There is no question that we all only want the best for our cats. But not everyone can (and wants) to afford expensive cat food. Especially when it is not even certain whether expensive is synonymous with good.
What makes good cat food?
In order to be able to judge what belongs in good cat food, it is important to understand how a cat’s digestion works. Because only when you know what a cat eats in the wild do you know what to look out for when it comes to cat food.
Cats are carnivores!
With a cat you have brought a small predator into your home. And predators usually eat meat.
But not all predators are the same. Dogs digest differently than cats. And cats need some nutrients already broken down because they lack certain metabolic processes. For a cat, this means that, for example, it can only digest many important nutrients from plants if they have already been broken down by another creature. In plain language: A cat gets the necessary nutrients from its prey! Mice, rabbits, and hares eat and digest plants. When the cat eats these animals, it does so with skin and hair. This also includes the parts of the plant in the mice’s stomach, from which the cat can now absorb important nutrients such as vitamins.
That’s what a cat needs in its food
These nutrients are important for a cat’s health:
Proteins: Proteins are made up of different amino acids. Cats need ten different amino acids, which they can get from muscle meat or dairy products. Cats are very poor at compensating for a deficiency.
Fats: As with humans, certain unsaturated fatty acids (arachidonic acid) are essential for cats and cannot be produced by the body itself. That means it has to be ingested through food. Arachidonic acid is found in heart, liver and poultry fat, for example.
Carbohydrates: These are only necessary for cats in very small amounts and must already be broken down in order to be digested at all. Rice and potatoes are particularly suitable.
Vitamin A: Vitamins are only required in very small amounts, but they are indispensable for many metabolic processes and thus for life. It is contained in raw or fried liver.
Taurine: Taurine is a breakdown product of certain amino acids. It cannot be synthesized by cats themselves, but must be ingested with food (meat, fish, dairy products). A lack of taurine leads to blindness.
Calcium: Like us humans, cats need calcium to build their bones and have to get it from their food. Calcium is found in bones or cartilage and in dairy products. In older cats in particular, care must be taken to ensure adequate calcium intake.
Phosphorus: In addition to calcium, phosphorus plays a major role in healthy bone structure. On the other hand, a constant high intake of phosphorus puts a strain on a cat’s kidneys. Especially with cats with kidney disease, care must be taken to ensure a low phosphorus content in the feed.
Water: Water itself may not count as a nutrient. But without liquid, a cat’s body functions just as little as that of us humans. Cats get about 90% of their water content from food. Conversely, this means that dry food is unsuitable as the sole food, as it contains too little moisture and our cats are therefore at risk of drying out. You certainly won’t die of thirst, but bladder and kidney stones can form and the kidneys can be affected.
What should I definitely pay attention to?
So now you know what a cat needs for a healthy diet: lots of meat (without animal by-products), few carbohydrates (cereals, plant fibres), vitamin A, taurine and calcium as well as a low phosphorus and animal meal content.
Good cat food does not have to be expensive
Certainly the most natural and species-appropriate diet for a cat is one in which the cat roams through nature and kills its own food. But that is not always possible. Therefore, we must make the food choices for our cats. And here, as a rule, compromises are necessary. Because there are some good types of cat food, but the optimal food also depends on what you can and want to spend on feeding your cats.
The composition of the following foods is recommended. However, you should make sure that different varieties also have different compositions. So please make sure to buy the right variety that suits your cat.
Cat Food Recommendations
This canned food can be fed with a clear conscience due to its ingredients. However, not every variety or can contains the same ingredients. A comparison is therefore necessary.
The right amount – how much food does a cat need?
The right amount of cat food depends heavily on how high or low your cat’s basal metabolic rate is: young, very active cats need significantly more cat food than older cat seniors. Young cats up to a year old can even eat as much as they want. There isn’t too much and you don’t have to worry about your slender teenage cat becoming a chubby kitten.
In addition, very large tomcats need more than small cats. The information on the cans (approx. 150-200g per day for a normal domestic cat) can therefore only be average information. You can use these as a rough guide.
But always keep an eye on your cat. If you find that you can no longer feel your cat’s ribs, you should gradually reduce the amount of food. Together with a little more play movement, you can use it to get your cat out of the moppel fraction. On the other hand, if your cat tends to be skinny, you can feed her a little more food than the can says.
