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<\/p>\nIt is crucial to be aware of the ingredients the food contains<\/p>\n
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It is convenient to buy readily made foods. Although always available, durable and containing the nutrients cats need, as their manufacturers assure, this kind of foods are not without their faults.<\/p>\n
\nIn addition to the preservatives and enhancers, a significant problem of the prepared foods are the products they are made of and the thermal treatment used for food preparation. Labels such as \u2018balanced products\u2019 may simply mean that by-products and cheap meat substitutes with extra vitamins were used. That\u2019s why, in search of quality prepared foods, we should ask ourselves the following questions:<\/p>\n
\nFor both, homemade and prepared food, you should take into account the products that are recommended and not suitable for cats. The nutrition for prepared foods should be the same as that of the homemade food. When choosing food at the shop, the point is to be aware of the ingredients the food contains. If the description on the label doesn\u2019t give the precise quantities of the ingredients, like it\u2019s usually the case, you can figure them out from the order in which they are listed. The higher in the list is an ingredient, the more is its content. General definitions like \u2018meat and derived products\u2019 aren\u2019t a good sign. The meat and its exact kind must be mentioned. However, the definition \u2018vegetable protein\u2019 might include industrial waste products like chopped nut shells or soy-residue. Expressions like \u2018animal protein\u2019 could imply animal residues like hooves, fur, feathers or claws. If it\u2019s indicated meat content is only 15% it\u2019s not only insufficient for cats, but we can hardly expect anything good in respect of the rest of the ingredients.<\/p>\n
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\nCommercial categories. Premium and super-premium<\/strong><\/p>\n \nYou better entirely rule out the so-called \u2018economic class\u2019. Most of the issues described above concern the foods of this category at most. You can certainly read the phrase \u2018economic class\u2019 on very few labels. The other main categories of prepared foods that are being sold at the shops are usually labelled as \u2018premium\u2019 and \u2018super-premium\u2019. Such labels do not precisely describe the product, aren\u2019t related to a shared common system, as it might appear at first glance, and reflect merely the views of the particular company on the sort and quality of the ingredients, as well as how it decided to structure its own supply. If you read the contents of the \u2018premium\u2019 foods, you\u2019ll notice that many of them contain a lot of ingredients, that are not recommended for cats. You\u2019ll surely find more options for acceptable ingredients and friendly methods of preparation among the \u2018super-premium\u2019 foods and the industry pursuit of responsible attitude towards the environment, grazing animals and bio-agriculture is recounted in the \u2018holistic\u2019 class of foodstuffs. <\/p>\n \nDry and wet food<\/strong><\/p>\n Avoid giving your cat different types of prepared food, as well as simultaneously dry and wet food, whether or not they are produced by the same manufacturer. Dry food requires a different functioning of the stomach glands. Thus, the change-over from one type of nutrition to another must be done little by little, by gradually adding new food, particularly between granules and natural food. This may take weeks. Due to illness or old age, some cats can become raw meat intolerant, so you must switch to boiled meat or give prepared food purchased in shops for practical reasons.<\/p>\n \nPrepared foods have different quality, but there are two factors present in the dry food which make canned food a better choice<\/span>:<\/p>\n \nCats must take more water from the food itself. The water content in the natural cat food is over 70 percent and in the dry food circa 10 percent. If you feed your cat with granules, you have to make sure it always has water available and check whether it drinks enough of it.<\/p>\n \nAdding water to the dry food is also possible, but it quickly gets bad and becomes unattractive to cats. Once open, the food can be stored in a jar for up to one day and if granulated, kept closed in its package. Avoid buying dry bulk foods, as they are susceptible to contamination when stored in open containers and bags having direct contact with the environment.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \nMarketing myths<\/strong><\/p>\n \nGranular food does not clean your cat\u2019s teeth, nor protect them against tartar. There is no objective data demonstrating positive effect on cat\u2019s teeth.<\/p>\n \nThere are no specific diet differences depending on the breed. The basic cat foodstuffs are the same. Cats have rather individual tastes, especially at different ages. They vary in their willingness to move around and thus in a need to eat food with different caloric value. These differences should be taken into account when choosing foods that work well for your cat.\u00a0<\/p>\n The suggestion that cats eat only a few types of food isn\u2019t entirely correct. In fact, their food range is quite wide. What we actually offer to our cats are the foodstuffs that are suitable for us, humans. Our diet for instance doesn\u2019t contain insects, reptiles or rodents and we have subjective, aesthetic and purely practical reasons to provide our cats similar foodstuffs. Habits play a crucial role too. Often domestic cats don\u2019t eat the prey they caught but rather bring it along to their owners.<\/p>\n <\/span>There is a difference between wild, stray and domestic cats. Although cats are preserved to the largest extent compared to other domesticated animals, the differences between wild and domestic cats are still obvious.<\/p>\n Life expectancy of domestic cats is 10 \u2013 15 years, in comparison to 3 \u2013 4 years of the street cats. Nutrition is among the main reasons for this difference. Feeding your cat properly would save you a lot of mutual troubles. That\u2019s how you help your cat live a longer and finer life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \nReferences<\/strong><\/p>\n Lisa A. Pierson, DVM, Learn How To Read a Pet Food Ingredient Labels, https:\/\/catinfo.org\/#Learn_How_To_Read_a_Pet_Food_Ingredient_Label<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n
\nThe quality of the prepared foods is primarily influenced by the quantity and the type of meat, which content must be indicated on the package. The meat content of edible offal and by-products isn\u2019t harmful, but it isn\u2019t a complete meat substitute. \u0420otatoes and maize are not recommended. Flavorings and sweeteners can cause addiction of cats to certain type of prepared food and ignoring all other options.<\/p>\n\n