In the last couple of articles I shared with you the great tips on selecting good aquarium fish and how to transport and acclimatize them to there new surroundings. Today I'm going to tell you about the right way to feed your tropical fish because it is very important.

Did you know that overfeeding is the most common cause of death in aquarium fish? I know this is hard to believe that something so simple could cause the death of more fish than all the diseases and problems with water quality but it is one area that people overlook when is comes to tropical fish.

You need to make sure you don't over feed your fish but on the other hand they need to get enough food to be able to survive and grow healthily. Here are a few tips on how you should feed your new tropical aquarium fish.

1, Feed often but sparingly. This will cut down on uneaten food that will turn into ammonia and could harm or even kill your fish.

2, Watch at feeding times and work out how much the fish can eat within five minutes. Then never feed more than that. This again will create less waste.

3, Try feeding other feeds than don't pollute the water as much. Only feed meaty foods twice or three times a week as these tend to create the most waste.

4, Think about buying a more powerful filter. If you over feed then, the extra waste will cause a strain on your existing filter. Look into upgrading your filter if you keep having problems with ammonia.

5, Buy a few catfish or pleco's. These bottom feeding fish eat the waste food that is left by other fish and will cut down on the end waste. Pleco's also eat algae and keep the tank cleaner.

I hope you look into trying a few of these tips to try and avoid over feeding and ammonia problems caused by food. If you do try them out then I'm sure you will see good results and less fish deaths if you're having problems with ammonia and nitrate levels in your tank water.

Of all the mistakes that you can make with these beautiful pets, you would think that feeding tropical fish would be one of the things you get right! After all how hard can it possibly be to sprinkle some fish food at the top of your tank and watch the little guys go for it?

In reality there are many mistakes you can make when it comes to feeding tropical fish, and some of these mistakes really aren't that serious whereas others can actually affect the health and well-being of your fish overall. Let's take a look at some of these mistakes and then also talk about the right things you should do when feeding tropical fish.

The most common mistake that many pet owners make when it comes to feeding tropical fish is feeding them too much. Usually they see their fish swim up to the top of the tank when it's feeding time and assume that the little guys are hungry; they may then interpret this to mean that they should be feeding them more often so they won't need to go hungry like that. In reality when you're feeding tropical fish on a regular schedule they will just get accustomed to this schedule and will head for the top of the tank when it's time for food, whether they're hungry or not. We humans do the same thing sometimes - we get the munchies at night when watching television only because we're bored or because we get used to eating popcorn during our favorite show, and not because we're actually physically hungry. So don't let the behavior of the fish influence your schedule when it comes to feeding tropical fish; usually twice per day is enough and in some cases even more then enough, as in their natural habitat it's not unusual for them to actually miss a day or even two of food and be perfectly fine.

It's also good when feeding tropical fish to occasionally give them a special treat. Fish love live feed and things like blood worms or brine shrimp are considered delicacies to them. You never want to have these special treats to act as their main food but an occasional treat can make your fish feel happy and calm, the same way it does for humans. You don't need to actually touch live bait when feeding tropical fish these special treats as most are available frozen or freeze dried, making them last longer and more convenient for you. If you have fish that you're trying to breed, you can give them a special treat as well since this can make them more calm and ready to mate.

So consider these points when feeding tropical fish; don't overfeed them but don't deny them their special treats either. Flake fish food is good enough for most breeds, and you can even involve your children in their care by letting them sprinkle in the food when it's time!

Cats are very similar to people in many ways. Just as it is important to watch what is going into you cats tummy, you also need to keep an eye on how much is going into your cat's tummy. When people eat too much food, over time they become overweight.

Cats are the same, if they become used to eating however much they want, when they want, it is a sure bet that you will have a pretty fat cat on your hands after a while. This is especially true as your cat gets older and less active. If you aren't sure if your cat is fat or not, there are a few telling signs that you can look for that are pretty similar as to when you can tell if a person is overweight.

• A double chin is always a telling sign of a weight problem. If you find that your cat has a bunch of fat underneath their chin, they might have a weight problem.

• A big stomach is another sign, if their stomach is hanging, they might have a weight problem

• Another is whether or not you can feel your cat's ribs. On a healthy cat you should be able to feel their rib cage, if you cannot feel your cat's rib cage then you cat is definitely overweight.

Just as people think that their weight might not be a big deal, many cat owners might not feel it too distressing that their cat is a little overweight. The reality is that being overweight can cause many health problems in your cat. The more weight your cat has on their body, the more weight and pressure they have to carry around on a daily basis. This is why it is so important to pay attention to what and how much your cat is eating. If you do find that your cat is overweight you should probably speak to your veterinarian about it and look into buying a specially formulated cat food for overweight cats.

Whether you have an overweight cat or not, it's important to make sure that your cat gets the exercise they need. If you can't isn't overweight then the exercise will help keep them active and avoid such a predicament, but if your cat is overweight then the exercise will help them to trim off a few pounds.

The great thing is that exercising with your cat doesn't have to be a tedious activity; it can be a lot of fun. Below are a few ideas that will help you get an exercise program started with your cat.

• Try to get your cat to run around some
• Take a walk with your cat
• Get your cat some new toys that will encourage him to exercise and jump around
• Strategically place toys and treats all around the house to encourage your cat to walk around
• Switch up the games that you play with your cat so he doesn't get bored
• Even if you are away for the day, leave approved toys out for your cat to play with.
• Also, it sometimes helps your cat's activity level if they have another feline companion to play with while you are away

Just because you like to switch your food around because something was cheaper at the store, or a new product looked better, doesn't mean that you cat should jump around from one cat food to another. Pets are funny this way, once they become used to a certain type of food, switching to another brand because it was on sale doesn't always agree with their stomachs.

If it happens that you want to switch your cat's food then you need to do it slowly. Do not just decide to replace cat food A with cat food B the next day, if so you might find you have a cat with a very upset stomach. In order to switch your cat's food without all of the digestion trouble you will need to put just a bit more into each meal, this process can take a few weeks before the switch is complete.

Trying to Feed Your Kitten

Dealing with a kitten is completely different that feed a grown cat. A kitten is essentially a baby in every way and needs the right amount of nutrition in order to go from being a kitten to a healthy grown cat. Kittens are just like babies in that they need to eat right in order to have strong bones, muscles, and nervous system. You can't feed a kitten the same things that a full grown cat eats; they need their own special food until they are old enough to move onto the next step.

It's always smart to consult with your doctor before you start a regular feeding routine for your kitten, but you do need to recognize that because they have such high energy, they need the proper food to fuel their bodies. You will find that your kitten will nibble throughout the day because they have smaller stomach than a full grown cat.

Just as with human babies, there are going to be times that your kitten doesn't seem particularly interested in food such as when they are teething or have lost a baby tooth. In the same instance your kitten may eat a little more during growth spurts and such. Even when you kitten begins to look and act like an adult cat, don't rush out and buy adult cat food, they need to stick with the kitten cat food until they are a year old because of their need for a lot of calories.

There might also come instances that you need to consult with your veterinarian about your cat's food needs such as if your female feline becomes pregnant or if you cat has health problems that are related to what they eat.

When you visit a supermarket to purchase food for your family and you see a new product that you think might be a healthy choice, your first decision is to read the label to identify the ingredients and decide if the ingredients are healthy for your family.

Don’t you think it would be prudent to read cat food labels and determine whether it’s a bad cat food or a nutritional cat food? A cat food with any of their first five ingredients listed as a carbohydrate is bad cat food and it is harming your cat.

However, most cat owners fail to read cat food labels and as a result, you feed your cats many bad cat foods with harmful ingredients that are causing premature cat deaths.

Since most cat caregivers consider their feline friends as family members, don’t you think you should show them the same consideration? Feeding your cat bad cat food that leads to premature cat deaths is not showing love for your cat.

Cats are carnivores and their physiology demands a meat-based diet as this will closely mimic their natural diet. It’s imperative that you remember and abide by guidelines that will benefit your cat and help him/her realize their longevity. Bad cat foods will not do this but nutritional cat foods will.

Such foods as carbohydrates will damage your cats’ digestive system and cause food related diseases that will severely shorten his life. These are not nutritional cat foods but rather bad cat foods and they are the main cause of premature cat deaths

For your educational benefit as well as your cats’ lives, let’s take a look at some cat foods and examine their ingredients.

Avoderm

Use of Carbohydrates which include;

Oat Bran and Rice Flour also included is

Avocado oil and Guar gum

Oat bran is the outer husk of the oat grain – it is a carbohydrate.

Rice flour is a form of flour made from finely milled rice – another carbohydrate.

Avocado oil is oil pressed from the fruit of avocados. The fruit, leaves, bark and seeds of avocados have been reported as being toxic to cats. The toxic component in avocado is “Persin” which is a fatty acid preservative. Oat bran, rice flour, avocado oil and guar gum are all bad cat food ingredients

Eukanuba

Use of Carbohydrates which include;

Brewers Rice and Corn Grits also

includes Beef-by-Product, Dried Egg

Product, Dried Beet Pulp and Menadione

Dimethylpyrimidinol Bisulfite

Brewers rice and corn grits are starchy carbohydrates with no nutritional benefit to cats

Beef by-product is the parts of the cow other than muscle meat. It could be organs and skin. Its origin is Rendering Plants.

Dried Beet Pulp is free from crowns and leaves extracted from the process of manufacturing sugar. It’s mostly used as a filler in cat food.

Dried Egg Product – Cheap source of protein - waste product of the egg industry. It could include undeveloped eggs, shells and other tissue deemed unfit for humans. Brewers rice, corn grits, beef by-products, dried egg products, dried beet pulp and MDB are all bad cat food ingredients.

Fancy Feast

Use of a Carbohydrate; Wheat Gluten

also includes Meat by-Product and

Menadione Sodium Bisulfite

Wheat Gluten - The tough, viscid nitrogenous substance remaining when wheat is washed to remove the starch. Wheat gluten is a cheap by-product of human food processing, the starchy liquid left after washing wheat. It is used mostly to bind food together. Wheat gluten is included in a number of human food products, as well as pet foods. Contaminated wheat gluten from China has been found responsible for a large number of the reported sicknesses and death of pets from melamine toxicity.

Meat by-product – Is the product that’s derived from Rendering Plants; road-kill, and the four Ds (dead, dying, diseased, disabled) and decaying animals flesh.

I’ve already explained what menadione derivatives are.

Wheat gluten, meat by-products and MSB are all bad cat food ingredients.

Friskies

Use of Meat by-Products, Poultry

Giblets, Poultry and Bone Meal,

Vegetable Gums and Onion Salt,

I’ve already defined meat by-products earlier and we all know what poultry giblets are, correct? In case you don’t know, it’s the gizzards and hearts of chickens and turkeys provided that’s their origin but we don’t really know, they could come from buzzards as their source is not identified.

Bone Meal is another unidentified ingredient. It could come from the five Ds (dead, dying, diseased, disabled and decaying) animals that are products of Rendering Plants.

Vegetable Gum is another carbohydrate and its main purpose is a thickener or binder and it serves no nutritional purpose for cats and it could be toxic.

Onion Salt – No form of garlic or onion should be used in cat foods. Onions contain Thiosulphate which is toxic to cats.

Meat by-products, poultry giblets, poultry and bone meal, vegetable gums and onion salt are all bad cat food ingredients.

The above cat foods and their ingredients are a mere sample of what’s available as cat foods. Now that you have some information to improve you cats’ diet, use it and your cat will appreciate you taking their health into consideration.

Stop feeding your cat bad cat foods that are harming them. Stop buying bad food for your cats and lining the pockets of commercial cat food companies because they are laughing at how uninformed cat owners really are by actually purchasing the stuff they call food and feeding it to your pets.

It’s unbelievable that caring pet owners could actually create a market for bad cat food. If we don’t stop buying bad cat foods and start feeding our cats nutritional cat foods, our cats’ mortally rate will continue to skyrocket.

Since uninformed cat caregivers are the ones that created the market for bad cat food, what do you think would happen to the commercial cat food companies if suddenly cat caregivers became informed and stopped buying their bad cat foods?

They would stop making bad cat foods and begin making nutritional cat foods or go out of business.

Most cat caregivers are not that responsible. They have refused to stop buying bad cat foods and each year the commercial cat food company’s profits continue to increase. At this rate, the pet food industry will never act responsible enough to produce nutritional cat foods.

Because of convenience, cat caregivers buy bad cat foods that are loaded with toxins. A bag of dry cat food is killing your cat but do you care? Do you prefer your convenience over providing your cat with nutritional cat food?

The commercial cat food industry is banking on their research and it suggests that cat caregivers are uninformed relative to nutritional cat foods and they are more concerned with their convenience. Therefore, there is no incentive for the commercial cat food industry to produce nutritional cat foods so they will continue producing cheap and bad cat foods and you will continue buying it and they will continue laughing all the way to the banks and your cats will continue dying prematurely