What cat food brands have you considered and are you meeting all the necessary nutritional needs for your cat? Whilst it may be easy to think that all you need to do is buy a can or bag of food and be done with it, in reality, there are a lot of things that need to be looked out when choosing what chunks to be chomped on next!
Cats, unlike humans, have very different dietary requirements. Whilst the human body and canine species can come up with a few missing proteins and nutrients on its own, felines do not have this ability. This means that everything your cat needs has to come from its food in order to stay healthy and happy.
Cat food brands with zero carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are important to fuel your cat and give them energy just like humans. However, too much is bad for them, likewise it’s bad for us humans, but as us species have adapted to this kind of diet, cats have not. Overdoing the sugars and starches in your cats diet can be harmful.
In the wild, cats will consume only around 5% of carbohydrates. Today, most cat food will contain between 30-70% which is a lot. and is better replaced for fish or chicken cat food instead which will contain 95% of meat and 5% carbohydrates.
However, this is a more expensive option and it may be more convenient to buy dry food with a higher carbohydrate percentage, but be sure to watch out for problems such as obesity and high blood pressure. Older cats will also need much less carbohydrates than kittens who expend more energy.
In my opinion, it is better to opt for foods that are carbohydrate free, this includes grains. Believe me, your cat will love you for it!
Cat food brands that I consider optimal are Applaws grain-free, Orijen, Merricks grain-free and Taste of the Wilde grain-free, all of which can be found at Amazon or any online pet store.
The importance of taurine and proteins
Taurine is an amino acid that is found only in fish and bird prey, at least in quantities enough to satisfy your cats needs. There are plants that carry taurine in small amounts, but nowhere near enough to keep your cat in good health. For this reason it is very important to buy cat food that has some type of fish or bird in it.
Make sure to buy cat food brands that are labelled “fish cat food” rather than anything that is labelled “meat derived from” or “by-product” as those will not be the real deal. Instead these types of misleading foods will be very harmful to your cat.
An added bonus of getting good quality bird or fish cat food brands, is that, due to the high protein content, your cat will not get hungry as often. The benefits of this include:
- Saving you money long term
- Due to the higher quality taste, your cat will love you forever and ever
- Your cat will not want to find a new owner half way down the street one day
- Your vet fees will be less costly
- Your cat will be healthier
- Taurine will give your cat better eyesight, thus prevent him going blind
Fats and fatty acids challenge
Another benefit buying fish cat food is that there will be plenty of omega-3 fatty acids in it, which are essential for your furry food critic. However, a word of caution, you’ll need to check there’s sufficient omega-6 in your cats food since fish doesn’t automatically come with it in great quantities.
Cats can happily eat much more fat than humans so it is better to be safe rather than sorry with this dietary requirement – giving a little too much than not enough is okay! Without sufficient levels of fat and fatty acids your cat can develop arthritis, bowel disease and renal failure.
The unnecessary fiber filler
Fiber is another part of the diet that is barely required in cats. In fact, most cats will snuff their noses up at anything that is high in fiber because they don’t need it, and they don’t like it at all. Usually cats will gain all the fiber they need from the meat that they eat instead of plants, which is often added into commercial cat food brands.
The bottom line is fiber isn’t necessary and can be left off the list.
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