When it comes to the needs of pets it’s often useful to look at how they evolved and what their wild counterparts are like. Cats are, by nature, solitary animals. They like a wide territory to ensure adequate resources, and they view other cats as a major threat to this. They spend most of their day hunting for food and eat between 10 and 20 small meals a day, depending on how successful their hunting is. They are obligate carnivores, which means they have to eat animal flesh to provide them with essential nutrients that they can’t make themselves and that are not found in plants. Because they eat dead animals, they have evolved to not drink water that is near their kill because it may be contaminated.

In the home environment, their precious resources are food, water, places to toilet, places to sleep safely, and their owners.

Cats are animals that can become easily hooked on textures of food and don’t like to change. With the huge array of complete and balanced cat food that is available these days, owners have the choice to feed wet, dry or a combination. While all of these options are fine, it’s good to try from the outset to feed a combination if your finances allow it. This is because at some points in your and your cat’s life, circumstances can change. You may be feeding 100% wet food, and your financial situation might worsen, leaving dry food a significantly cheaper option. But you may find that your cat simply won’t accept it because they are hooked on wet food. Your cat may develop a medical condition such as kidney or bladder disease and really need a higher water intake. Wet food is by far the easiest way to achieve this. If they are hooked on dry it can be difficult to change.

Feeding a combination of textures from the outset can really help with this. As long as both are complete and balanced you can feed the proportions that suit your budget and lifestyle.

As we said, cats have evolved to eat many small meals a day. Obviously, feeding modern diets 10-20 times a day is impractical, but cats do better with split meals rather than two a day as many cats are feed. If you can manage five or six meals a day, that’s ideal. Timer feeders can really help with this if you are out working.

For example, you could give a tasty wet meal in the morning and evening then let a timer feeder do the rest. Splitting meals helps cats feel fuller throughout the day, keeps them more active and provides stimulation, as well as suiting their simple digestive system better. Remember to always split their day’s ration rather than give extras. Ask your vet if your cat is the ideal weight and how much they should be eating for their age and lifestyle. Regular weight checks at home or at the vet are essential for spotting problems early on.

Your cat may seem super chilled out and hopefully they are, but many cats live very stressful lives because of our lifestyle, the high population of cats in many countries and the common human desire to have more than one cat. Cats that are kept solely indoors and cats in multi-cat households are usually the worst affected. Indoor cats can be frustrated with the lack of opportunity to explore a large territory, and cats kept with others are often in constant conflict with one or more cat, causing stress. Over time stress weakens the immune system and can cause behavioural and medical problems that can make life for both the cat and the caregiver pretty miserable.

You may well think that your cats get on. They sleep together, they eat together, they sit on the same settee. However, this may not mean they like each other! When they sleep together, are they curled up touching each other? Do they rub faces and bodies (called allorubbing) when they meet? Do they sit on the settee together because they are both wanting to be near you but not each other? Do they eat together because all the food bowls are in the kitchen, and they have no choice? Do they steadfastly avoid eye contact with your other cats?

Watch your cats in the coming days. If they don’t sleep curled up together and they don’t allorub, the chances are they are not great friends and one or more of them might be suffering from stress. Cats are very subtle communicators, and some stressed cats even pretend to be asleep to avoid conflict.

If at all possible, let your cat out. There are good cat-proof fences available if you don’t want your cat to go too far.

If you have more than one cat, you should have one more food and water bowl than the number of cats you have. These need to be placed in various places round the house so that cats do not have to sit near other cats to eat and drink. The water bowls should be away from the food bowls. Both food and water bowls should be far from any litter trays that you may have. No one wants to eat and drink in the toilet!

Cats are very sensitive animals. Some don’t like the taste of water from plastic bowls, so metal or china bowls are preferable. Cats are prey animals as well as predators so when they eat and drink, they like to be able to keep watch to feel safe. This is why they will often go round to one side of a bowl that puts their back to a wall so that they can be vigilant. They don’t like to put their head too low down to block their view, and they don’t like their whiskers touching the sides of the bowls. Always choose wide bowls and keep water topped up to the brim if possible.

 Cats in the wild usually drink from running sources of water such as streams. They are less likely to be stagnant or dirty. Some pet cats still have this preference for running water and may drink from things like dripping taps. Cat water fountains can be great for these cats, as well as for cats that need more water due to a medical condition.