Just like with any living being it’s wise to put quality ingredients and nutrients in the body in order to feel good and live a long time, right? Cats are no different and in fact it’s crucial that they consume appropriate ingredients to live life to its fullest. Felines are not like humans – they are carnivores and should not eat a vegan or vegetarian diet for example like pet webMD states here.
Throughout a cats entire life they need way more animal protein than their human counterparts but if you’ve ever read a nutritional facts label on a bag or can of cat food you’re likely confused and overwhelmed. But fear not, I’ve done all the research for you and you won’t be overwhelmed anymore after reading the next few paragraphs!
A Word About Wet Food
You may have heard wet cat food is a treat, makes your cat fat or it’s bad for their teeth and while all may be true if your cat is only eating wet food but like these guys and many other sources like this one say in fact giving your cat 1 serving of wet food per day is actually beneficial. Why? Like the Munkchin Kitten Store explains, cats don’t drink as much water as other animals due to their desert origins and are prone to kidney infections and disease, especially later in life but giving your cat 1 serving of wet food can help prevent this due to the moisture content. Knock on wood but my cat hasn’t had any urinary or kidney problems and I’ve given her 1 serving of wet per day for her entire 12 year life so far! I recommend finding a wet food that’s healthy (ie. not filled with a bunch of chemicals and fillers) and serving it to them 1 time a day. My cats gone through different likes of wet food but right now I feed my cat “Whole Paws – Whitefish Dinner” and she likes that a lot. The good thing about this wet food is that it’s made with no corn, no soy, no animal by products, no artificial colors preservatives or sugars. That said, I’ve heard great things about these companies too: Smalls, Weruva, Feline Naturals and others. We also like Wellness, Vital Cat and Evanger’s all which have quality ingredients.
Diving Into Dry Food
For dry food I’m going to break apart the ingredients to try and make it a little more simple.
Protein: In general, for all stages of life, look for the main ingredient to say a specific type of meat (ie. salmon, chicken, turkey, etc) rather than just stating “meat.”
Carbs: Look for foods without carbohydrates or grain-free as cats are carnivores and do not need carbohydrates (like corn and wheat) and often have a hard time digesting these ingredients as stated in this article.
Fat: look for foods that say a specific type of fat like “chicken fat.”
What to look for for different life stages of your feline:
For kittens: look for DHA, taurine, calcium and protein from specific meat sources (ie. Chicken, salmon, turkey, lamb, etc)
For adult cats:
For senior cats: more taurine, digestible fat, more protein