Content
- Causes of Malnutrition in Cats
- How can vitamins help with malnutrition?
- Cat-specific vitamins
- In the face of malnutrition, you should go to the veterinarian
Great nutrition is essential for keep our pets healthy, since food is directly related to the body's functionality and is a therapeutic tool as effective as it is natural that we must take into account whenever health loses its balance.
Cats are characterized by typically feline behavior where the need for independence stands out, but that is not why we should stop supervising their diet, especially to prevent conditions that could be serious, such as the malnutrition.
In cases of lack of food we must ensure an adequate supply of micronutrients, and these must be administered to prevent the cat from reaching a starvation state. For this reason, in this article by PeritoAnimal we talk about vitamins for malnourished cats.
Causes of Malnutrition in Cats
The causes of malnutrition in cats are mainly two: tdisturbances in nutrient absorption or lack of food.
Sometimes the lack of food is not linked to an inability to eat food, but to a disease that is causing anorexia or lack of appetite. There are many pathologies that cause our cat to lose appetite, however, the following should be highlighted:
- Renal insufficiency
- fatty liver disease
- hyperthyroidism
- Caries
- pancreatitis
- viral diseases
- bacterial diseases
Due to the fact that the lack of appetite and consequently malnutrition can be caused by serious illnesses, it is essential to initial assessment by a veterinarian.
How can vitamins help with malnutrition?
vitamins are micronutrients which, despite being in a low proportion in the cat's body, are of vital importance for the proper functioning of the cat, since they participate in various chemical reactions essential for life.
Administering vitamins to a malnourished cat has the following advantages:
- Favors the proper assimilation of macronutrients: carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
- Prevents illnesses secondary to a vitamin deficit.
- Allows the cat's body to more easily maintain its vital functions.
- Vitamins are essential to support immune system functions.
- Some specific combinations of vitamins for cats are formulated with the aim of increasing the appetite.
Cat-specific vitamins
Self-medication in cats is an irresponsible practice on the part of owners that can put the animal's life at risk, even more so when we use drugs or nutritional supplements that have only been approved for human use.
Fortunately, nowadays we can easily find cat-specific vitamins, and also in various formats: pastes, gels, treats and capsules.
These products have a suitable dosage format for the cat that can adapt (and must be adapted) to the feline's weight. These are preparations that can help us to fight malnutrition states where there is a lack of vitamins.
As mentioned before, this administration is not only useful to restore the percentage of vitamins but also supports the immune functions of our patients. pet.
In the face of malnutrition, you should go to the veterinarian
As already mentioned initially, it is essential that before giving your cat vitamins go to the vet for a full scan, and then we'll show you why you should:
- The veterinarian will be able to determine the underlying cause of malnutrition and treat it accordingly.
- If necessary, specific tests will be performed to see if malnutrition has caused a specific vitamin deficit.
- The veterinarian can advise you in the best possible way: on some occasions a vitamin supplement is not necessary, but the administration of a single vitamin in combination with other nutritional supplements.
- In situations of severe malnutrition it is necessary to resort to parenteral nutrition (which is done intravenously) and obviously this can only be administered in a veterinary center.
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.