At Windwalker Maine Coons we avoid foods with wheat gluten as much as possible, especially with kittens because wheat gluten is a common food sensitivity and kittens' digestive and immune systems are still developing.

Every day we open cans of ProPlan Chicken and Rice, ProPlan Sardines and Tuna, Advanced Pet Diet, some Nutro Gourmet Classics, and three flavors of Fancy Feast.

We feed and recommend Life's Abundance dry cat food. Life's Abundance is naturally preserved, does not contain animal by-products and uses only human-quality ingredients (not from China). Many of our kitten owners have it delivered monthly. To set up a Preferred Customer account, go to go to the Life's Abundance website, or call the toll-free order line, 1-877-387-4564, and request discount ID # 10026099.

Although our cats love dry food, and it's certainly convenient for us, we try to feed as little as possible. Older cats need a lot of liquid to help their kidneys, and grains aren't a natural food for cats. A recent study found that a diet high in carbohydrates causes obesity because the liver converts excessive amounts of carbohydrates into body fat. The study also linked several major cat diseases to diet, and veterinarians now treat feline diabetes with a high protein diet, which means canned food. Click here for an excellent article on the subject by Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins, DVM.

Occasionally someone tells me they only feed a couple of tablespoons of canned food as a daily treat, but Please feed your cat lots of wet (canned) food, or take the time to prepare at least some high quality meals. Although it takes more time to make your own food, it reminds us how much we have come to rely on the convenience of canned food.

We mince steamed chicken breast meat (no antibiotics or hormones) from the natural food store, and roast kosher turkeys. We feed raw beef, (no additives, from Trader Joes). However, it's very important not to just feed boiled chicken or raw beef without adding a supplement that contains calcium and the amino acid Taurine.

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A deficiency in one vitamin or mineral may leave your cat vulnerable to disease. A daily nutritional supplement provides your cat with the essential nutrients and immunity support it needs to live a long, healthy life.

We use and recommend NuVet Plus for Felines vitamin powder. Click here to order online (if you sign up for autoship service you receive 15% off each order). You can also call to order, 1-800-474-7044, and give discount code 49057.

We also order Mega-C Plus, a vitamin in liquid form that's easy to give orally, from Orthomolecular Specialties. You can call 408-227-9334, or order it online.

Kitty-Bloom vitamin powder is very good. For a source near you, call 1-800-833-4748 or go to the Double 'S' Enterprises website. If you use bone meal instead of Kitty Bloom calcium supplement, buy powdered bone meal with red bone marrow.

Nu-Cat tablets, are excellent. Some of our cats eat them voluntarily, others say "Oh no, that's a PILL."

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BeneBac. For intestinal distress. We order 15 gram tubes from Revival Animal Products and store them in the refrigerator. BeneBac is a source of live naturally occurring micro-organisms to help maintain the beneficial microbial population in the digestive tract. We just squirt a measured dose in their mouth.

Wysong Pet Inoculant. This is magic stuff for intestinal problems. An orally dosed concentration of probiotic cultures and immunoglobulins, the probiotic cultures enhance healthy intestinal activity as well as combat and inhibit pathogenic E. coli bacteria. Each cc contains 200 million CFU of four bacterial species. Pet Inoculant is designed to be used in conjunction with antibiotic therapy and during any stressful condition.

FOS powder. You can sprinkle FOS/acidophilus powder over food at mealtime. FOS is a probiotic, a form of acidophilus that survives the passage through the stomach acids. It is especially important if cats have been on antibiotics or have had any digestive problems. The source we've found that includes acidophilus is FiberSmart.

A current favorite with our kittens, mix a capsule of acidophilus into two tablespoons of sour cream and serve on a plate.

For vomiting, mix some Aloe Vera Juice (without Sodium Benzoate), liquid chlorophyll and filtered water, this is Marilyn's Magic Green Juice. Give it with a feeding syringe or dropper for digestive upsets, both stomach and intestinal.

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Cats in the wild get water from their prey, but when they eat dry food, they metabolize food differently, and then they don’t drink enough water. We’ve found that FreshFlow water fountains encourage a lot of water drinking at our house.

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We vaccinate our kittens against upper respiratory viruses at nine and twelve weeks.  

In 2007 the American Association of Feline Practitioners and the Academy of Feline Medicine recommended a change in vaccine protocol: no vaccines are necessary once a cat has had a vaccination after it is six months old. So a "booster"at one year old is sufficient to give immunity for life.

Please read these guidelines so you can make an informed visit to your vet. Re-vaccinating a cat after it is one year old is unnecessary and actually dangerous to the health of your cat because of the stress to their immune systems. (See Vaccination News Flash August 2007.)

Most veterinarian schools now recognize that one vaccination provides lifetime immunity and many veterinarians agree that over-vaccinating our cats assaults their natural immune system, making it unable to deal with viruses and environmental toxins.

As for rabies vaccinations, the American Association of Feline Practitioners and the Academy of Feline Medicine recommends that you only vaccinate to the minimum legal mandates required by state and local legislation. We agree with this. If you feel you must vaccinate against rabies, please give the rabies vaccination at a separate time from other vaccinations. We give a rabies vaccination to cats that will go to cat shows or to another cattery for breeding. We wait until they're a year old and make sure the vet notes that as a 3-year rabies vaccination. They're old enough at that age that the immunization will hold and they don't need it again.

We do NOT recommend vaccinating your cat against feline leukemia and FIP, and the new veterinarian guidelines also do NOT. Since your cat will not be exposed to the outside and to other cats that may carry the diseases, there is no reason to subject your cat to unnecessary inoculations. Your Windwalker health guarantee will become null and VOID if you let your vet talk you into giving your cat these vaccinations.

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Cats are extremely clean animals. and will only use a “clean” litter pan. If you aren’t meticulous about your litter pan maintenance, you may have problems, (urinating or defecating outside the litter box). Once this starts it can be difficult to correct.

Your cat has been using World’s Best Cat Litter at our house. This 100% corn-based clumping litter is biodegradable and flushable for both septic and sewer systems.

Although it costs more than other litters, World's Best Cat Litter lasts longer, smells less, and your house doesn't get dusty from it. We send some with your kitten, and if you decide to change to a different litter, do so gradually over one to two weeks or you may have problems. Start with mostly World’s Best and add a little bit of the new product so your cat can get used to the new material. 

Note: Don't make more than one change at a time, such as changing litter and brand of food at the same time. Too much change at once can produce excess stress and problems.

WARNING: PLEASE DO NOT USE CLAY CLUMPING LITTERS! Clay clumping litters are hazardous to the health of longhaired cats such as Maine Coons that have “toe tufts” and feathery britches. When your cat cleans its feet or britches, clay clumping litter may settle and harden in the intestines and create deadly blockages.  

Litter Pan Preparation and Maintenance.   Baking soda and other odor additives are BAD and baking soda is the worst. In addition to being VERY chemically active, it is a strong alkali and will cancel the natural acidic pH of the cat's urine and make it alkaline. Cats need acid pH so they do not get urinary crystals. This is especially important for neutered male cats.

Baking soda is extremely dangerous to eat raw, it will chemically burn the digestive tract if cats lick it off their feet or britches. Litter manufacturers claim to add baking soda to supposedly cancel odors. However, odor is not a problem with the litter we use. Of course, we scoop the pans constantly. You'll notice that scooping the pans is a clear invitation to use them, (in fact, that's how we encourage elimination before a road trip), so you may often scoop again right after you've done it.

When cleaning litter pans, use a good cleaner/disinfectant such as Simple Solution, Simple Green or similar products that kill bacteria.

We recommend a “jumbo” size litter pan, without a hood, for your Maine Coon cat. It may seem extremely large at first, particularly for a kitten, but in time you will be thankful you got the largest size pan available. We actually use the dog training pans found at PetCo, or the long plastic boxes from office supply stores. (Our larger cats sometimes think they're in the box, and yes, their four feet are...) Add litter to about 3 to 4 inches deep.

We also recommend that you put a bathroom rug around the litter pan to help control tracking of litter. Finally, to avoid problems, it's a good idea to have at least one more litter pan than you have adult cats. (For two cats, have three litter pans.)

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If your kitten or cat starts eliminating in inappropriate places, first take him or her to your vet for a comprehensive physical examination.  If there are no physical reasons, think about what has changed in your cat's life: a new baby in the house, a new kitten? Social interactions between cats can often be the reason a cat starts marking or not using the litterbox. 

Then, consider the litterbox. Litterbox aversion is a common cause of inappropriate toileting. Cats are known for their fastidious nature. If the litterbox is dirty, cats will often choose another, cleaner, spot to eliminate. Each cat will tolerate a different level of litterbox cleanliness. If you suspect litterbox aversion, the litterbox should be kept scrupulously clean.

In addition to litterbox cleanliness, other aspects of the litterbox environment can result in litterbox aversion including the location of the box, the style of the box and the brand of litter. Your vet will have suggestions. Sometimes, the vet has prescribed Prozac. Before you think "oh no, I'm never putting my cat on Prozac," consider these facts:  

More cats are euthanized for inappropriate elimination than any other reason, (better calm and happy than dead).  

You are not alone. Look at the shelf space given to gallons of Enzymatic solution for urine smell and stain at the pet stores.

About ten percent of males that were neutered before they were sexually mature, and five percent of prepubertally spayed female cats show problem urine marking ([Hart and Cooper, 1984]). (You are not alone.)

Urine marking is considered a normal communication behavior in both male and female cats. However, we consider it unacceptable in our homes.

You can call or email us for additional suggestions. Sometimes we've helped the cat find a new home. There is an excellent article on litterbox problems in multi-cat homes on the CFA website.

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Taurine and Calcium

Meat is high in phosphorus and it's very important to maintain a balance of calcium to phosphorus. Also, chicken and beef are low in Taurine, an essential amino acid for cats. Rodents have two to four times as much Taurine as beef or other meat, and cats on the docks and in the barns ate so many mice and rats over the years that they lost their ability to synthesize Taurine from other amino acids. Read any prepared cat food label and you will see Taurine has been added because Taurine deficiency has been identified as a cause of one form of heart disease in cats.

To supplement Taurine in our home-made cat foods we use Kitty Bloom vitamin powder. To supplement calcium, we use Kitty Bloom Kalac M34 calcium supplement. This is mixed as directed with the Kitty Bloom vitamin supplement. The directions and proportions for mixing are on the Kitty Bloom container. For a source of Kitty Bloom near you, call 1-800-833-4748.

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