them porc, table scraps or human food, because the will almost certainly get

       diarrhoea.

 

 

 

 

A very, very special treat  for some of our Bengals is an one day old chicken. Think before you give them one, not everybody can tolerate the site of their beloved pet changing in a fierce  predator.   

 

Have a very happy Bengal day…. remember give your Bengal all your love, but never the food you love.:)

Conny Schiffer