How To Choose The Best Food For Your Cat?
Taking care of a cat and keeping it healthy as it grows, doesn't have to be hard. The first thing that comes to mind when it comes to caring for your cat, is selecting the best food to feed them every day. However, with so many choices offered, it might be difficult to determine which food is the right one for your cat.
When shopping for cat food, make sure it doesn't have any artificial flavors, colors or preservatives added. Also, check if it specifically mentions that it's "grain free", and that there is no soy, wheat or corn found inside. Cat food should have high amount of meat protein. Some brands also add essential vitamins and minerals inside, so you know that your feline is getting all the necessary nutrition in needs.
ORIJEN Cat & Kitten High-Protein, Grain-Free, Premium Quality Meat, Dry Cat Food
Editor's Rating: 4.8/5 Overall Score
One of our favorite cat food brands is ORIJEN. They specialize in making biologically appropriate food for cats, which they have been eating decades ago. In their recipes, they use 90% animal meat ingredients and 10% vegetables, fruits and botanicals. ORIJEN uses only fresh and whole animal ingredients, such as free-run chicken and turkey, wild caught fish and cage free eggs.
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Choosing Food According to Your Cat's Life Stage
Before you choose the right food brand for your cat, you should first consider it's life stage. There are three stages each cat goes through: kitten, adult and senior. You should select the right type of food according to your pets age. If you have a kitten then you should select food which contains more protein and fats, and will help them grow healthy muscles, teeth and bones.
How to choose the best kitten food?
Kittens need to maintain a diet that is high in protein and fat, because they are active and are burning more calories. As well as other essential nutrients and vitamins that will help them grow up healthy. Look for food that specifically mentions that is suitable for kittens.
How to choose the best food for older cats?
Senior cats can easily gain weight, because they are not as active and like to lay and rest more. If your pet gets overweight, it may create health issues like diabetes, arthritis and also heart diseases. Make sure you choose food that is specifically made for senior cats.
Older cats with teeth problems are also of concern, be sure the food you are feeding your cat is soft enough for them to chew without trouble.
Ingredients used in cat food
When reading the label make sure you check it's ingredients. See how much protein, taurine, vitamins, enzymes, fatty acids, carbs, and water, are found inside. Check the preservatives as mentioned on the labels.
Make sure the food doesn't contain any by-products like animal digest, or any bone meal, sugars added naturally, carbohydrate in large quantity and also chemical preservatives. Usually, well-known cat food brands will use no preservatives, artificial flavors or fillers, however make sure you check the label and make sure it specifically says that no artificial flavors or preservatives have been added.
Cats can stay alive up to 30 years on natural diet, this is recommended by veterinarian but domestic and indoor cats can survive for around 14 to 18 years. The main reason for this age difference is the food they consume.
Wet vs dry cat food
Generally wet food is considered better than dry food, when it comes to feeding your cat. There are several reasons for this:
The quality of protein source is not the best one. We are not sure what type of meat protein has been used during the preparation process. There are several parts of dead animals that are not good for consuming, such as: feathers, fur parts, feet, intestines and even egg shells.
The amount of protein might be low, with high amount of vegetable ingredients added instead. Dry cat food may include vegetable based meal that contains some flavors of meat and high gluten content as well. You may find some pets to be allergic to this gluten.
During processing period, most of the dry cat foods finishes their value of nutrient as it was cooked for long time with temperatures high. These dry food are made up of bulk flavored meal.
You may find those food rancid that contains oils in their manufacturing when they are kept on warehouse and markets cupboard. The food containing rancid may cause sickness to cats so they avoid having it.
Best cat food for indoor cats
The next best food for domestic cats should have high amount of protein that can be of fish or animal. For flavoring purpose the food for cats can contain some organ meats like liver and heart. But keep in mind when buying, these must not be the main ingredient. Avoid using soy, wheat, yeast or corn in your cats food that may harm cats, rice is considered a safe and good alternative.
When it comes to the natural diet that cats consume, it must have 3 to 5 percent carbohydrates. For natural laxative cats may also use grass. Outdoor cats also prefer to eat mice as they contain muscle meat, predigested stomach contents, from the bones they may get calcium and also moisture that is available from the fluids. Since indoor domestic cats are not able to hunt and eat this types of meals themselves, we must feed them with high meat protein foods. We must also watch how much they are eating, and make sure they are not gaining weight too fast. Having an automatic cat feeder machine will help you never miss a feeding and will always serve the right meal portion, so you can control their weight.
Carbohydrates in dry foods for cats
Make sure you pay careful attention to the amount of carbohydrates in cat foods. Some dry foods may contain 35% to 50% carbohydrate and some lower cost brands may contain more than this. Cats actually do not need foods rich in carbohydrates and too much starch may be harmful to them. Some pet owners who have an underweight cat, might start feeding them food for weight gain, but again check the amount of carbs inside.
Bottom Line
Cats are carnivores, but still they can't stay alive on meat only. The food that is served to cats must contain supplements of vitamins, minerals and oil as well. There are lots of different choices available, but our number one pick is the ORIJEN Cat & Kitten High-Protein, Grain-Free, Premium Quality Meat. Make sure you also check out our top 10 list of the best wet and dry cat foods, so you can find the right healthy food your cat loves.
