What is the Best Diet for Cats?

A wild cat's diet is based on meat and fish, although it's true that they also receive certain amounts of vegetables through their prey. This explains why the best diet for domestic cats should contain 40% protein and 26% fat.

There are many products on the market that do not meet these percentages, which you can easily check on the package labels. This is why more and more people combine feed, wet food and homemade food, thereby improving the quality of the cat's diet.

What does AnimalWised recommend?

After learning how to simply prepare homemade food for cats, many owners quickly decide to change their animal's diet. However, problems usually arise as a consequence of their lack of information or understanding about the necessary nutrients for their cat.

If you switch your cat's diet to a homemade one before doing some research, you'll be causing a weakening of your cat's defenses and even the disappearance of some fundamental functions.

Although people love taking the time to develop a high-quality homemade diet for their pets, we always recommend a combination of feed, wet food and homemade food. This ensures that your pet's diet will be enriched by a greater variety of food and also make it happier.

Dry feed plays an essential role in the animal's diet, because it helps to stop plaque building up on its teeth and is also inexpensive. Even so, you still need to pay attention to the kind of feed you buy, because lots of them - especially poor quality ones - are high in fat, which can cause obesity.

It is important to get the proper dry feed for the stage of your cat's life, as the necessary nutrients change over the years:

• Feed for growing cats: For developing cats, there are dry feeds that are high in both protein and fat, which are essential for growth. These kind of feeds usually have vitamin and calcium supplements.

• Feeds for adult cats: Adult cats require less fat. We suggest that you look for a suitable high-quality feed; neutered cats require a specific type. Follow the food chart correctly and remember that you should provide it with plenty of water.

• Feeds for older cats: This case requires special attention. You will find specific feed for older cats in many stores, which contain less fat and protein than feed for younger cats. This is entirely appropriate, as older cats spend less time exercising and thus require specific care.

Wet food for cats is found in pet shops and supermarkets, and usually comes in cans. This type of food will be well received by your pet, who will devour it in a jiffy due to its appetizing smell.

The main problems that arise from wet food are smelly breath, loose stools and strong smelling excrement. You should also keep an eye on the composition of wet food cans:

• They shouldn't contain any carbohydrates. Or, at the very least, they should have a low carb content.

• At least 35% should be protein. The higher the percentage, the better.

• There should be at least 0.1% taurine.

• The level of fat should range between 15% and 25%.

• They should contain no more than 5% of carbohydrates.

• They must contain Omega 3 and 6.

• Calcium, phosphorus or magnesium are some of the minerals that should be included.

Finally, let's talk about homemade diets for cats. These are becoming increasingly popular, with many owners choosing them in order to provide their cat with an almost perfect diet - for instance, using our fish recipe.

Although feeding a cat with homemade diets has countless advantages, starting with the cat's own health, it is recommended not to do so on a daily basis if you're not well informed. Many owners unknowingly end up missing out some key components in their cat's diet, which is bad for its health. Ask your vet for tips, as the requirements change depending on the cat's age, breed and lifestyle.

Always take into account the forbidden foods for cats, as well as the human foods that cats can eat.

In summary, all quality diets are suitable to feed your cat. However, it is recommended not to overdo any of the three. Variety in your cat's diet will make it happy, healthy and beautiful.

If you want to read similar articles to What is the Best Diet for Cats?, we recommend you visit our Healthy diets category.