Making Shelter Cats More Adoptable Starts With Good Nutrition #FoodShelterLove

This post is sponsored by Hill’s. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about Hill’s® Food, Shelter, & Love Program, but Mom Knows It All only shares information we feel is relevant to our readers. Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc. is not responsible for the content of this article.

 
See that picture up there? That was taken almost ten years ago. That’s my oldest son holding Rennie and Shadow, two cats that we adopted. Those cats were happy, healthy, well taken care of, and loved. All of the things every pet deserves. When we got Rennie she needed a lot of care. The vet said she was way too thin and hadn’t been getting the proper nutrition.
Parents use the voice of experience and guidance from others to help determine what food is best for their babies. What’s one of the first things doctors ask about your child when they aren’t feeling well? They ask if the baby’s appetite is off or not. There’s a reason for that. Nutrition is closely tied to health. Our bodies are less likely to be able to be their healthy best if we aren’t getting proper nutrients. It isn’t a good thing to have too much of some things, or too little of others.  The same thing goes for pets.
If you’ve ever helped select a new pet, you probably remember some of the things you took into consideration. Size, appearance, temperament, behavior, age and health are likely factors in this type of decision. If you think about it, those things are all related. Let’s face the facts. When people adopt a pet they’re hoping the pet will become a part of their family for years to come. One way to learn about a cat before adopting it is to go to the shelter and spend time with it.

Now obviously someone wanting to adopt one cat isn’t likely to go spend time visiting dozens. This is why volunteers are so important to go to the shelter. Volunteers help feed and care for the animals, and spend time with them. Volunteers will be able to answer some of the questions you might have about the cat you are interested in. It was through conversation with a volunteer that we learned the cats Noah and Pumpkin that we adopted were actually father and son.

As an obvious goal of animal shelters is to promote adoption it’s important that shelters try to keep pets healthy. But, pets don’t always come into the shelter healthy. Sometimes they come in needing extra care, for example if they are overweight.
Do people looking to adopt a cat from the local shelter look at a fat cat and say “I must have that fat cat!” Probably not. They probably say “wow, that’s a fat cat!” and keep right on looking.  An overweight cat is not likely to be at the top of most people’s list. You won’t find scrawny cats at the top of the list either. Which stinks. Cats don’t ask to be in the shelter. They are put there for all sorts of reasons. The Hill’s® Food, Shelter & Love ™ Program helps shelter cats get a fresh start at a new life.

The Hill’s® Food, Shelter & Love ™ Program helps shelter cats get a fresh start at a new life.  The program includes food that will help them reach or stay at their healthy weight – Hill’s® Science Diet® Adult Perfect Weight. Hill’s has provided over $240 million worth of food to nearly 1,000 shelters, 365 days a year helping over 6 million pets find a new home…and counting.
Hill’s® Science Diet® Adult Perfect Weight dry cat food provides breakthrough nutrition formulated to help your cat achieve a healthy weight and improve quality of life. When fed this 100% precisely balanced nutritional food, over 70% of cats lost weight within 10 weeks. The food is great for all cats, and is especially ideal for multi-cat households whose pets all have different weights and needs. Change can be hard or people. Imagine how hard it could be for a cat in a shelter. Hill’s is a food that can easily be used at home after adoption, to promote familiarity and to continue to maintain the healthy feeding program started in the shelter. A great example of this is the story of Stoli from the Denver Dumb Friends League.

Hill’s® Science Diet® Adult Perfect Weight is available in both canned and dry form.  It is available via Pet360 at a discount for autoship.
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