A healthy diet can help prevent these diseases: image via vet-pet-health-advice.com
Chances are you are feeding your cat junk food. I'm sure it's not intentional. Maybe you don't know that the dry foods with the fish shapes and bright colors are like cocaine to your cat. A few bites of his cat kibble will make his blood sugar jump sky high, because he does not have the enzymes necessary to digest starch. It's BAD for him, and it causes all kinds of illnesses, long term.
The optimal food for your cat is the one that mirrors his ancestral, pre-domesticated, diet - the one he ate in the wild. That means a diet rich in protein and low in grains. Cats don't eat grains in the wild, nor do they eat gluten, by-products, meal, artificial coloring, flavoring, or preservatives, yet most cat foods contain all of these as their primary ingredients. Ideally a cat diet, whether it is wet or dry food, or the combination of both, should contain 75 percent protein and 25 percent fruits and vegetables. And these foods should be approved for humans.
Wet, home-cooked or canned, should make up at least half of a cat's diet, because cats do not tend to be water drinkers and wet food satisfies his need for moisture like his ancestors had when they ate live mice and fish. To see the foods, wet and dry, that contain the best ingredients for your cats, visit The Top 5 Cat Foods, which I recently compiled.
Though these cat foods are dry, their canned food counterparts are equally bad for your cat's health.
1. 9 Lives Cat Food
(Not with this food!)
9 Lives Cat FoodIngredients: Whole ground corn, poultry by-product meal, corn gluten meal, soybean meal, whole wheat, meat & bone meal, animal fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), salmon, chicken, beef, animal digest, salt, phosphoric acid, choline chloride, titanium dioxide, potassium chloride, vitamins (vitamin E supplement, niacin supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, vitamin A supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, menadione sodium bisulfite complex, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement), taurine, minerals (ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, manganous oxide, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite), red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, potassium sorbate (used as a preservative), BHA (used as a preservative), blue 1, rosemary extract.
2. Fancy Feast (Filet Mignon Flavor) Cat Food
The 'Filet Mignon Flavor' is a dead ringer for 'fake food.'
Fancy Feast Cat FoodIngredients: Ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal, meat and bone meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), soybean meal, animal liver flavor, phosphoric acid, calcium carbonate, salt, potassium chloride, oceanfish meal, albacore tuna meal, salmon meal, yellowfin tuna meal, crab meal, dried seaweed, choline chloride, taurine, zinc sulfate, added color (Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, Blue 2), ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, calcium phosphate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.
3. Friskies Cat Food
What in this list resembles food?
Friskies Cat FoodIngredients: Ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal, meat and bone meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), soybean meal, animal liver flavor, phosphoric acid, calcium carbonate, salt, potassium chloride, oceanfish meal, albacore tuna meal, salmon meal, yellowfin tuna meal, crab meal, dried seaweed, choline chloride, taurine, zinc sulfate, added color (Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, Blue 2), ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, calcium phosphate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, copper sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.
4. Kit 'N Kaboodle Cat Food
The whole Kit 'N Kaboodle, but most of it ends in 'ide,' 'ate,' or 'ine.'
Kit 'N Kaboodle Cat FoodIngredients: Ground yellow corn, corn gluten meal, soybean meal, meat and bone meal, beef tallow preserved with mixed-tocopherols (source of Vitamin E), oceanfish meal, turkey by-product meal, phosphoric acid, salt, brewers dried yeast, animal digest, potassium chloride, tetra sodium pyrophosphate, choline chloride, calcium carbonate, taurine, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, added color (Red 40, Blue 2, Yellow 5, Yellow 6), glyceryl monostearate, L-Alanine, manganese sulfate, vitamin supplements (E, A, B-12, D-3), niacin, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, citric acid, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.
5. Purina One Cat Food
This is Purina's mid-priced food. At least chicken is the first ingredient, but I rate everything below that bad for your cat.
Purina One Cat FoodIngredients: Chicken, brewers rice, corn gluten meal, poultry by-product meal, wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), whole grain corn, fish meal, soy protein isolate, animal liver flavor, phosphoric acid, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, caramel color, salt, choline chloride, taurine, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.
6. Science Diet Cat Food
Seen this in your vet's office? Its ingredients are just as bad as the others...
Science Diet Cat FoodChicken By-Product Meal, Ground Whole Grain Corn, Brewers Rice, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Liver Flavor, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Sulfate, Choline Chloride, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Iodized Salt, Vitamin E Supplement, Taurine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid, Beta-Carotene, Rosemary Extract.
7. Whiskas Cat Food
Five main ingredients: corn, meal, meal, fat, and flavor.Whiskas Cat Food
Ingredients: Ground Yellow Corn, Chicken By-product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (Preserved with BHA/BHT), Natural Poultry Flavor, Wheat Flour, Rice, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Turkey By-product Meal, Caramel Color, Calcium Carbonate, dl-Methionine, Taurine, Trace Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Potassium Iodide), White Fish Meal, Vitamins (dl-Alpha Tocopherol).
It's worth it to buy your cat good quality food, one that will make her healthy, give her energy, and make her coat shine. She'll thank you for it, believe me. See the Top 5 Cat Foods now.
sources: Pet Food Talk, Pet Food Ratings
That's the buzz for today!