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.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here