Of Cats: My Experience with Singapore Strays (Part 3)

A question that had lingered in my mind before I started feeding community cats was “What should I feed stray cats in Singapore?”. Feeding stray cats should be a concerted effort from everyone in the community.

In Part 3 of this series, I will be talking about nutrition for the stray cats and what we can and should feed them.

Before I start, I will like to discuss responsible feeding. The below image is an advisory by the Cat Welfare Society, which I find very useful to all kind-hearted souls who want to feed stray cats.

Retrieved from Cat Welfare Society

As such, if you notice, I have actually committed an “error” by not using either plates or bowls in the Part 1 of my post. After I discovered the above advisory by the Cat Welfare Society, I have since started to use a plastic bowl.

 Black cat from Part 1, using tips from Part 2, I managed to get so close!

STRAY CAT NUTRITION
(1) Dry food / Kibble / Raw meat / Cooked meat
Dry food should be the main staple of a community cat's diet. It provides essential carbohydrates and proteins for a stray cat's daily activity.

Unlike dogs who are omnivores, cats are carnivores, meaning that their diet should contain little fibre (which are found in large quantities in vegetables).

Some people do comment that dry food is not really healthy. For example, it is a well-known fact that meat by-products, unable for human consumption, such as the beak, head, feet are used to make dry pet food. Furthermore, to make the kibbles more filling, manufacturers add in corn meal.

Hence, if you have the money, you can purchase raw or cooked meat for cats to eat. I find that some community cats like chicken, more than the commonly-perceived fish.

However, I believe that stray cats are already grateful to have food to eat, be it dry kibble or the more nutritious cooked or raw meat. As long as there are food to eat, these community cats will have a better life.

(2) Water / Milk
Like human beings, stray cats require water for survival. I have often seen stray cats licking the dew off plants for their daily water intake or drinking from the dirty drains which is definitely insufficient and unhealthy for these community cats.

Whenever I feed stray cats, I will always bring a bottle of pet's milk or fresh boiled water with me. Pet’s milk is definitely recommended as the community cats’ stomach might not be able to process the lactose, causing unnecessary pain and harm to the lives of the cats.

In the next post, I will talk about some of the misconceptions that might exist when feeding stray cats and how we can help them.

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