What Should I Feed My Cat

What Should I Feed My Cat?

Our animals are a part of our family, and so we understand that you want to feed them the best food to ensure that they live long and healthy lives. We know there is an overabundance of information and opinions online and on social media that makes deciding on a diet particularly challenging and confusing. Much of the marketing around pet foods plays directly into our emotions about feeding our cats, making us feel that if we do not pick the right food, we don’t love our cats enough.

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What Should I Feed My Cat?

Nutritional facts must be provided on pet food labels, but it is important to know that the label is also an important promotional tool to attract pet owners. This means that much of the information provided — including the ingredients list– is of little practical importance in assessing nutritional content. It is also important to remember that wording, such as Holistic, Premium, or Human Grade are not regulated and are, therefore, of little value.

A Complete and Balanced Diet

Cats are obligate carnivores, which means they must eat animal protein to meet all their nutritional requirements. Unlike humans, cats are unable to convert amino acids derived from vegetable sources into amino acids required to make complete proteins. Cats require higher protein levels, moderate fat, and minimal amounts of carbohydrates, in addition to essential vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids for optimal nutrition. The goal is to feed your cat a diet that, when their caloric needs are met, will provide them with all the essential nutrients in the proper amounts and ratios. This is referred to as complete and balanced nutrition. If a product is labelled “for intermittent or supplemental use only” it is not a complete and balanced diet.

The Association of American Feed Control Officers (AAFCO) is a non-profit group that has established standards and guidelines for what constitutes a complete and balanced pet food diet based on life stage and reproductive status. You will find their label on every bag of food that is made in the U.S.

The Fast Version

If you want to skip to the chase and just have us tell you which diets we recommend, we suggest feeding a good commercial brand food that meets the criteria detailed below. This includes, but is not limited to, foods made by Royal Canin, Hill’s Science Diet, or Purina. You can also compare various diets by going to www.petnutritionalliance.org and clicking on Dare to Ask About Your Pets Food.

For more details about the way we evaluate pet foods, keep reading. Sources for this handout are listed at the very end.

Important questions to ask

Is this food formulated to meet the specific nutritional requirements for my cat’s life stage?

Is this a kitten food or for adult maintenance? We recommend selecting a diet for your cat’s specific life stage rather than a diet labelled to meet the requirements for all life stages.

Does the diet employ a full time qualified nutritionist?

Who formulates the food, and what are their credentials? We advise selecting a diet that employs an expert in veterinary nutrition. Advisors with appropriate qualifications would have a PhD in animal nutrition or be board-certified by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN) or the European College of Veterinary Comparative Nutrition (ECVCN).

What about Grain Free Diets?

Though the Food and Drug Administration has issued an advisory about findings that some grain free diets have been associated with the development of heart disease in dogs, this has not been shown to be the case in cats.

What about Raw Food Diets?

Due to the substantial risk posed by Avian Influenza (H5N1) virus, and confirmed cases of cats contracting H5N1 through raw rood diets, we do not recommend the feeding of any raw food diet to either cats or dogs.

What about Home-Cooked Diets?

The biggest challenge with home cooking for your pet is ensuring a consistent, nutritionally complete and balanced diet over time. Studies have shown that a majority of home-cooked diets are deficient in one or more essential nutrients. A major problem with available home-cooked pet food recipes, whether from magazines, books, the internet, or even vets, is that they are notoriously vague, often out-of-date, and rarely provide all the essential nutrients that a pet requires. Inadequate levels of nutrients may not be immediately evident but can cause serious health problems over months or years, that may not be easily reversed. Additionally, home-cooked diets are often more costly than commercial food when calculated for the cost of supplements and the number of ingredients required tomake a diet complete and balanced. If, for health or other reasons, you need to prepare a home-cooked diet, we recommend working with a veterinary nutritionist to help formulate your pet’s food. An invaluable website run by board-certified veterinary nutritionists to help formulate your home-cooked diet can be found at www.balanceit.com.

How was this diet determined to meet the AAFCO requirements of complete and balanced?

Was the diet determined to be nutritionally adequate based on feeding trials, or was the diet formulated to meet the AAFCO requirements? Feeding trials, considered the gold standard, tests a diet’s nutritional adequacy by documenting cats’ performance and response to the diet over time. Formulated foods are manufactured so the ingredients meet specific levels based on the recipe or on analytical testing of the finished product. We recommend foods developed through feeding trials which give real world results of a diet on living animals.

Where is the diet manufactured and what quality control measures are used to guarantee consistency and quality of the ingredients and end product?

Does the company own the manufacturing equipment, or do they have to contract a third party in the making of their food? Most small companies do not own their own plants which can reduce the control they have over quality. The diet you choose should be made by a reputable and knowledgeable company with strict quality control measures.

Can the company provide complete nutritional analysis for their food, in addition to the caloric content in a measured quantity?

The name and address of the party responsible for the quality and safety of the product is required to be listed on every pet food label. Many companies will also voluntarily include a toll-free number for consumer inquiries. You should be able to find the answer to all these questions by calling the manufacturer. If the information is not readily available, we advise caution about feeding your animal that brand.