Taking care of your cat’s health involves regular veterinary checkups, daily exercise and a constant monitoring for potentially life-threatening medical conditions. However, another extremely important part of caring for your cat’s health involves choosing a high-quality, highly nutritious cat food formula. Choosing the right cat food formula can be difficult, since cats have very different nutritional needs from humans. Here is some information that will help you to choose the best possible food formula for your cat.
READ THE INGREDIENTS
Before you purchase any cat food formula, it’s essential that you first read the ingredients. Be cautious of any cat food formulas that include artificial flavors, artificial preservatives or chemical coloring. Identifying these ingredients can be a bit difficult, though here are some that you should definitely avoid:
- Ethoxyquin
- BHA
- BHT
In general, the first five ingredients of a cat food formula make up the bulk of the food. Though it’s still important to read the complete ingredients list, you can gain a general idea of the quality of a food formula from the first five ingredients. Since cats are obligate carnivores, they require a high amount of protein in order to remain healthy. In a high quality cat food formula, three or four of the first five ingredients will be protein-based.
THE CORN DEBATE
Many low-quality or inexpensive cat food formulas contain a high amount of corn. In some formulas, two or three of the first five ingredients may be derived from corn. Though some companies will market corn as being a “whole, nourishing source of nutrition”, don’t be fooled! Corn is a cheap filler ingredient, and may cause serious health problems in your cat. Corn has a high glycemic index effect, and can severely irritate your cat’s digestive system. In addition to this, many cats have an allergic reaction to corn ingredients, especially over a prolonged period of consuming a corn-based food.
GRAIN-FREE CAT FOOD
In order to pick the best food for your cat, you may want to look in to purchasing a grain-free cat food formula. Though these formulas may sometimes be a bit more expensive, they are usually free of high-carbohydrate ingredients that can be damaging to your cat’s health. A diet high in carbohydrate can promote health problems such as obesity, heart problems and diabetes in your cat. With a grain-free formula, you can also avoid the allergic reactions that some cats have to high-carbohydrate cat food formulas.
6 Responses to “Picking the Best Cat Food”
Good info about nutaral ways to treat your cat and keep him/her healthy for a long life. My 11-yr-old kitty was hyperthyroidic, and now eats an all-raw meat diet and she is in stunning health! No surgeries, no pills, no radiation treatments just pure, nutaral goodness.
I have been using Orijen cat food and am really impressed. It has 80% meat and 20% fruit and vegetables with a high protein content (about 40%). My 6 month old cat is doing amazingly well!
Great article, I hope that lots of cat owners read it. I knocked myself out this year changing my kitten from the lousy Hill’s Kitten Food to a grain free food. The Hills made her gassy and SMELLY and oh my goodness, her deposits in her litter box were absolutely toxic. But, every time I tried to slowly switch her, over the course of 2 weeks, she would have horrid diarrhea. Finally, I ended up keeping her on the Hill’s and giving her Prozyme digestive aid along with it. After a month, I was able to slowly switch her over to a grain free high quality food. No more gas, no more smell, her poops are odorless!
Ticks me off that nearly all the shelters in the northeast feed their kittens Hill’s, because it is given to them by the company. It is not good food.
I agree with your statement about the shelters feeding their kittens Hill’s. It’s obvious SOME people DO NOT care about animals. I treat my cats like they’re my children and try to feed them the BEST food I can, or damn close to it. If we can choose healthy foods for ourselves, why not for our furry and fluffy companions. (Just a concerned Pet owner and Animal Lover).
What are you feeding your cats? Thanks, Janis
Thanks for the great info Sly! We try to give our cats a variety of foods (mainly because with 4 there is always something one of them won’t eat) and do always try to include the grain free. We do get some canned with grain sometimes (again, some just prefer it) but our dry food is always grain free and the love it! We highly recommend it!