Do you know what cat food contains?

Cat food is a food that could provide your feline pet with all the nutrients it needs to grow strong and happy. In general, they are made from raw meat, vegetables and fruits, as well as other ingredients such as cereals or meat by-products, which, depending on their proportion, would be an indication of their quality.

It is important to understand that domestic cats are descendants of the African wild cat, the main source of food for this wild cat being the raw meat they obtain from hunting smaller animals, such as mice, rabbits, some reptiles, etc., therefore they are classified as strict carnivores. So, cats by their nature need to eat meat and it is from this food that they obtain all the nutritional strength that their body requires for its correct physiological functioning. 

In this sense, if we want to feed our cat with dry feed, we must consider what its composition is when buying this food, to be sure that we are giving it a balanced diet in accordance with its nutritional requirements. Next, we will talk about the composition that the best cat food should have and we will give you some tips so that you learn to recognize that your cat’s dry food is of good quality.

cats are carnivores

If we want our cat to have a balanced diet based on feed, it is important to know what the ingredients that make up this food are, bearing in mind that these animals are strictly carnivorous. This means that the main base of their diet is raw meat, because from it they obtain the vitamins, minerals, amino acids and proteins that their body needs. So, it is essential that the main component of the dry feed is meat.

But how to interpret the label of this food?

By legal obligation, the brands that sell dry feed for felines must establish on their packaging what their composition is, that is, mention the ingredients that were used to manufacture these products and they do so through a label. So it is necessary to have an idea of ​​how we should interpret it, so that we can verify that the dry food that we are buying for our feline friend is of good quality or not.

In this context, you should know that the products that make up dry food are named according to the proportion in which they were added to its composition. In general, they are ordered in descending order, with the first ingredient that appears in the list being the one that was used in the greatest quantity.

So, as we have said in previous lines, considering that our cat friend is a carnivore par excellence, then the first ingredient that should appear on the label with a high percentage should be meat.

Vegetable proteins also appear on the list, but these do not provide the full amount of amino acids that the cat needs to synthesize its own proteins, since its main source of amino acids is animal protein.

If the cat food is of a high range in terms of its quality, its label is easy to interpret, since it adequately specifies the ingredient that was added to the food with its respective name and with an indicative percentage of what was used. These names will not fill you with doubts about knowing what the cat food contains, since they indicate if it is beef, fish or chicken.

Now, if you observe that the feed on its label has as its first element a component that does not come from an animal and, in addition, you notice that the ingredients derived from animals are mentioned as meat by-products and it does not say that they are raw or dehydrated meats, then that I think for cats is of low quality, being advisable that for the good health of your pet you do not buy it.

Components that the cat does not need in its diet

You can also find in cat food another component that is not necessary in the balanced diet of your feline pet. This is the case of fiber or beet pulp. This component only provides structure and hard consistency to the cat’s feces, nothing more and it is likely that you, as the owner of the cat, when you see that fecal matter with a good structure, think that your cat is having an adequate intestinal transit, which is not it is so

For you to know, this fiber is a residue that comes from sugar companies, product of the extraction of juice from beets, remaining as a paste with the fibers of this vegetable, which is sold to companies that produce animal feed, being used in the manufacture of feline feed, but it is not healthy for our cat.

Water intake in cats

It is important to keep in mind that when eating fresh meat, the cat is ingesting an amount of water that ranges between 70 and 80% of what it needs to stay hydrated. But when we give our feline friend dry feed, we are giving it an amount of 5 to 10% of this vital liquid. 

In addition, it happens that the animal does not feel thirsty as it does in humans, which has the consequence that cats do not consume the water that could compensate for this water difference. So, it is not recommended that you feed your cat only with dry food, since it would lack the hydration they need and that in the long run could cause problems with their kidneys.

In this sense, veterinary specialists recommend that from time to time we combine wet food with feed, so that the cat can obtain the adequate amount of water it requires to stay hydrated. 

In conclusion, we hope that with this article you have learned to recognize if the feed that you are giving your cat is of good quality, because in this way it will be receiving all the nutritional contribution that its body needs to grow healthy and strong, which will also affect its his fur and his mood.