What Are Some of the Benefits of Healthy Cat Food?

Cats are domestic animals that are companions to humans in their homes. They’re very beautiful creatures that can live as long as 16 years. So, it makes sense that you would want to give them healthy cat food.

Cats mostly like to be left alone. They tend to stay in a comfortable corner where they can just lounge around all day. Sometimes, cats like to play when given dangling and moving toys.

Usually, cats are very energetic when they’re younger, but as they grow older, they tend to become lazier. Wanting to be alone, cats can become very irritable when they’re continuously being disturbed.

Cats can be very demanding creatures. They eat different types of cat food and are generally noisy when they’re hungry, meowing loudly until you give them what they want. 

The Best Cat Food

What Cats Generally Eat

As mentioned, there are different kinds of cat food available in the market. Cats are carnivores, which means they need meat to survive.

They can eat any type of meat, except for those that are raw and spoiled. However, if you choose to give your cat a plant-based diet, it might not fare very well for them. So, what is healthy cat food?

How to Feed Cats

The way you feed your cat and what you need to give them will have to vary as they grow. They can adopt different types of diets that will suit them according to their needs.

Basically, a kitten at 6 months until adulthood should be fed twice a day. Likewise, adult cats over a year old will do great when fed once or twice a day.

However, you also need to switch things up from time to time, as cats easily get tired of eating the same food over and over again. Try feeding them a variety of cat food every two weeks so they don’t completely ignore their food.

Let’s also not forget that senior cats exist. Once cats become old, they need to follow a set regimen or schedule for feeding to ensure that their nutritional needs are still being met.

Of course, if your cat is getting older and experiencing some issues, there are proper kinds of cat food for inflammatory bowel disease. This will help alleviate whatever they’re going through and help them expel waste easier from their body.

Different Types of Cat Food

There are basically five different types of cat food. As a pet owner, you’re allowed to decide what you think is best for your cat, along with what is prescribed by a veterinarian.

• Complete food – Complete cat food provides as the name indicates. It is complete in vitamins and minerals your cat needs to stay healthy. 

• Complimentary food – Complementary food is a mix of wet cat food and treats. However, complementary food is not enough to feed your cat daily, as this does not have all the required nutrients needed for your cat’s nourishment.

• Wet food – Wet cat food is the kind you typically find in cans. It usually helps to make your cat’s hair lusher and healthier, and there’s a variety of wet food currently available in the market.

• Dry food – If you’re not familiar with dry cat food, this is the kind you can find in bags. It is generally more convenient as it does not spoil easily and can be bought in bulk.

• Treats – Just like dog treats, cat treats serve the purpose of being rewards for your pet for learning a trick. For cats, however, you can give them a treat for being active during the daytime since they’re always lying down.

Healthy Cat Food

As a pet owner, you’re probably pretty careful of what you give your furry friends. You want to give them healthy cat food, but it’s not always that simple. Giving them too much or too little of something will most likely harm them at some point.

Try to keep this idea in mind: if humans eat a certain kind of food like ones that contain too much fat or ones that are too salty, will this impact their health? The answer is, of course, a resounding yes.

Likewise, if you don’t do your research, you might just end up causing more harm to your pet than giving them the type of healthy cat food they need. Here are a few factors about food that can impact your cat’s health.

• Good Ingredients

Before purchasing cat food, be wary of the ingredients. Make a habit of studying the list of ingredients in their food, and do proper research. 

If you see docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in the list, congratulations are in order. DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid usually found in kitten and dog food.

This is important in the development of brain function as well as the nervous system. DHA can also be found in a mother cat’s milk.

In scientific studies, higher levels of DHA can help with vision development, and cats that take it tend to be a lot smarter!

• Bad Ingredients

It’s best to also know what ingredients you should avoid. While carbohydrates provide cats with energy, too many carbs can be harmful.

Cats process carbohydrates in a different way from other animals as it takes them a lot more time to do so. This is one of the main reasons why some cats are obese.

One example of cat food with high carbohydrate content is dry food. This type of cat food is the easiest to purchase and can easily be bought anywhere.

Dry food is also known to have very little water content. Thus, when feeding your cat, you can dampen the kibble with a little bit of water to make it easier for cats to digest.

You don’t want to dehydrate your cat. Always be prepared to find better alternatives and explore other options to ensure that your cat stays healthy.

Also, dry food tends to be high in plant-based protein. Remember that cats need more animal-sourced protein as they’re naturally carnivorous animals.

Key Factors to Remember

Whether you are taking care of your cat(s) at home or traveling with them, always make sure to put their needs first and keep them as healthy as they can be. Just like humans, your pets have feelings.

Attend to your pets as if they’re your own children. Make sure you are giving them healthy cat food because, aside from seasonal vaccines, your cat’s food will be a huge factor in their health.