One of the hardest struggles in life for many of us is a proper diet for ourselves and our family. This is especially true for our animals, cats especially. Food science for animals has changed so much in the last 20+ years since I started raising animals as a kid. However just like it is for humans, animal nutrition is extremely important. This is especially true for cats as they have the strictest diet of most of the common companion animals.
The first and most important point to make is that your cat is an obligate carnivore. They have to eat meat in order to survive. I know some people prefer to live a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle including Lucky’s Pet Concierge’s owner. However, this same lifestyle is not sustainable for your cat. They simply can’t synthesize the necessary proteins to survive from plant-based sources like we can. I truly understand why you choose that lifestyle for yourself, but your cat can’t choose what they eat so it's up to you to give them what they need.
That being said, there are many options for your cat. While I have some insight from my studies on animal nutrition in college that material is years out of date in a quickly changing science. I encourage you to talk to your vet about diet at every opportunity. What I will say is that in most cases your cat's diet should consist of wet food supplemented with a small amount of dry food.
This is a relatively recent change in my thinking when it comes to cats. When canned wet food came out it was poorly thought out and was very fattening for your animals. However recently the pet owning community pushed companies to be more responsible and pushed animal nutritionists to do more research into healthier options. While not all wet food is perfect I recommend a decent portion of your cat's food should be wet. The proteins in this food are easier for them to digest and synthesize into their needs and it has less unneeded filler that is common in dry foods. These fillers provide little to no nutritional value to your cat and in some cases aren’t good for them.
The most critical component in wet food is the water itself. Since all cats in the wild are eating fresh prey a large portion of their water intake is actually from their food. Cats inherently don’t need to drink a lot of water. However, this is why most cats eating either primarily or only dry food drink so much water. It's also part of why these same cats tend to develop problems like kidney stones and diabetes.
Ultimately, you’re the one in control of your cat's diet and it's not an easy set of choices. I encourage you to ask your vet questions whenever you can and supplement that with your own research into healthy options. Feline obesity and diabetes are far too common in our country and it's something that can be easily prevented if we as pet owners do a little research and actively monitor our pets weight and general disposition.
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