Choosing The Right Cat Food

Q: What are the four critical points to consider before selecting a cat food?

Before selecting a cat food, it is essential to consider these four points: Your cat’s age and size, Breed type, Nutrition, Availability.

Q: What cat breed requires adequate food due to its weight?

Maine Coon cats are three times heavier than other older cats. For this, their cat food has to be adequate to fulfill their weight requirements.

Q: Name the three age phases of a cat.

The three age phases of a cat are: Kitten, Adult, Senior.

Cats are divine creatures. Their physique is superb and dynamic in their way. Fluffy, athletic, and smart, your cat happens to be an ideal partner for your home. While you enjoy one of the greatest times of your life around them, keeping them happy, active, and healthy is another key job on your hands. For this, you need to adopt and apply some key measures such as providing them with a good environment to live in, proper athleticism opportunities and options, and adequate cat food to keep them healthy and full of nutrition. While all the necessities are important, food is the major requirement. It is because if you skip every other activity, your cat may try to adjust and live. However, if you do not provide proper and adequate food necessary for their growth and health, your cat might end up weak. To combat this situation, you must select the right and appropriate food. Selecting the right cat food can be a tedious task considering you have ample options available and appropriate picking has to be choosy. But choose wisely and we’ll help you get started.

Cat Age and Size

To begin with, the right food type for your cat depends on their age and size. Though both matter a lot, they can be merged into one as the age your cat is in. For example, when talking about a kitten, it is evident that the age group refers to the kitten and the size is what an average kitten you see around. Hence, the first and foremost point in selecting the right cat food is your cat’s age. But why is the age factor important in selecting cat food? This is a straightforward question that comes with a simple straightforward answer. The age of your cat describes many things such as the nutritional needs of your cat and the maximum nutrition you can provide it. It is because you must not provide your cat with extra or added nutrients that their age size cannot properly digest and be used to. Hence, prefer cat food that is dedicatedly constituted for your cat’s age. Cat ages and sizes vary between kittens, adults, and seniors and each of them has their specific nutritional requirements. Dedicated cat food is designed in a way to fulfil all those so your cat grows perfectly in each age group or phase. And here’s what each cat age food requirements are:

Kittens

Kittens are small and they need the right food for growth. They are in their development stage so need very specific nutrition. This includes single-source proteins such as turkey, lamb, tuna, chicken, and beef. In essence, the kitten food has to be high in fat, protein, and folic acid.

Adults

An adult cat is different from a kitten in a way that it is more mature. For this, their food has to comply with their growth type. Also, it is the age phase where you need to control your cat’s diet to ensure they do not turn into a chunk with excessive eating. This age phase does not require excessive or high amounts of protein.

Seniors

As per the ASPCA, a cat that is 7 years or older is considered a senior cat. Senior cats have immune systems that are weak or less strong as compared to adults. For this, their food requirements are based on a diet that improves and boosts their immune system. Seniors require food that is rich in minerals, vitamins, and nutrients which are designed to reduce stress on kidneys and that in turn help them avoid kidney diseases.

Breed Type

Though cats differ in age groups as simple there is another area where their differences lie. This is the breed type they belong to. A cat breed helps to describe various things and some things that help us to choose their dedicated cat food. Different breeds around the world have different specifications, specialties, and dislikes. Each cat breed is also prone to diseases and often their body types point towards the food type that will support their body structure such as coat, size, and weight. Hence, picking the right cat food enters the next critical stage of breed-specific cat food. Below we discuss how different cat breed types like to have their cat food specified for the critical item about their breed.

British Shorthair

The British Shorthair cat breed is a cat type that has equally short hair all across the body. This cat breed is known for its heavy weight due to its high number of fur. For this, the primary item of consideration in food for this cat breed has to be the one that will support their body weight.

Siamese Cats

The Siamese Cat is one of the most popular cat breeds across the world. One of their key identification marks is their two-tone body color. This cat breed is known for its long and slender body. For this, the primary item of consideration in food for this cat breed has to be the one that will support their body type.

Maine Coon Cats

Maine Coon cats are heavier than other cats. In comparison, they are around three times heavier than other cats on average. When it comes to food, their diet has to be good enough to support their joints. It is because joints suffer from prone due to heavy weight.

Persian Cats

Persian cats are one of the most loved cat breeds around the world, if not the most. Their fluffiness is what people love the most about them, with a long white coat that feels magnificent itself. To protect their long fur coat, you need to provide them with accurate food.

Nutritional Types

Another key factor in deciding upon your cat’s food choice is the amount of nutrients it comes with. Nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals are essential for a cat’s growth not only for physique and body but also for mental growth and maintenance of their coat. To ensure your cat type gets the right amount of nutrients, it is imperative to consider all the nutrients that your cat must have to lead a healthy life. Below, we break down all the different nutrients and what your cat will need in them.

Protein

Your cat is a born predator. This means they prefer meat in every food type and diet. A good food on the table for them is about more meat and less fat. Meat carries high protein and this is something that amazes your cat the most. Some of the minerals and vitamins that your cat dearly needs include arachidonic acid and taurine, that is only present in meat sources. Hence, proteins have to be high in your cat food.

Carbohydrates

If consumed in high proportions, they turn out to be bad for the health and get stuck up as fats around your cat’s body but if consumed well, carbohydrates turn out healthy. Carbs or carbohydrates are as essential as proteins especially for kitties since they offer good metabolism for them. Carbohydrates in a cat’s food include oats, rice, and potatoes.

Amino Acids

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. In essence, amino acids such as Leucine and Lysine are extremely helpful in the building and maintenance of blood, muscles, bones, skin, coat, and organs. Moreover, it is to be noted that younger cats need more proteins than older cats. Hence, their food has to be constituted to ensure that all proteins are available.

Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamins and minerals happen to be a key source of healthy bones, joints, and teeth. Your cat needs an adequate amount of minerals and vitamins to sustain and maintain their health. For this, you can help your cat by providing them cat foods that contain the following vitamins and minerals as a must.

Vitamin A
Vitamin B
Vitamin C
Magnesium
Sodium
Zinc
Folic acid
B12
Calcium
Phosphorous
Iron

Availability

The type of food you wish to provide your cat with has to be readily available in all conditions. This is one of the most critical points in the selection of the right cat food type since there are things that cat owners often overlook. Your cat needs good food with adequate quantities of proteins, carbs, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. And you have to select the food type that will be ideal for your cat’s breed requirements. However, different brands have different types of cats for the same age group and even breed. What you may do or have been doing is that you obtain a food type and provide your cat for a few months and for any reason you find it difficult to locate it again. The actual trouble it does to your cat is that it disrupts their taste buds and the likeness their metabolism system has developed with it. To counter this problem, always look for the best locally available cat food that has a history of high availability in all conditions. When you do not regard it high, often you will make the mistake of altering the cat food brands considering that the ingredients are the same. But even a change in odor, color, or shape can disrupt your cat’s taste and you may even encounter this problem that your cat does not fully consume the food and other such problems. Hence, always consider availability.

Conclusion

There is ample space in the topic of selection of the right cat food but we highlighted the critical four points you must never overlook. Often pet owners do not know the severity at their hands when it comes to animals and their health needs. Loving to have a pet is one thing but having it is a completely different story. Hence, since food is essential for a cat’s health and growth, never overlook the minute details that are associated with their food selection.