TEWKSBURY, Mass. (PRNewswire) — Despite their cute faces and sometimes cuddly natures, cats can be confusing!

To help pet parents decode behaviors at mealtime, Wellness^® Natural Pet Food created the Wellness CATalog – a digital resource for cat parents. Including expertise from Wellness veterinarian Dr. Danielle Bernal, the CATalog helps shed light on the personality traits that have puzzled cat parents for decades and helps cat parents find the perfect food pairings for their furry friends.

 

 

“Cats are not as easy to read as dogs and they often exhibit behaviors that we just can’t figure out,” said Bernal. “Many cat parents don’t realize that there are actually scientific explanations behind many of these quirks.”

While some of these characteristics are expressions of their ancestral heritage, others can signal it’s time to change up their food, alter their routine or take them to a vet to make sure they’re living their healthiest and happiest lives.

The Wellness CATalog evaluates eight common cat personalities, and identifies diet recommendations that can help satisfy ancestral cravings or offer targeted nutritional support.

The personalities include:

• The Hunter: Is your cat always on the go? Does he run around the neighborhood or house, tiger-like, on the hunt for his next big catch?
  • The science behind it: Though domestication for cats occurred 6,000 years ago, they’ve always had a high dependency on hunting to survive. Even today cats still show these hunting traits as it has only been in the last 50 years that commercial nutrition has truly been able meet all their animal protein nutritional needs. Wellness CORE 95% is high in meat and protein to provide plenty of energy for adventurous kitties who need a re-fuel after scaling your curtains and “hunting” toy mice.

• Persnickety Pete: Your cat is pickier than most kids. He sits, stares and paws at his food, unsatisfied no matter what you put in his dish.
  • The science behind it: Fussiness is a trait that actually evolved out of a cat’s ability to protect themselves, helping them compensate for any nutritional deficiencies that may occur from only eating one thing and preventing them from eating foods that have the potential to make them ill. Try feeding Wellness CORE Simply Shreds, made with only four simple, meaty, grain-free ingredients that will leave him sitting by his bowl meowing for more.

• The Golden Girl (or Boy!): Your cat has been there, done that—and now she wants to relax on the back of the couch and enjoy the life of leisure that she’s earned throughout the years.
  • The science behind it: Age-related changes can alter an animal’s daily energy needs, change the amounts and type of protein and fat needed, and modify the levels of minerals and vitamins required. For older cats, look for functional nutrients such as glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate for joint health, prebiotics for healthy digestion, and L-carnitine to help maintain ideal weight as found in Wellness Complete Health Senior.

To read the Wellness CATalog in full, visit www.wellnesspetfood.com/CATalog.