Whether you are an owner, or potential owner, of a Sphynx cat, you must watch this Washington State University ( Dr Kate Meurs) webinar on HCM (Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy )in the Sphynx cat. Many Sphynx owners were not aware of this disease when they bought their kitten, and unscrupulous breeders are still selling “cheap Sphynx kittens” that may have a high potential from death from known genetic lines that carry HCM. While Sphynxes are by no means the only breed that carry HCM, the Sphynx owner community are very involved in working to minimise HCM in the breed.
Go to the webinar now CLICK HERE (note: some of the volume seems to be missing from some slides)
Phew what a mouthful that title is, but I have to talk to you about the addition to the Sphynx Cat raw diet that I have recently made. Firstly my guys aren’t particularly finicky eaters. I would hazard a guess and say that most Sphynx owners are aware of the ravenous chowing down that Sphynxes get into when they are hungry. As owners we have to be careful that food intake doesn’t get out of hand and we end up with overweight Sphynxes. It is quite possible that a Sphynx can become overweight from a fresh raw diet so be careful, Luna has packed on a kilo since us going raw and we are “rationing” her. Even so, there may come times when your Sphynx will start to turn their nose up at food that they have been eating for a long time, so changing food type at least once a week, or for a week, can keep your crew happy.
Remember that we are trying to emulate as closely as possible the diet of a cat in the wild which would be eating whole small rodents, reptiles and birds when we create a raw diet. Feeding single food items like raw chicken breast for a long period of time is not sufficient to maintain a healthy balance, but as a supplement is fine. Which brings me to beef hearts.
Beef hearts are high in taurines. Taurine is an essential nutrient for cats that they cannot create themselves (unlike dogs). All diets for cats must include meat that includes taurine, or a taurine supplement.Animal muscle meat contains taurine and heart muscle is particularly high in it, that is why in the Sphynx cat raw diet recipe chicken hearts make up a good percentage of the mix. Taurine deficiency will lead to degeneration of the retina and irreversible blindness within 2 years as well and/or heart issues such as feline dilated cardiomyopathy which can be reversed with a change to the diet.
One of the things about a ground raw diet is that your cat will lose the desire to chew on bones and lose jaw muscle tone because “mince” is not really chewable. Because the raw diet recipe I use is mostly chicken, giving my three a chicken wing or two to eat can be an exercise in futility, so I looked around for an alternative and tried them on beef hearts.
Beef hearts are large, bigger than the size of your hand and should be available from your butcher, or supermarket. In Australia I pay $5 a kg (2.2lbs) from a local supermarket that vacuum packs them, which is on the steep side price-wise and I am sure you can get them cheaper where you are. They have had the vein and artery materials removed and look like slabs of dark red meat with a marbling of fat on the outside.
Beef heart has a bit of a bad reputation in places on the internet because of the myths that it contains “worms”. You will find websites telling you to avoid hearts but giving no real reason, and there is certainly no scientific evidence that I can find that would lead me to worry about feeding it to my guys. It’s not to be used as the sole meat in a diet, but no one meat should be either…which goes back to the emulating of a wild diet which must have muscle, bone and innards.
I use a heavy sharp cleaver to cut into long strips so that my three Sphynxes have to do side-to-side chewing to swallow them. I leave the fat on the outside to add to the energy input. DO NOT cook or heat the heart as taurine is broken down by heat and will be lost.
I have to say that my cats absolutely love this meat. Pierre appears to have enormous amounts of “extra” energy after eating heart and seems to spend the whole day finding things to play with as well as running around and yelling to everyone about how good he feels.
I heartily (pun intended 
) recommend adding heart to your cat’s diet whether it eats raw or not.
Sphynx cats Luna, Pierre and Lucy go om-nom-nom on beef hearts
Thanks to reader Luna we have some Sphynx Cat comics from a comic strip called Monty. Fleshy, the Sphynx cat, has a “thing” about the nose of the house robot. Hilarity ensues. read more of Monty here . Thanks Luna for the tip!
Click on strips to enlarge
For all of you lovely readers out there I have done a deal with every eBook distributor you can think of to bring you a holiday discount for Sphynx Cats: What Every (Potential) Owner Should Know . Perfect as a gift for yourself or someone you love. Breeders you should be making sure your kitten buyers are getting a copy because it covers everything they should know about the breed.
From now until January 1st 2011, if you use the coupon code MW48P you will get a whopping 50% discount. Click here to purchase and download now. Whether they use an iPad, a Kindle or something else, all readers are covered.
Click picture to buy
p.s. if you want to make a little holiday cash for yourself why not sign up as an affiliate and earn 11% on all sales you make.
Whether you buy a Sphynx cat as a present for yourself or for someone you love please make sure you can cover off the essentials for owning a Sphynx cat
- Sphynx cats need lots of attention and are literally “in your face” types of cats – can you/they handle that?
- Sphynx cats need grooming, and more than you probably know – can you/they handle that?
- Some Sphynx kitten breeders are unscrupulous and just want your money – will you/they spend time researching your breeder?
- People will mock you for your choice of pet, or your Sphynx cat or kitten for being ugly – can you/they handle that?
- Sphynx cats can have sensitive stomachs and you should always feed your Sphynx top quality food – can you/they afford that?
- Sphynx cats need warmth, all the time. Your energy bills may rise – Can you/they handle that ?
- Sphynx cats hate being alone and can get depressed if they are lonely – Will you/they provide extra company for them when you are not available?
- Sphynx cats are incredibly curious animals and can get themselves into mischief (and break some of your stuff!) – Can you/they handle that?
- Owning a Sphynx cat is a privilege not a right – Can you/they handle if a breeder knocks them back as unsuitable owners because they do not know enough about being a Sphynx cat owner?
- Before you buy a Sphynx Cat you should invest in education about the breed. The Sphynx Cat eBook makes a wonderful present for potential Sphynx Cat owners – Have you/they bought a copy yet?
Click to go to order page
Sphynx People Say…