Today, many different kinds of cat food are available on the market. Options range from dry foods and semi-moist formulas to meals tailored specifically for cats, prescription diets, organic food sources and therapeutic diets.
Selecting the proper cat food is essential for your pet’s wellbeing. The type of food you select should take into account your cat’s age, nutritional requirements and personal preferences.
Contents
Raw Food
Raw foods can be an excellent way for your cat to get extra vitamins and minerals. However, they must be prepared carefully in order to prevent bacterial contamination or food-borne illness.
Preparing raw cat food at home can be done several ways, such as grinding meat and bone using a homemade meat grinder and creating meals from fresh or frozen pieces of meat and bones. Although these methods require some time and attention to ensure safety, the effort will pay off in the long run if you want to improve your cat’s health.
Another option is using a commercially produced nutritional supplement powder. These powders are designed specifically for raw feeding and will ensure your cat gets all of the essential nutrients they require. You may want to add some water to the powder in order to make it more palatable for your feline friend.
Canned Food
Canned cat food is an ideal option for cats who have trouble digesting dry foods or have sensitive stomachs. It contains essential nutrients essential for cats, and can easily be mixed with dry cat food to create a balanced meal for your furry friend.
According to Gabrielle Fadl, medical director at Bond Vet, canned cat food has a higher moisture content and also contains more protein and fewer carbohydrates than dry food. As such, canned food may be a better option for overweight or obese cats than dry food, she noted.
When shopping for canned foods, look for ingredients that are primarily meat or poultry and exclude by-product meals. These could include necks, feet and undeveloped eggs from slaughtered chicken.
Dry Food
Dry cat food is made with a variety of ingredients, such as meat, water, fats and vitamins. It’s processed at high temperatures to kill any harmful pathogens present.
High-grade dry food should contain a limited amount of carbohydrates. Peas and sweet potatoes can be used as fillers, but owners may opt to skip grains like wheat or corn because they may irritate their pet’s digestive system.
When formulating a dry cat food, the primary ingredient should always be whole meat. Deboned cuts of meat make them easier for cats to chew and digest, providing additional nutrition.
The next two ingredients should be other identified whole meats. If brown rice or corn appears as the third or fourth ingredient, that indicates there is too much filler present. Finally, minerals and vitamins should round out the list; mixed tocopherols (listed as a source of Vitamin E) and phosphorus (a mineral supplement which helps acidify foods).
Steam Food
Steaming is an effective cooking technique that can be applied to virtually any kind of food. Not only does it reduce fat in your diet, but you can also add more nutrients into meals with steaming.
Steaming foods preserves their vitamins and minerals without direct contact with water, unlike roasting or stir-frying which require additional oil or fat. This makes steaming an ideal cooking method for those wanting to reduce calories while increasing nutritional value.
It is best to avoid giving cats fatty meats like beef, turkey and chicken since they contain too much fat for many cats’ digestive systems. However, you can give your furry friend a small amount of lean deli meat or cooked beef occasionally as a treat for good health.
