SNAP Cats

Feeding Your Cat

Feeding Your Cat

Provided by the Cornell Feline Health Center, Cornell University

Because nutrition is one of the most important keys to your cat’s health and longevity, one of your most important responsibilities as a cat owner is to provide your cat with the necessary nutrients required for its growth and maintenance. To do this, it is first necessary to understand what cats need in their diet.

Obligate Carnivores’ Nutritional Requirements
Cats are obligate carnivores and are very different from dogs – and people – in their nutritional needs. What does it mean to be an obligate carnivore? It means that cats are strict carnivores that rely on nutrients in animal tissue to meet their specific nutritional requirements. In their natural habitat, cats are hunters that consume prey high in protein with moderate amounts of fat and minimal amounts of carbohydrates. Cats also require more than a dozen nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, and amino acids. These nutrients are the building blocks of various structural body tissues; are essential for chemical reactions (metabolism, catabolism); transport substances into, around, and out of the body; supply energy for growth and maintenance; and provide palatability.

The important thing to remember about nutrients, particularly vitamins and minerals, is that your cat needs the correct amount-but no more. It is possible to have “too much of a good thing” when it comes to vitamins and minerals; the use of supplements not only is unnecessary but also can be potentially dangerous to your pet’s health. A key point to remember is that cats are neither small dogs nor people. Because of cats’ unique metabolism, what might be good for you might be detrimental to your cat. A high-quality cat food assures an adequate supply of vitamins and minerals in your cat’s diet; supplements should never be added without a veterinarian’s approval. Another important nutrient with respect to overall health is water. Water helps regulate body temperature, digest food, eliminate waste, lubricate tissue, and allow salt and other electrolytes to pass through the body. You should provide your cat with clean, fresh water at all times.

What Types of Commercial Cat Food are Available?
Commercial cat foods are formulated as dry, semi-moist, and canned. These products differ in water content, protein level, caloric density, palatability, and digestibility. The differences are primarily attributable to the processing methods used by pet food manufacturers.

Dry Food
Dry food contains 6 to 10 percent moisture. Depending on the specific formulation, meats or meat byproducts, poultry or poultry byproducts, grain, grain byproducts, fish meal, fiber sources, milk products, and vitamin and mineral supplements are combined, extruded, and dried into bite-sized pieces. The pieces are then covered with flavor enhancers, such as animal fat, which give them increased palatability. The primary advantages of dry cat food are lower cost and convenience in allowing “free choice” feeding. However, dry food may be less palatable to a cat, and, depending on the types and quality of the ingredients, may also be less digestible than moist food. If you do use dry food, it is important to store unused portions in a cool, dry location, and not to use the food after its expiration date (which is printed on the container). Often owners buy large amounts of dry food that can sometimes last for 3 to 6 months; therefore, checking the expiration date before feeding it to your cat is very important. Lengthy storage decreases the activity and potency of many vitamins and increases the likelihood that fats have become rancid. Storing dry cat food in an airtight container can help prevent nutrient deterioration and help maintain palatability.

Semi-Moist Food
Semi-moist food contains approximately 35 percent moisture and often resembles ground- or whole meat tidbits. Meat and meat byproducts are the primary ingredients. They are combined with soybean meal, cereals, grain byproducts, and preservatives. The cost is generally mid-range, and these foods may be more appealing than dry cat food to some cats. Semi-moist food can also be fed free choice. However, after the package is opened, palatability decreases and spoilage increases because of dehydration.

Canned Food
Canned cat food has a moisture content of at least 75 percent, making it a good dietary source of water. It is generally the most expensive type of cat food, but it also is highly palatable to most cats, and different varieties are plentiful, which can be helpful if your cat is a finicky eater. Canned food has the longest shelf life when unopened, but any unused portion of opened canned cat food should be refrigerated to maintain quality and prevent spoilage. Gourmet canned cat foods generally feature meats, such as kidney or liver, and whole meat byproducts as primary food ingredients. Some brands, however, may be nutritionally incomplete, and it is important to read the nutrition labels carefully on such specialty cat-food items to ensure that they have a nutritional guarantee.

How Do I Choose a Food for My Cat?
High-quality commercially prepared cat foods have been scientifically developed to give your cat the correct balance of nutrients and calories. Basic minimum nutritional requirements for cats have been established by the Feline Nutrition Expert (FNE) Subcommittee of the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), and pet-food manufacturers use these standards in producing cat foods.

When you’re shopping for a healthy food for your cat, reading the nutrition label on the packages is the best way to compare foods. Pet-food manufacturers are required to supply certain nutrition information on the package. Labeling regulations are established by the AAFCO (www.aafco.org) and the United States Food and Drug Administration. All pet foods that carry an AAFCO approved nutritional guarantee, often referred to as the “AAFCO statement,” are considered to be complete and balanced. These standards were formulated in the early 1990s by panels of experts on canine and feline nutrition. A food may be certified in two ways: (1) by meeting AAFCO’s published standards for content, or (2) by passing feeding tests or trials. Most researchers agree that feeding tests are superior in assessing the nutritional adequacy of a food.

Throughout a cat’s life, there are stages in which the cat requires different nutrients. These stages include kittenhood, adulthood, pregnancy, and lactation. The nutritional claim on the cat-food label should state the stage of a cat’s life cycle for which the food is a complete and balanced product. It should also state that it meets the requirements of the AAFCO. Feeding a cat a product that does not have a nutritional claim on the label cannot guarantee a complete and balanced diet for the animal. Often owners will find products that say they have been formulated for “all life stages,” which simplifies things for owners with multiple cats of different ages or circumstances.

In choosing a cat food, it is also important to read the ingredients list. This names all items used in the product, including flavor enhancers, artificial colors, and preservatives. The items are listed in order of decreasing proportional weight. Meat, meat byproducts, or seafood should be listed among the first few ingredients, because that indicates that the food probably contains enough animal-source ingredients to supply essential amino acids and essential fatty acids. Nonetheless, addition of some nutrients (e.g., the amino acid taurine, and B vitamins, including thiamine and niacin) may be necessary to offset the fiber content of the diet or degradation of nutrients that occurs during the manufacturing process.

Once you have determined that a food is complete and balanced, choosing between the types of food may be a matter of what your cat prefers. Some cats like canned food, some like dry food, and some like a combination of the two. Today’s market offers many well-formulated foods for cats at all life stages, so you can choose the ones that work best for your cat.

What About Homemade Diets?
Formulating your own cat food is a difficult and time-consuming process. Also, the nutrients in the formula may not be available in the right quantities and proportions to be beneficial to your cat. It is usually recommended that cat owners use a commercial nutritionally balanced product, unless a veterinarian recommends a home-formulated recipe for medical purposes. Often these recipes come from published sources and are created by veterinarians certified in animal nutrition.

Can I Give My Cat Treats?
Giving your cat a treat from time to time isn’t going to do any harm, but there are a few things to keep in mind. Treats should only be fed occasionally. They should not be a steady diet for your cat, because they lack the proper proportion of basic nutrients a cat requires to maintain its health. A rule of thumb is not to let treats exceed 10 to 15 percent of the cat’s daily diet. Also, some foods should be avoided entirely. Although raw meat is an excellent source of many nutrients, it is not recommended as a food or a treat for cats, because it is a potential vehicle for toxoplasmosis and other infectious diseases. Some cats that have consumed canned fish products meant for humans have developed deadly neurological disorders. Also, milk is not generally recommended as a treat for cats. Adult cats fed a nutritious diet don’t need milk, and many cats are lactose-intolerant, which means that the lactose in milk and milk products can cause stomach upset.

What Else Do I Need to Consider?
Environmental conditions can affect a cat’s eating habits. For example, heavy-traffic areas, noise, the presence of other animals, dirty food containers, or nearby litter boxes can deter a cat from eating. Try to be sensitive to your cat’s eating behavior, and make necessary adjustments to provide optimum feeding conditions.

Also remember that cats vary greatly in characteristics such as the amount of food they need to consume to ensure optimal weight and health maintenance. Be careful not to overfeed your cat. Overfeeding can lead to obesity, which is the most common nutrition-related problem in cats. An overweight cat is prone to other health problems such as diabetes and arthritis. Commercial pet foods formulated to help cats lose weight are available. Ask your veterinarian to help you determine the ideal body weight for your cat, and follow your veterinarian’s suggestions on how to adjust your cat’s diet to attain and maintain that weight.

Although many cats are content to eat a single product, some cats may develop finicky eating habits and become very selective about what foods they’ll accept. Feeding your cat two or three different cat foods provides flavor variety, and may prevent your cat from developing an exclusive preference for a single food, so that if a medical condition dictates a change in diet, your cat may have an easier time adjusting.

Also remember that not eating can lead to serious medical problems in cats. This is true for sick cats that lack an appetite, for cats on a diet, and for the finicky cat that refuses to eat. A veterinarian should examine any cat that refuses to eat and is losing weight.

Diets for Obese Cats

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Diet Tips for Obese CatsOne of the major concerns for all cat owners to watch out for is their cat gaining too much weight. Obesity in pets is becoming more visible and as a good cat owner you want to take care of your cat’s health. This article will provide some tips for obese cats.

You may be asking why I should be concerned about my cat being overweight. For starters, you may not know which foods are best to feed your cat and how many treats you should give your pet during training sessions. Diet tips for obese cats will provide you with this information so you can have a healthier pet.

The following topics will be covered: why is obesity dangerous for pets, how can I know if my cat is overweight, facts about feeding cats, establish a regular feeding time, and how are treats different from normal cat food.

Why Is Obesity Dangerous For Cats?
Just as obesity is dangerous for humans, it is also for cats. The extra pounds can weight in on their cardiovascular and respiratory systems, exacerbating existing conditions and may cause new ones. Fat pets are prone to injury, more at risk in surgery, and open to other conditions such as diabetes. A list of additional problems is; decreased stamina, diminished immune function, and digestive disorders are consequences of an overweight cat.

If your cat is severely overweight it can diminish your pet’s quality of life. It is important that you, as the owner, control your pet’s intake of food and treats.

How Can I Know If My Cat Is Overweight?
Here is an interesting fact, between 25 to 40 percent of cats are obese or are likely to become obese. So, what can I do about it? Good question. So, here is how you can take action now:

Monitor your cat’s weight. They don’t get overweight overnight. Keep a close eye on them. Be sure to have your pet exercise daily. Failure to keep your pets weight under control may cause your cat to be a higher risk for diabetes, arthritis and other health related conditions.

Here is how you can know if your pet is overweight when you gently press down as you are petting her. If you are not able to feel her ribs, consider taking her to the veterinarian for an exam. When any underlying medical causes are ruled out, your veterinarian can help you develop a proper nutrition and exercise program to remove the excess weight.

Facts About Feeding Cats
Just as humans require a healthy balanced diet, so do cats. As a cat owner, you can provide your pet with the best quality cat food that has all of the nutrients your pet requires together with a high level of palatability. Do not add any human food to your cat’s diet. Doing so may upset the nutrients of a balanced diet.

Milk. Here is a little known fact; milk is not a substitute for water. As a food, it’s incomplete and does not provide a balanced diet. Milk contains lactose and requires lactase to break it down in the pet’s intestine. Too much milk can cause diarrhea.

Raw eggs. Repeatedly giving your cat raw eggs can cause a deficiency of the vitamin biotin which can cause a loss of hair, dermatitis, and poor growth. Restrict this item in your pet’s diet.

Raw fish. Some raw fish can cause a deficiency of the vitamin thiamine. Signs of this vitamin deficiency include anorexia, abnormal posture, weakness, seizures, and even death.

Raw meats. Most cat owners think that giving your cat meat is good for them. Usually raw meat does not contain all of the nutrients for a balanced diet. This must be added. Also, raw meat may contain parasites, and cooked meats can be high in fat and do not contain a proper balanced diet. I would stay away from giving your pet raw meat to eat.

Raw liver. Raw liver fed in large quantities, can cause vitamin A toxicity in cats. Small soft bones, pork chop and chicken bones, should never be given to cats. They may lodge in the cat’s mouth or throat.

Table scraps. Table scraps will not provide your pet with the proper nutrition your pet requires. Best advice is never to feed your cat table scraps. Once you start, it is very difficult to stop. So, don’t start.

Supplements. Supplements are not required when a normal healthy cat is being fed a complete and balanced diet. A balanced diet can be found in the pet food you are feeding your cat. The same is true for additional minerals. You can find this with high quality cat food. Be a good shopper and provide your pet with the best quality cat food so you don’t have to purchase supplements.

Establish a Regular Feeding Time
This is important for your pet’s digestive health and regular bowel movements. The first step is to determine the correct quantity of food required to maintain a healthy weight. Next, is to establish a regular routine time for feeding your pet. Knowing when your cat will be hungry will assist you when you plan training sessions. Part of your pet’s meal will include treats or rewards.

How Are Treats Different From Normal Cat Food?
Everyone one likes to have a treat once in a while. So does your pet. But, what is the difference between a treat and dry cat food? Cat food is higher in nutrition than treats. However, if you want to reward your kitty with a different flavor or texture, than a treat is the ticket. They are like desserts and should be given sparingly.

Cat food is higher in protein and should make up the bulk of your pet’s diet. Some treats can be nutritional, so read the labels before making your selection. If you offer tidbits that are different from their meals, it will add to your cat’s pleasure, making training more successful. This will also help build a strong bond between owner and pet.

Treats should not be more than 10% of your cat’s total diet for the day. You will need to watch out here because giving your pet too much treats can be a cause for obesity.

By following the above diet tips for obese cats will help your pet to stay healthy and have a longer life.

Cat Diets Are Different

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Cats Diets Are Different

Provided by petmd.com

Our wonderful life-supporting planet is home to a remarkably diverse and complex spectrum of living organisms. And although all living things do share some common traits and similar biochemical pathways and cellular functions, there are many notable differences that make each creature stand out from the crowd. So even with the thread of sameness joining all the planets’ life forms, diversity and difference makes us take note of each creature’s uniqueness. Maybe that’s why the cat is America’s favorite house pet … cats are different!

This extraordinary four-legged feline has, for all of recorded time, evoked wonder and surprise, superstition and affection, damnation, and deification. From pharaohs to philosophers to paupers, the companionship of and affection for cats has been a result of the cat’s unique ability to make us humans gaze in awe and admiration.

Eons of special environmental circumstances have forced the cat to evolve some interesting and individualized biochemical activities. Let’s take a peek at how unique the cat is inside, in that mysterious universe of liver and kidneys and glands and fluids where a million chemical reactions are going about their biological business in silent obscurity. And to make our little peek at the inner workings of the cat more interesting, let’s contrast a few of the cat’s biological activities to those of our next most favorite companion the dog.

In so many obvious ways, cats look, act, react, and respond differently than dogs. You never see a cat happily wag its tail; a dog’s reflexes are quick, a cat’s reflexes are incredible; dogs are doers, cats are watchers. These differences are easily noted by simple observation. Now let’s explore some of the unseen microscopic world of the cat — the invisible world of metabolism and chemistry that is just as real as those traits we can see with our eyes.

To begin with we must get a good grip on two terms … carnivore and omnivore. The cat is considered by scientists to be a strict carnivore and the dog is considered to be an omnivore. Both species are in the Class Mammalia and the Order Carnivora, but here’s the difference: The cat cannot sustain its life unless it consumes meat in some form. Dogs, however, are able to survive on plant material alone; they do not have to consume meat. But always keep in mind that dogs do best and by nature are primarily meat-eaters. Just because by definition they are omnivores (can digest and utilize plant and animal food sources) does not mean that plant material alone makes a good source of nutrition for the dog. Far too many dogs have been undernourished by those cheap grain-based dog foods. And grain-based cat foods are even worse!

So a good way to think of it is that cats are carnivores, dogs are omnivores, but they both have evolved as hunters of other animals in keeping with their nature as meat-eaters.

There are numerous chemical substances that are required for a cat to remain alive. These substances, some very complex chemical molecules and some very basic and simple, must be provided along the internal chemical reaction pathways at all times. Like other living plants and animals, the cat can manufacture most of its own required substances within its own body’s chemical factory. For example, Vitamin C is a requirement for life sustaining processes for us Mammalia, and dogs and cats make plenty of their own within their body’s chemical factory — the liver. We humans don’t make enough within our body chemical factory … so to keep ourselves alive we have to find some Vitamin C already made (preformed) somewhere in our environment, gather or capture it, then eat it. Without the Vitamin C, we’d die.

Dogs and cats don’t have to worry about gathering, capturing, and eating other preformed Vitamin C. They don’t care where their next grapefruit will come from because they make all the Vitamin C they need inside their own personal chemical factory.

On the other hand, there are numerous nutrients and chemicals that cats need that they can only acquire if they eat animal-derived tissues. That is, they need to prey on other living creatures that do make the essential chemicals that cats don’t! Out of necessity, the cat has evolved ways to hunt down, capture and eat this prey in order to “borrow” the prey’s nutrients.

Outlined below are just a few of the unseen, but still very real biochemical differences between cats and dogs. Look these over and you will be even more convinced that cats are different!

Vitamin A
Also called retinol, this vitamin is required at the cellular level by both cats and dogs.

Cats – Process little or no enzymes that will break down the plant-produced carotenoids. Must eat preformed active Vitamin A (that is, Vitamin A that already has been converted from carotenoids to its active form by some other creature such as a mouse or rabbit). Here’s a good example of why cats are called strict carnivores … they need to eat some other animal in order to “borrow” its active Vitamin A!

Dogs – Have enzymes in the lining of the intestine that can break down plant carotenoids and convert these into active Vitamin A.

Niacin
An essential B vitamin (essential means must be eaten, can’t be made inside the body’s chemical factory.)

Cats – Can obtain Niacin only by eating the preformed vitamin. Cannot convert Tryptophan to niacin.

Dogs – Obtain Niacin in two ways. One is by converting a dietary amino acid call Tryptophan into Niacin, and the other way is by eating preformed Niacin.

Arginine
A building block for proteins, it is an amino acid. Arginine is vital to many of the animal’s internal chemical factory’s functions. No Arginine and the entire factory goes on strike!

Cats – Are extremely sensitive to even a single meal deficient in Arginine and are unable to make their own Arginine within their chemical factory. Cats need lots of protein, and Arginine is involved in aiding the elimination of the protein waste products so the wastes don’t pollute the whole factory!

Dogs – Are not very sensitive to low levels of Arginine in their diets and produce enzymes internally that can aid production of Arginine.

Taurine
An amino acid that is not built into proteins, but is distributed throughout most body tissues. Taurine is important for healthy functioning of the heart, retina, bile fluid and certain aspects of reproduction.

Cats – Must eat preformed Taurine. And since it is not found in plant tissues, cats must consume meat to obtain Taurine. Therefore, Taurine is essential in the diets of cats. Here again, meat has to be supplied to the factory so the Taurine can be extracted for its many uses.

Dogs – Make their own in their internal chemical factory.

Felinine
It is a compound made from a sulfur amino acid (SAA) called Cysteine.

Cats – Have a much higher requirement for SAA than other Mammalia and are the only creatures to manufacture the Felinine chemical. Felinine’s role in the overall function of the chemical factory is unknown, but like most factories whose wastes generate offensive odors, any Felinine present in the male cat’s urine alerts the neighbors that the factory is up and runnin’!

Dogs – Don’t know and don’t care what this stuff is.

Dietary Protein
Cats – If fed a perfectly balanced and 100-percent digestible protein in a diet, the cat will use 20 percent of that protein for growth metabolism and 12 percent for maintenance. Here’s any easy way to say it … cats need more protein in their diets than dogs do.

Dogs – If fed a perfectly balanced and 100-percent digestible protein in a diet, the dog will use 12 percent of that protein for growth metabolism and only 4 percent of that protein for maintenance. Here’s an easy way to say this … dogs need less protein in their diets than cats.

Arachidonic Acid
An essential fatty acid that plays a vital role in fat utilization and energy production.

Cats – Cannot make their own Arachidonic Acid even in the presence of adequate linoleic acid. The reason cats can’t make Arachidonic Acid from linoleic acid is because the cat’s chemical factory (liver) contains no delta-6-desaturase enzyme to convert linoleic to Arachidonic. Tell your cat owning friends about this one. Tell ‘em about the cat’s lack of liver delta-6-desaturase enzyme and they’ll think you’ve got a Ph.D. in biochemistry!

Dogs – Can make their own Arachidonic Acid if they consume enough linoleic acid by eating proper fats. Therefore, we can say that Arachidonic Acid is not an essential fatty acid for dogs.

Fasting and Starvation
Cats – Do not mobilize fat reserves for energy very efficiently and, in fact, break down non-fatty body tissues for energy. This upsets the internal chemical factory and can lead to a very dangerous feline disorder called hepatic lipidosis. Never put a fat cat on a starvation diet, it might just put the entire factory out of business.

Dogs – Can tolerate prolonged fasts and utilize fat reserves for energy.

So, there you have an insight into some of the invisible goings-on in our friend the cat. It should be obvious that a high quality, meat-based diet is imperative to a cat’s wellness. There are no vegetarian diets for cats! And feeding your cat a homemade concoction of meat may be a disaster. Often, the best recourse is to find a good quality meat-based diet for your feline.