Nowadays it is easy to have a good time looking at the different feeds for cats on the market, since all the brands say practically the same thing: that it makes a "complete food" for these animals. Then you start reading the ingredient label and you realize that no, all that glitters is not gold. It is a pity that they invest in advertising campaigns and not in making high quality food.
But precisely for that reason we are going to tell you how to choose the best food for cats. In this way your furry can eat well, and therefore have better health.
What do cats eat?
Let's start at the beginning: What do cats eat? Or the wild cats? Indeed: meat. All felines, whether they are small or large, affectionate or elusive, solitary or social, with short or long hair, they are all carnivores. They are predators, and that is something they inherit from their parents.
From very babies, more or less after three weeks, which is when they begin to walk and explore the territory, as they play with their siblings and with their mother they perfect their hunting techniques. At this young age is when They begin learning the bite to catch and the bite to kill.
Thus, that's when we have to start giving them wet kitty food, well chopped so that it is easier for them to eat it. But beware, we don't have to give it the first thing we find. And it is that if we keep in mind at all times that they are carnivores, it does not make sense to give them a feed that contains corn, rice, barley or any other cereal, since in addition to not serving them at all, they can harm them a lot since they do not have enzymes necessary to digest them ... and this can cause diarrhea, vomiting and discomfort. So what do we give them?
Personally I advise giving them natural chicken meat, which is the softest. It is put to cook, then it is left to cool, it is chopped well and it is given. If the mother is close by - something very important at least until they are two months old - give her too so that the little ones can imitate her. In the event that you do not want and / or cannot give him this type of food, look for cans for kittens that do not contain cereals or by-products, which are beaks, fur, fat, ... well, things that nobody would eat.
What is the best I think?
Now that we have talked about what cats eat, it is now time to move on to talking about feed. As we said, there are many brands and it seems that each year there are more. But which one is the best? Well, the answer is as simple as it is complicated: the one that does not have cereals but a lot of meat if possible fresh, although dehydrated or dried is also good.
Those feeds that contain flour "whatever it is", it is advisable to discard them, since while fresh meat only goes through one production process, the flour goes through two so it is less natural.
What types of feed are there?
Depending on the quality and the nutritional contribution, the brands are classified into three ranges: low, medium and high. And within each range there are better and worse, more expensive and cheaper.
- Low range: they are the ones that we can find especially in supermarkets. Its packaging is very colorful and promising messages, but it contains hardly any meat. It does not matter that it has this ingredient as the main ingredient: if it also has 20% wheat, 20% rice, and 15% barley for example, and the meat only represents 25%, that feed would be better to give it to an animal herbivore as it will have 55% cereals.
In addition, they contain coloring and flavoring, something that attracts a lot of attention. What do you need them for? Do they know that if they did not throw them out the cats would not eat them? The kilo comes to 1-6 euros depending on the brand. - Mid-range: they are the ones we find in pet stores and veterinarians. They contain cereals and by-products, but in less quantity than the low-end ones, and their price is higher.
In this group we find the majority of feed for sterilized cats or cats with special needs. The kilo comes to 4-10 euros depending on the brand. - High-end: these are those that for now are easier to find in online stores than in physical stores. They do not carry cereals or by-products, only meat and perhaps some vegetables in a very low percentage. They are the most recommended. There is hardly any variety, but little by little it seems that they are starting to be made for obese cats ("light" feed) or for those that are neutered. The kilo comes to 3-20 euros depending on the brand.
What are the benefits of giving them a quality diet?
I am not a nutritionist or a veterinarian, but since I have given my cats grain-free feed, I have seen how they have improved:
- Their fur has become shinier and smoother.
- The teeth are white and strong.
- Their breath does not smell bad.
- They have had a normal growth rate (not accelerated).
- Your health is good. They have had no major illnesses.
- They have no anxiety, neither for food nor for anything.
- They eat a little at a time as they fill up quickly, so a 7,5kg bag easily lasts me a month or a month or so with four cats.
Therefore, I highly recommend giving them a quality feed, since it is always better to spend money on food than on veterinarians 😉.