Tips for Choosing the Right Cat Food

Tips for Choosing the Right Cat Food - There are still many people who have not realized that cats are true or perfect carnivorous animals, namely carnivores that can only process foods that contain protein and fat to become the substances needed by their entire body.

So the best cat food comes from meat, fish, or other sources of protein and fat, that means cats are different from other carnivores that can still process carbohydrates like dogs that can digest foods other than protein.

If we keep cats, we should never feed cats with cat food that has carbohydrates, because digestion of cats cannot process carbohydrates into substances needed by the cat's body.

Cats can eat foods that contain carbohydrates, but their digestion cannot process carbohydrates properly, and if they eat excessive carbohydrates and last long can cause cats obese or overweight who are at risk of developing diabetes.

Many people want their cats fat, and are looking for ways to fatten their cats. A healthy fat cat is a fat cat not because of carbohydrates, but because of its protein and fat requirements. The best cat food is containing balanced protein, excess protein is also not good. Therefore we must be able to choose the best cat food for our cats.

Good food paint will make our cat's health condition excellent. Choosing food for cats should not be careless.

In tips on choosing the right cat food, you must first take into account the age of the cat, weight, level of activity, and medical history. Food for kittens is certainly different from adult cats, as well as cats that are pregnant and breastfeeding need more protein than cats in general.

Here are some criteria that can help us choose the best cat food.

Like or not cats to cat food

First, the main option in choosing cat food is whether the cat wants to eat it or not. It's not funny if we buy food that is expensive but the cat doesn't want to eat?

Basic ingredients

Cats are pure carnivorous animals, meaning their food needs are all obtained from meat. The best food for cats is natural food, which we can fulfill by making ourselves from meat (fish, chicken, turkey, etc.) with vitamins. However, often we are faced with limited constraints of time and energy. In addition, home-made cat food cannot be stored for too long which will cause damage to nutrients and the risk of bacterial infection.

To give commercial cat food, we must realize that not all food paints are made from basic ingredients (meat) that are safe for cats. If the package is not listed as made of human grade meat, then we should be suspicious that it is possible for the meat to be by product (remains of the body from an abattoir), or even meat from cats or dogs that die in euthanasia. It is strongly recommended to choose foods that include and guarantee that the product has natural ingredients.

Protein content

Cats need foods with high protein content, especially cats at a young age. Often when we compare the protein content between canned (wet) food and dry food we find that dry food seems to contain higher levels of protein than wet foods.

Is that right? The best way to compare is to compare the two in the same conditions. The percentage of protein in dry food is not proportional to the percentage in wet conditions. For example, dry food with a moisture content of 10% is said to contain 20% protein. This means that the food dryness level is 90%, and the real protein content in dry conditions is 20/90 = 0.2222 or 22.22%.

Compare with wet foods with 80% moisture content and 10% protein. The real protein level in dry conditions is 10/20 or = 50%, more than 2 times the protein content in dry conditions! And because cats need about 40% - 50% protein content (dry basis), then wet food in the example above is more qualified than dry food.

For rough guidelines, dry food generally has 4 times the written percentage compared to wet foods. So to compare it, multiply the percentage level written on wet food with 4.

Water content

Cats need food with high water content. In nature, cats prey on animals, which are 70% in the body consisting of water. Therefore cats who eat natural foods will not need enough to drink.

Cats that are fed dry food (kibles) and less balanced by drinking lots of water will make the kidneys work excessively. The problem that often arises later is urinary tract disorder, which is often known as urinary tract, which is with symptoms of difficulty urinating, urine bleeding, urine outside the litter box, cats often licking the genital area because they feel sick / uncomfortable. So if possible, give the cat wet food, compared to dry food.

Low carbohydrate

Dry food usually has high carbohydrate levels which are actually not needed by cats. Unlike humans, cats need energy from protein and fat, and very low need for carbohydrates. So the best commercial cat food is grain free and has no more than 5% carbohydrate levels.

Anti preservatives

Avoid giving food with harmful preservatives such as Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA), Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT), propyl gallate, propylene glycol, and ethoxyquin. These ingredients are suspected of causing cancer in pets. Instead, choose foods with vitamin C and vitamin E.

Age and health of cats

Make sure that the cat food you will give to cats is according to his age. Also adjust also to the weight of the cat and the health history of the cat. In addition, cat food must be adapted to the type of cat you care for and the level of activity your cat does.

Budget

The last thing to note is the cost. Give quality cat food to cats according to financial ability. Do not let the costs incurred to give food for cats become a financial burden

There is so much cat food available at the pet store, please choose by considering the explanation above. Of course, choose foods that are high in nutrients such as protein, vitamins, do not choose high-fat foods, because it can make our cats overweight (obese)

However, besides that we can also make our own food for our cats, of course, at a lower cost. So that we can save money, but still the food we make must be full of nutrition for our cats. Here are natural ingredients that can be given to cats and their benefits.

Meat

Beef, chicken, rabbit meat, can be given raw meat, but it should be cooked

Fish

Fish has some of the nutrients needed for cats, but don't give too much tuna because the level of double unsaturated fatty acids is quite high and can deplete vitamin E intake in cats.

Egg yolk

Only the yolk can be given to cats, never give egg white to cats.

Cheese

Cheese is a good source of protein for cats, because it is made of milk. Give it gradually, because there are some cats that are not suitable to be given cheese, if diarrhea, stop giving cheese.

Even so, usually the cat tends to prefer food that was first eaten when he was a child or food eaten by the mother. Well, to be clearer and more certain, you can consult your veterinarian for your subscription. Although usually they will recommend the food they sell themselves.