What are the latest trends in cat nutrition?
What are the latest trends in cat nutrition?
Diet and health go hand in hand. It is never too late to change your cat's diet for a healthier one. Before doing this, however, make sure that it contains the necessary nutrients.
Healthy food: Essential fatty acids Omega-3 and Omega-6
Essential Omega-6 fatty acids can be found mainly in plant ingredients, and Omega-3 fatty acids mostly in marine fish and their preserves. They are important parts of your cat's diet and support many of his body's functions, including healthy skin, coat, immune and reproductive systems. Complete feeds must provide an appropriate level of Omega-6 fatty acids, and responsible producers additionally enrich them with Omega-3.
What is potentially harmful - a strict diet
Raw food diets may not provide your cat with all the necessary ingredients. Such a diet leads to selectivity while eating, which over time will affect the deficiency of some and the excess of other ingredients. Over time, this will translate into abnormalities in the functioning of internal organs, such as the thyroid gland, liver, and even affect the skeletal or nervous system. Well-known examples are neurological disorders in cats fed raw liver or problems with excess phosphorus in the diet of cats fed with filleted meat. What's more, they can also expose your pet to numerous diseases caused by pathogens contained in raw products.
Fashionable trends - vegetables and fruits in the cat's diet
More and more on the food market declare the presence of vegetables and fruits, some owners also give these raw materials to cats. The fact that cats eat them, unfortunately, does not mean that they serve them. The cat's digestive tract is 3 times weaker than the dog's body at obtaining energy from starch, and simple sugars from vegetables and fruits are mostly fermented. This is why a small addition of these human-healthy ingredients may support certain intestinal functions (such as beet pulp, chicory fiber, and bran of some grains), especially in cats that tend to get clogged with hair balls. However, there are no studies showing that cats get energy from vegetables and fruits, sparing the supply of protein in the diet and allowing to limit the supply of fat to maintain a healthy body shape. Therefore, a moderate share of varied whole grain cereals (well glued in the feed preparation process), which were naturally found in the cat's diet through the intestines of their victims, is currently the most optimal solution studied - regardless of fashion trends in composing a cat's diet.
Understanding your cat's many nutritional requirements will help you make informed decisions when choosing the right food. We hope this short introduction to the world of cat diets will encourage you to read on.