Many of us spend our days without giving much thought to what’s in the food we eat. Have you ever wondered what’s in your cat’s food? Do you know if your cat food is actually good for your cat?
Cats are, by nature, obligate carnivores – which means they require a diet rich in protein to flourish. They can eat some other things as well, such as sugars, but since they have short digestive tracts their systems aren’t quite suited to digesting vegetables and some grains, especially as a major part of their diet. Because of this, you might want to hold off on switching Kitty to a vegan diet.
What should your cat’s food contain? When you read the food label, the first ingredient listed should be protein. What you don’t want to see are a lot of by-products, which are basically those parts of animals and plants that are not eaten by humans. Additionally, you don’t want to see a lot of fillers. personally, i recommend a premium cat food such as from Life’s Abundance. For me, premium is simply the best way to go.
Fillers are normally made up of grain, some of which cats find hard to digest – such as corn. Some cat foods may contain as much as 50% grain as filler. Now, you can imagine what this will do your cat if he finds the food difficult to digest — that will be one unhappy cat. Giving your cat this type of food, depending on the cat, could result in some health issues, or in a cat that simply won’t eat.
When you do go shopping for food, also be sure to check the expiration date, as cat food, even though it’s dry and made with preservatives, doesn’t last forever. Additionally, once opened, even dry cat food will lose its freshness after several days, so be careful not to buy huge heaping bags of cat food without storing it properly in air tight containers after opening it.
It’s important to find cat food that meets your cat’s nutritional requirements, a cat food that is “balanced” and which contains Taurine, a nutritional element that cats’ bodies need but cannot product on their own.