Ready-made food for Maine Coons
Feeding Maine Coons with ready-made industrial food is quite convenient and quick: it can be stored for a long time, thereby saving your time on cooking.
Today, there are a huge number of special series of dry and wet food for Maine Coon kittens and adult cats of large breeds. You can choose it depending on the preferences of your pet. In addition, there are foods that are produced specifically to maintain the health of baleen cats, for example, during pregnancy, lactation, or focused on the health of the urolithiasis system, cats suffering from obesity, and so on.
Maine Coons are highly discouraged from eating low quality food, such as Whiskas and KittyKat. Constantly feeding cheap food can lead to a whole bunch of serious diseases that will cause problems for you and your pet. It is recommended to choose professional premium food from the following: Hills, Nutro. Veterinarians and owners of giant cats often leave only positive reviews about these foods.
Hills feed
Royal Canin food
Nutro food
Remember that the best food for your Maine Coon will be the one prescribed by your veterinarian. Wet food is considered healthier and more nutritious, but its prices differ significantly from the prices of dry food. Here the choice is up to the owner, naturally, based on his own capabilities. Alternatively, you can feed your cat dry food in the morning and canned food in the afternoon or evening.
Feeding cats dry food
Dry food is a normal balanced diet for Maine Coons. Long-term feeding with high-quality dry food completely rebuilds the pet’s body to produce the necessary digestive juice so that metabolism and water-salt balance are carried out correctly.
Many owners mistakenly assume that dry food forms stones in the animal's urinary tract. However, if you provide your Maine Coon with proper nutrition in accordance with its weight, no health problems will arise.
All dry food is divided into 4 classes:
- Holistic. Healthy professional food. A combination of balance and nutrition.
- Super premium. Ideally balanced professional food. The best dry food for Maine Coon, judging by the reviews of most owners.
- Premium Healthy food for your pet.
- Economy Cheap food that can lead to weight loss, watery eyes, deterioration of the coat, and so on.
Which one to feed the Manx raccoon cat is up to the owner, since the main thing for the animal is that it is tasty.
Important! Please note that the amounts of proteins and microelements may not differ on the feed packages, but the raw materials for their production are significantly different!
Wet food for Maine Coons
Wet food is practically no different in composition from dry food. However, at pet markets they are divided into complete diets and treats. Wet food is made in the form of pates and jellies, each of which can also be economy or premium class. As a rule, Maine Coons love to eat wet food.
Premium food
As we have already said, the food that your Manx cat will eat should be super premium or premium, that is, high quality. The list of its ingredients should first of all include a certain type of meat, as well as minerals and fats.
Important! Preservatives, artificial colors, flavors and by-products are almost always absent from quality food!
Premium dry and wet food for Maine Coons is produced by Royal Canin, Hills, Eukanuba, Nutro, EaglePack, PurinaProPlan.
By the way, Royal Canin and Hills are often classified as super premium, since they have their own line of medicinal foods, and the quality is significantly different from other premium brands.
Note! A good food should be marked “Premium” or “Superpremium”.
Feeding a kitten up to one month old
When a mother holds her baby in her arms, she is ready to give him all the best, knowing full well that the approach to cooking at this age should be delicate, healthy, fresh and different from the diet of an adult. The stomach is just beginning to function and get used to earthly life.
A kitten is also a baby , and its small ventricle works in much the same way, but develops faster. Therefore, you will have to approach the issue of menu selection very delicately in such a tender period. The future health of your tailed friend, his character, and even his emotional state may depend on this.
Up to a month, the kitten needs a large amount of milk, and the best for him will be the mother's. It is not recommended to separate the baby from the mother so early. But if for some reason feeding naturally is not possible, then an alternative can be found quite easily.
- The first option is to buy a special mixture at the pet store, which is similar in composition to its natural food. Keep in mind that every living creature's milk is different, and only the cow shares hers so cordially that it is suitable for almost all other species.
- The second option is to feed with cow's milk. The main thing is that it is not greasy and that there is no allergic reaction to it. This is not the best solution. Because it is poorly absorbed by Maine Coons. Not recommended on an ongoing basis.
- The third option is goat milk. It is considered hypoallergenic and therefore even preferable to cow's milk.
This way we save our baby from starvation for up to three weeks. Don't forget to feed your baby six times a day . Don't forget that the little Maine Coon grows very quickly. Therefore, increase the portion every week. It is not difficult to find out experimentally how much portion is required to fully satisfy hunger at one time. Our little ones are just entering this world and the concept of greed is alien to them. They eat exactly as much as they need. If the baby is hungry, he will meow, and if he is full, he will not take too much.
From three weeks it is already allowed to introduce complementary foods. You should start with small pieces of raw beef. Be sure to check the reaction to each new product. If you do not notice any upset in the digestive system after the first consumption of meat, then the next day give a small piece more. As complementary foods, you can try giving a boiled egg and low-fat cream at one month.
From the month on, taste preferences and the amount of food eaten begin to change. Be sure to include porridge, milk or cooked in broth (do not add salt!). You can add finely chopped chicken fillet to the cereal broth. You will be serving fresh food five or six times a day. Periodically (preferably daily) pamper your household with a small piece of beef scalded with boiling water. This delicacy will not only delight your baby with its taste, but will also be good for his teeth. Try to serve food warm.
If in the future you plan to feed your Maine Coon dry food, then you can add a little soaked in warm water as complementary food. Naturally, food should be chosen only from well-known manufacturers and its quality should be monitored.
Don't forget that your new tailed companion costs five hundred dollars. And if you were able to make your dream come true and purchase this luxurious creation, then saving on it is now simply ridiculous. With proper care and attention, your cat will become a true member of your family and a decoration of your home.
Feeding the Maine Coon with natural food
Feeding a Manx cat natural food does not mean treating him to everything that you yourself eat. Such homemade food will not benefit your pet, rather the opposite. When preparing a diet, it is very important to find out in advance what Maine Coons can eat and what is not recommended.
| Meat dishes | Maine Coons are allowed to eat boiled chicken, chicken neck and head, as well as frozen chicken or beef offal. But it is not recommended to give pork and duck, in any form - they are difficult to digest and put a strain on the liver. All kinds of “human” canned food, stewed meat, smoked foods and bones are also prohibited. Sometimes you can pamper your cat with boiled liver. |
| Dairy products | Milk is good for small Maine Coons. As animals grow older, their food systems have difficulty digesting milk, causing them to have problems with bowel movements. Therefore, it is not advisable to give milk to an adult cat. You can diversify your diet with kefir, unsweetened bio-yogurt or non-sour cottage cheese, but provided that they do not contain any additives. |
| Fish and all kinds of seafood | Fish, especially capelin, is prohibited for Maine Coons both raw and boiled - it provokes the appearance of worms, and in different organs of the animal. In small quantities, you can pamper your pet with boiled squid or shrimp, cooked at home, without salts and spices. |
| Eggs | It is not recommended to give egg whites of chicken eggs to Maine Coons, but the yolks are good for the health of pets and also have a positive effect on the beauty of their coat. A couple of times a week you can feed your domestic giant quail eggs. |
| Vegetables and fruits | Vegetables and fruits that contain small amounts of starch are excellent for periodic feeding of the Maine Coon. They are added in ground form to other permitted foods. |
Sometimes you can feed the Maine Coon porridge - rice, oatmeal or buckwheat. But porridge is not suitable as the main food, since this breed of cat is quite large and needs healthy food. Fans of the breed have adapted to preparing special kunin porridge, which includes all the necessary ingredients for the health of the pet.
Important! Greens, like water, should always be in a visible place so that your pet has free access to it.
Correctly calculating nutrients in natural nutrition is quite difficult. In addition, special vitamins and microelements must be added to the products.
Vitamins and mineral supplements for Maine Coons are produced by such manufacturers as CANINA, BEAPHAR.
Recommended vitamins for Maine Coons
- Vitamins and mineral supplements: “Top 10” from Canina.
- For strong bones and joints: Kangidrox (GAG Forte) from Canina, as well as “CALCIDEE” (calcium, phosphorus) from 8in1.
- Vitamins for the coat: “BREWERS” from Canina.
It is very important to seal the vitamins tightly and keep them out of reach of the animal.
Veterinarian advice
When feeding Maine Coons you should follow several rules:
- Do not mix natural products and industrial feeds;
- food should be warm - cold or hot food has a negative effect on the animal’s digestive system;
- products must be fresh and of high quality;
- it is necessary to follow the feeding regime;
- Maine Coon must have free access to clean drinking water;
- a balanced menu should consist of 40% proteins, 20 - 30% fats and at least 2% fiber.
If there is a need to switch your pet from dry food to natural products, this must be done gradually: first mix dry food with canned food from the same manufacturer, then gradually introduce natural products. When changing the type of food, a restructuring of the Maine Coon’s digestive system occurs, so you need to give the cat a bifidobacteria complex.
Nutritional standards for raccoon cats
To determine how much a Maine Coon eats per day and how to feed it correctly, you need to know the pet’s live weight. For every kilogram of live weight there should be about 60 kcal and 10 g of protein.
Thus, a regular-sized Manx cat requires at least 150 g of food per day. But an adult animal of this breed should increase the diet by at least 2 times.
If you prefer to feed your pet commercial food, veterinarians advise studying its composition in detail before purchasing. So, 100 g of food should contain about 350 kcal, 35% proteins, 20% fats and more than 2.5% fiber. It is not necessary to feed the Maine Coon many times; it is enough to divide the food into 2-3 times a day. Maine Coon kittens, on the contrary, need small portions, which are usually given 4-5 times.
Approximate daily diet of a Maine Coon (per 1 kg of total weight)
Option 1
| Product | Unit change | Quantity |
| Lean meat | G. | 113 |
| Boiled rice | G. | 35 |
| Vegetable puree with vitamin and mineral supplements | tsp | 3 |
Option 2
| Product | Unit change | Quantity |
| Quail yolk | PC. | 2-3 |
| Cottage cheese | G. | 30 |
| Lean boiled beef with vitamin and mineral supplements | G. | 120-150 |
A Manx raccoon cat that eats properly is always energetic, cheerful and reasonably well-fed. The condition of its coat and overall beauty depend on how many healthy ingredients a Maine Coon eats per day.
When food isn't good for you
Maine Coons are a breed of cat that arose in the harsh farming conditions of the northern United States. As a result of natural selection, only the hardiest cats with good and healthy instincts remained. Now coons live in city apartments, where their mouse-catching abilities are not in demand, but their healthy appetite and great mobility prevent excessive overeating and obesity.
Interesting! Maine Coons were first officially recognized in 1878, although the first surge in the popularity of big cats occurred after the 1861 exhibition in New York.
A healthy Maine Coon correctly determines how much it should eat. However, if a neutered animal lives in your house, you need to be a little more careful about feeding it and not overfeed. Due to changed hormonal levels, the animal becomes calmer and may gain excess weight, leading to health problems.
Neutered cats have a significantly increased risk of urolithiasis. To prevent the formation of kidney stones, you should choose food containing reduced amounts of magnesium and phosphorus. Many pet food manufacturers have corresponding lines for sterilized cats.
Basics of a healthy diet
The main principle that cannot be neglected: food prepared for family members is not suitable for feeding a four-legged friend!
This is due to:
- characteristics of the animal’s digestive system;
- a specific set of enzymes;
- the difference in vitamin-mineral, energy needs of the human and cat body.
Food “from the table” is poorly digested by pets, causing gastrointestinal disorders, liver and kidney diseases, and developmental disorders.
Before creating a diet for your ward, you should choose one of two feeding options. Suitable daily menu:
- Natural food prepared taking into account the physiological characteristics of the animal. The main ingredient in cat dishes is lean meat.
- Ready food. It has a balanced composition and is available in dry and wet form. Sold in pet stores and special departments of supermarkets.
Proper nutrition contributes to:
- normal formation of the skeleton and muscular system;
- good condition of teeth, claws, coat;
- strengthening immunity, preventing diseases;
- establishing contact with the owner;
- increasing life expectancy.
