Different Options for Cat Food

We as cat parents need and want to provide our feline friends with the best that we can, along with health care, a home, exercise, and love, a proper diet is among these things. In order to do this you'll need to have a basic understanding on the types of foods available and whats good about each one, as well as their down sides.

The most cost effective is dry cat food. This is also the one form where kitten formulas are seen, but you really shouldn't use that as a criteria when selecting a food, and ill tell you more about that later. You can buy a 4 pound bag of dry cat food for as cheap as three dollars for the store brand, or spend as much as 19 dollars for the highest brand of holistic, corn free, no by-products food there is. The problem is that dry forms of cat food have had every last bit of moisture pulled from them and will provide you cat with no water whatsoever. This becomes a problem because cats in general will not drink enough water to stay as hydrated as needed, so not only are they at risk for dehydration but the foods will soak up any water that they may have just recently drank in the stomach. This also causes another problem associated with dry foods. Some cats have a tendency to eat until they are full, but that leaves no room for the food to expand. This causes most cats to throw up at least some of what they just ate, and since cats tend to be private about this you may not even realize its happening. These also will contain the highest amounts of grains and corn unless they specifically state no corn, grain free, or both.

Canned or pouched cat food is next, and a bit higher on the good scale than dry food. The only real reason for this is because they will all contain higher amounts of liquid than dry. Both in the liquid, gravy, broth, or sauce that it's packed in as well as the actual food itself. This prevents two things from happening. The chances of dehydration are lowered greatly and the cat more than likely will not throw it up again, because it will not expand in the stomach. If your cat does throw up on wet food then you need to watch it closely for the next day or two. If it happens every time with the same formula (say brand x chicken and veggies) but not another formula (say brand A fish and rice) then its more than likely an allergy and should be checked with a vet. If it happened every time no matter the formula then it could be caused by a blockage somewhere and will need immediate vet care.

Homemade foods are becoming more popular today with all the pet food recalls we have seen in the past years. This is really the only way to be absolutely certain you know everything that's in your cats food. This is also a good way to provide a healthy diet for your cat if they have multiple allergies or digestive and health problems. There are however some things to be vary careful about with home made foods. The first being that you don't accidentally poison your cat. And I don't mean with windex or bleach. There are many foods that we as humans can eat that are toxic to cats, among them being onions, chocolate, garlic and others. One of the other things that could be deadly to your cat is the lack of taurine. Unlike dogs and other animals, cats are unable to produce it with their bodies, and therefore get it from what they eat. The main source for cats being certain organ meats such as hearts. If you feel grossed out by feeding your cats chicken hearts or such then this is not a very safe route for you, and your cats could suffer.

When it comes to the different formula types, you need to understand that unlike larger and more omnivore type animals, cats need about the same amount of protein in their diet from kitten hood well into senior life. Cats need very little vegetation to live and are able to get most of their nutrition from meat. This brings us to kitten food versus cat food. As a comparison, puppies need a higher amount of protein than a full grown dog, but in cats this amount barely changes. And since cats usually gain only 10 pounds in their growth from kitten to cat and they do so over a year, they are growing at a slower rate. Unlike dogs who can gain as little as 3 pounds in a year to as much as 100 pounds in a year. This is the reason that kitten food is no different than cat food, and if you look closely on most all manufactured cat food it will say "approved by affco for growth and maintenance" . This means kittens through adult life.

When looking for a cat food there are a few more points that will make some choices better for your cat than others. Look at the ingredients and see if it has corn, corn gluten meal, brewers rice, brewers yeast, or ANIMAL by-product meal in it. If so then try to avoid this one. Understand though that animal by-product is different than say chicken by-product, because it has no standard to which the by-products have to come from. They could be chicken, beef, fish, horse, pig, ....... the list goes on. But by law the chicken by-products have to be just chicken. If it says "without feathers" or "without hides" then this makes it better because even to cats these parts have no nutritional value. When it comes to by-products though the best form is if it has "organ meats included" because these add even more needed nutrients for animals.

Source: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2191055/different_options_for_cat_food.html