The Complete Guide To Feline Nutrition

There is a risk of bacterial contamination when making raw cat food at home and our extensive research of professional opinions shows that many veterinarians are on the fence about the drawbacks vs. benefits of raw diets for cats.

At the same time, it’s clear that raw food is closest to nature, and with careful attention to ingredients, raw food might be ideal. It’s easier now than ever to feed your cat a raw diet, as some companies specialize in producing balanced raw diets for cats as well as convenient freeze-dried options.

This alternative ensures proper nutrition based on cats’ biological needs, plus it’s more convenient than making homemade cat food. We’ll dive deeper into all the best options shortly.

Do different cat breeds need different types of food? The short answer to this question is no. All cats – from long-haired breeds such as Persians and Maine Coons to short-haired cats like Siamese and Abyssinians need the same healthy diet.

Whether you have well-bred show cats or beloved shelter pets of indeterminate heritage, their nutritional needs are all the same! It’s worth noting that a special cat hairball control food might benefit long-haired cats, but daily brushing might help even more since high-fiber cat diets have been linked to an increased risk of bladder inflammation.

When it comes to age, a different set of rules apply. Kitten nutrition is different from adult cat nutrition, and older cats really do need to eat senior cat food.

Kitten foods are specially formulated to support healthy growth, with added vitamins and minerals, plus more calories.

With proper nutrition, kittens develop healthy immune systems. While there are some formulas designed to support good health at all ages, kittens should switch to adult food when they are one year old.

Adult cats – generally those between the ages of one and seven – and mature cats between age eight and ten – should eat a diet based on meat and fat, with relatively low carbohydrates.

Most cats over age 11 are considered seniors. While many cats will continue to thrive on a good-quality adult cat food, a lower-calorie senior cat food can help prevent rapid weight gain.

Again, we’d like to stress the importance of keeping carbohydrate intake low to prevent obesity and reduce the risk of diabetes as your cat ages and spends more time relaxing.

The Cummings Veterinary Medical Center at Tufts University mentions that it’s not necessary to reduce protein content when feeding a senior cat; in fact, this might contribute to muscle loss.

In case you’re worried about sanitation, remember that you’re in control of keeping your surfaces, tools, and containers clean. Additionally, cats have very strong stomach acid that kills bacteria, and as an extra layer of protection, they tend to turn their noses up at anything that isn’t perfectly fresh. Most won’t even consider eating food that’s starting to spoil.

Making homemade cat food calls for special tools. Since DIY cat food recipes call for bones with nutritious marrow inside, you need a good meat grinder to ensure that everything is well-incorporated. Bone meal is a close second, but its nutrient profile is a little different since it’s not fresh.

You’ll need sharp knives to cut some of the meat into larger chunks that satisfy your cat’s predatory nature, and you’ll need good cutting boards, along with containers that you can label. A food scale is essential unless you can get a butcher to weigh everything for you when you purchase it.

Some people freeze their fresh cat food in ice cube trays designated for cat food only and sanitized after every use, making portion control simple. After freezing individual cubes, all the cubes can be wrapped in butcher paper or wax paper and then tucked together into freezer bags.

Despite the need for special equipment and containers to store your cat’s food in the freezer plus the willingness to thaw food for your cat ahead of every meal, you’ll find that homemade cat food is a cost-effective alternative to store-bought brands.

It’s up to you to do a cost-benefits analysis! Depending on your schedule and the value of your own time, it might pay to simply pick a high-quality brand and be done with it.

Many of us take vitamins and other supplements. Should we be giving them to our cats, too?

Unless you are making your own cat food and adding essential nutrients according to a recipe formulated by a feline nutrition expert, it’s probably not necessary. Bernadine Cruz, DVM, of the American Veterinary Medical Association Council on Communications says that it’s best to take supplement manufacturers’ recommendations with a grain of salt.

In an interview, Cruz cautioned that “anyone, regardless of their expertise, can set up a web site and claim that their product can make your pet feel younger and have increased energy.”

Purina ONE

Purina ONE is a complete line of dry and wet cat food. The company focuses on using real meat and fish, and offers several different products including foods for cats with sensitive systems and cats with a tendency to develop hairballs. There are several wet and dry formulas from which to choose.

Fancy Feast

Fancy Feast is a Purina brand that focuses on individually portioned meals made with real ingredients including meat and fish. The Filets are very nice – tuna, salmon, chicken, and ocean fish, making for a very low-carbohydrate treat that can supplement other foods. Broths, appetizers, and natural wet cat foods without grain or fillers are excellent additions to the menu. Be careful because some of these foods contain milk or cheese, which aren’t well-tolerated by some cats.

Natural Balance

Natural Balance cat food has quite a few good things going for it: It’s made in the U.S., every batch is tested for safety at a certified reference laboratory, and there’s a satisfaction guarantee. While some recipes do include vegetable proteins, many use real meat as a first ingredient. This brand offers a range of limited ingredient diets for cats with allergies to certain ingredients, with both wet and dry formulas to choose from. Be sure to look at ingredients since some formulas have peas as a first ingredient instead of meat, and as the dry formulas tend to be relatively high in carbohydrates.

Taste of the Wild

Taste of the Wild focuses on delivering the right balance of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Although some of the proteins in this food are vegetable-based, there’s plenty of quality animal protein in each recipe as well. The company’s product line includes a variety of wet foods as well as a few dry flavors.

Hill’s Science Diet

According to Hill’s, Science Diet cat foods offer biology-based nutrition along with high-quality ingredients. This company offers a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee, so if you or your cat find anything you don’t like about the food, you can return it for a full refund. If your cat has a medical condition, it’s likely that your vet might recommend one of the special diets from Hill’s. Both wet foods and dry foods are available.

Rachael Ray Nutrish

When Rachael Ray introduced Nutrish pet food, people were thrilled. This food uses real ingredients, although many recipes do include grains and starchy vegetables. At the same time, the product line does include zero-grain recipes including wet foods and ultra high-moisture broths designed to use as treats or to complement other cat foods. You can find Nutrish online and in many stores, so it’s a convenient option whatever your shopping preference.

Smalls

Smalls is a company that makes fresh, human-grade meals, portions them out according to your cat’s needs, and ships them to your front door. Almost every aspect of the Smalls experience is personalized, from specially-portioned food to custom delivery schedules to an engaged customer care team.

Smalls cat food is a good choice for anyone who wants fresher, simpler, more species-appropriate food than the dry and canned fare sold in pet stores and on grocery shelves.

Primal

Primal is a whole-food diet for cats, with frozen raw formulas as well as freeze-dried options for greater convenience. There are several different varieties to choose from, which is nice if your cat has limitations such as a chicken allergy.

Nature’s Variety

If you’re not interested in feeding a raw or homemade diet, Nature’s Variety is a close second, with high-protein options that are grain-free as well as free from high-carbohydrate starches. These blends are made in the USA, and come in both wet and dry flavors. You can also get freeze-dried “raw boost” mixers and kibble with pieces of freeze-dried meat mixed in.

Hare Today

Hare Today is a solution for people who want to feed their cats a raw homemade diet, but who don’t want to worry about grinding meat and getting organ ratios right. The company also offers balanced supplement packs (including taurine) for adding to homemade cat food. It’s also famous for its frozen, vacuum-sealed whole prey, which many cats like, but which can be very off-putting for squeamish pet owners. The mice, rats, chicks, and guinea pigs on offer are humanely euthanized with Co2. Freeze-dried options are also available as a convenient alternative to raw and whole prey choices.

Hound & Gatos Canned Foods

Hound & Gatos is a favorite not just because they offer so many different flavors to keep your cat well-nourished and interested in his food, but because it is made with 100% animal protein. This is some of the best grain-free cat food on the market, and the company does an excellent job of ensuring that all essential nutrients are included.

Steve’s Real Food

Offering raw frozen and freeze-dried options, Steve’s Real Food blends real meat with biologically appropriate ingredients such as krill in its line of Quest cat foods. The first ingredient is always free range and/or grass-fed meat or poultry, and there are no grains to be seen. This food is conveniently formed into bite-sized nuggets. It’s freeze-dried, so you don’t have to worry about thawing anything out.

Raw Paws Pet Food Freeze Dried Complete Chicken

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If you love the convenience of dry food but you want to treat your pet to superior nutrition, Raw Paws might be ideal. This food is made from a blend of 45% muscle meat, 45% organs, and 10 percent bone, and it is packaged in a resealable bag. One pound of this freeze-dried food is the equivalent of three pounds of raw food.

Raw Paws also offers frozen complete blends that let you feed your cat a balanced raw diet without having to make it yourself. These blends are very easy to portion out, and they’re easy to store in the freezer, too.

Ziwi Peak Cat Food

Ziwi Peak wet cat food is made with meat, organs, and bones. It’s grain-free, very low in carbohydrates, and free from anything artificial. The company also offers a unique air-dried cat food for convenience. It is 96 percent meat, organs, and bone, 7 percent tripe, and 3% green mussel, which provide natural glucosamine and chondroitin.

There are quite a few different flavors to choose from, as well as different-sized cans and bags. Like other foods that made their way onto this list, it’s available at many pet stores as well as online.

Can I feed my cat the same food I feed my dog?

In short; no. You cannot feed your cat the same diet as what your dog gets. Cat food is higher in pre-formed proteins and vitamins which are essential in the diet of cats, whereas dog food doesn’t need these same high levels of these proteins.

Over time, if your cat is eating dog food they will develop dietary deficiencies which will cause serious health problems.

Why doesn’t my cat want to eat?

There is a myriad of reasons that your cat may not want to eat. If you are concerned about your cat not eating for any reason, it is important to get your animal assessed by a veterinarian.

Gastrointestinal, liver, kidney, pancreatic, endocrine, cancerous and a slew of other infectious and problems can cause your cat to not want to eat. It’s easy to blame the fact that the cat is a picky eater, but if we still aren’t wanting to eat after 48 hours then getting checked out by a veterinarian is definitely advised.

My vet is recommending a therapeutic diet. Does my cat really need a special food?

Dietary management of disease in patients is extremely useful and helpful to see them through to recovery. Therapeutic diets range from from dental biscuits which help to reduce plaque build up on the teeth and ultimate reduce the overall incidence of dental disease, to kidney diets which reduce strain on the kidneys and help to reduce progression of disease.

Urinary, kidney, liver, dental, weight loss, gastrointestinal, reduced allergen diets, reduced iodine diets (for hyperthyroid cats) and cats with sensitive stomachs and hairball build up are all examples of therapeutic diets which can help reduce the burden or progression of disease.

If your veterinarian has recommended a therapeutic diet, if your cat is happy eating that food then it is recommended to use that diet to ensure your cat has the best quality of life possible.

Which is better for my cat; dry food or wet food?

I suggest feeding dry food as it also helps to clean the teeth and encourages chewing action. Dry food is very reasonable as a sole diet, and your cat should have access to water at all times.

Wet food is delicious and is excellent to mix in with the dry food, but unless your cat has a reason to be eating wet food all the time (as recommended by the veterinarian) then I recommend a dry food as the main portion of the diet.

Why is my cat chewing on grass/houseplants?

This isn’t easy to answer, and there are a multitude of reasons your cat may be chewing grass. One reason may be that it helps them vomit, as they are unable to digest the plant material as they lack the necessary enzymes to break the plants down in the digestive system.

This can help cats to purge the stomach of indigestible material such as bones and hair and is a natural thing for them to do in the wild. Another reason is that it may help to act as a natural laxative and push everything through the digestive system, making the passage of food through the colon slightly easier.

Sometimes cats also chew on the plants because of behavioural reasons, such as stress, anxiety or just out of curiosity. As long as the plant material your cat is chewing on isn’t toxic to them, then it is not concerning for them to chew on plant material.

Is premium cat food really better than the stuff from the supermarket?

Premium cat food is generally considered of a better quality because it has less “filler” or “ash” component in the food, which often means more is absorbed and there is less to come out the other end!

Veterinarians generally recommend these premium brands because we know that that undergo stringent quality controls to ensure they are always fully balanced and of good quality.

However, registered, fully balanced cat foods are also available and are adequate to keep your cat healthy. Just don’t be surprised if the litter tray needs to be emptied slightly more often!

Does my cat have to have a eat a grain-free diet?

No. The term “grain-free” is more of an advertising grab than anything else. It relies on the fact that we would think that feeding a grain-free diet would mean there are less carbohydrates in the diet, but in fact some of these diets contain more carbohydrates than regular grain-containing diets.

Your cat does not have to eat a grain free diet. As long as the diet they are being fed is fully balanced and follows veterinary advice (eg: if a prescription diet is required) then the diet should be fine!

Dr John Blaxill

BSC BVMS

His main interests in veterinary medicine are small animal internal medicine, neurology, diagnostic imaging and oncology. Dr John enjoys both canine and feline medicine, and in the future hopes to work towards specialist accreditation within the facets of small animal medicine.

In his spare time, Dr John enjoys spending time with his [slightly chunky] Border Collie “Beau”, hiking, spending time eating and drinking beer with friends.