My Pussy Cat

Cats make wonderful pets. But you have to take care of them properly and cater to all their requirements, including healthy and nutritious foods. Are you providing nutritious foods to your cat? If you are not very sure about the best types of foods for your cats, read on further to know more.

Cat food
Generally, cat food consist of fats, proteins, water, minerals, carbohydrates and vitamins. You need to provide them in proper amounts if you are really concerned about its overall health. Proteins are very important because they are the building blocks for all the organs, tissues and cells. They can be obtained from plant based or animal based products. Plant based products are cereals, vegetables and soy etc that can provide the required amounts of proteins. Animal based foods include chicken, fish, lamb and turkey. Cats are meat eaters. So they may require 2-3 times the amount of proteins required by omnivores like humans and dogs. Being strictly carnivores, they depend only on the nutrients from their animal based foods. Cats use less of carbohydrates that provide them the energy. Their bodies are designed in such a way that they release energy for the proteins. Fats present in the food help them to absorb fat soluble vitamins and provide the essential fatty acids they can not synthesize properly. For proper nutrition, the cats also require minerals like phosphorus, calcium and all the vitamins including A,B, E,D and K.

Dry cat food or canned food
According to the experts, most of the cats get all the nutrition from their branded food, whether it is dry or wet. Some of the cats do benefit when they take wet food because it helps to make their urine dilute. Most of the cats do well with both kinds of food. It largely depends on the cats as to what is more suitable. Some experts are concerned about the dry food with regard to the carbohydrates, moisture and the type of protein used. They feel that most of the proteins found in the dry food come from plant sources where as the canned foods have more meat and proteins from animal sources. According to Lisa A. Pierson, a practicing veterinarian, at least 10 percent of the calories should come from carbohydrates. Energy dense and high starch food will only contribute to obesity in cats.
Dry food contains about 5-10% of water whereas canned food has about 78 percent of water. Water is very essential for various purposes like circulation, digestion and other body processes. However, some studies even show that cats are less sensitive to dehydration and thirst.

What ingredients to look for
Looking at the ingredients and buying the foods may be deceptive at times because each ingredient may contain different levels of the nutrients. Since the label has the ingredients in the descending order of weights, you need to look for food that has protein topping the list. Since there are different brands of cat food available, it may be difficult to choose the right brand. All you can do is find out the percentage of calories coming from different nutrients. There are certain websites like Janet and Binky’s Cat food Nutritional Information that gives you the details of the nutrients in various cat food. Also look for the AAFCO seal of approval on the label.

Natural cat food
According to the USDA, cat food can claim to be natural when it has no artificial flavor, coloring ingredients, chemical preservatives or other artificial ingredients. Some preservatives used in the food help in slow breakdown of the foods and maintain the nutritional value for longer. Preservatives like BHT, ethoxyquin and BHA are antioxidants. They cause no harm and have been used in cat food for more than 25 years. Natural preservatives like vitamin E help to preserve the cat food. Top quality and expensive cat food is more beneficial for your cats in the long run. Speak to your vet about your concerns and take his assistance for choosing the right cat food for your cats.

Feed your cats two times a day. It also depends on the energy requirement and other conditions of your cat. If it is fat, feed less and if thin, feed more. If you want to switch food, the transition has to be slow so that your cat gets adjusted to the food. Store the food in a cool and dry place. Remember to buy food that lasts only for four weeks and not more.

This post was written for mypussy.asia by Karien Jones

About the author: Karien is a blogger by profession. She loves writing on luxury and technology. Beside this she is fond of automobiles. These days she is busy in writing an article on use of green power.