Food, Supplements, Litter, & Toys---All the Essentials

FOOD:

This kitten is being fed: 5-6 T of meat at 8 AM & 6 PM using canned Innova Adult Cat chicken & ground fresh raw organic chicken. We use only the dry food called Naturapet Innova's EVO kibble which is available all day. (Our kittens start on Royal Canin Baby Cat & raw ground chicken.) Adults are free fed EVO kibble, available all day plus 1/3 to 1/2 of a 13 ounce can of Innova canned chicken split between 2 meat feedings per day. Never feed more than they can consume, as this food will spoil or dry out in air because it is made from fresh meat. Store in an airtight container. Innova and EVO can be hard to find. Do an internet search at www.naturapet.com for the distributor nearest you. Always feed a premium quality food w/ human grade meat in it, AVOID: "meat by-products", ground corn, wheat and beet pulp as ingredients...Cats do not digest grains well, particularily corn. EVO is the only kibble we know of which has no grain in is. It is only 7% carbohydrates and 35% protein.

All cats and Bengals in particular, need meat as the primary part of their diet... Both Naturapet products use human grade meat in manufacturing the food. We recommend that you do not change foods. IF you must change foods, make sure the brand you choose uses human grade meat, no corn, no beets, no meat by- products. Feeding a high quality food will lengthen your cat's life and save you a lot in vet bills over their lifetime...In particular, Bengals seem sensitive to intestinal problems if they are not fed food containing good quality meat. Feeding grain based foods leads to kidney and pancreatic problems in older cats. Please be sure you have both kinds of food before the kitten arrives. We recommend two or three times a week you give your cat a blanched chicken thigh or leg, bone in. This way they get the enzymes available in the fresh meat. You can easily do this by buying a package of thighs or legs, freezing it, and taking one at a time out of the freezer, putting it in already boiling water for one minute to kill any surface bacteria, but leaving it basically raw on the inside,. Let cool and give to your cat. They can easily chew and digest the raw chicken bones, but not cooked bones. Note: onions are toxic to cats and male cats should not have quantities of fish or seafood.

SUPPLEMENTS:

We also highly recommend that you add these supplements to their diet. Many pet stores carry them or they are available from ReVival Animal Health (800) 786-4751.
Taurine The domestic Bengal Cat's wild ancestor, the Asian Leopard Cat (ALC) needs 1500 mg daily of Taurine, an amino acid. Bengals need some amount per day supplemented because other domestic cats need only 500 mg daily and that amount is what commercial cats foods provide. The cheapest form to buy that we have identified is the powdered form from ReVival Animal Health. ...Give approximately 250 mg per day or 1/2 teaspoon per day when they are an adult, half that amount to a kitten.
F-Biotic or Call of the Wild (both by Wysong) , these are Feline pro-biotic product, (essentially like acidolphilous for humans)... This is a must have. Give two to three times a week...or daily if your cat becomes sick...our vet bills have been cut in half since using this product.
Missing Link or NuVet: excellent vitamin & mineral supplements; give 3-5 times a week.

LITTER:

We use wood stove pellets ( pine and very cheap $4 for 50 lbs) Because it is completely biodegradeable, it can be composted afterwards and used on ornamental garden plants. Rabbit alfalfa pellets also work and some brands of horse food. They are all as cheap or less than the least expensive clay litters, and smell better. Never use clumping clay litters as the tiny dust particles are the number one cause of upper respiratory ailments in cats and if a kitten ingests it, their intestines can become blocked and they will die. In addition, clay litter clogs our land fills to the tune of millions of pounds a year and NEVER breaks down, just stratifies.

TOYS:

Just make sure there are no small parts that can be chewed off and ingested...and no sparkle/glitter toys as they will chew off and swallow the small bits of metal. Don't feather leave toys out, because Bengals will demolish them...

CAT TREES:

The most reasonably priced 6+ foot deluxe model with a little house hanging from it is from B&B Pet Supply, Geary Ave, San Francisco. (approx$120)