5 Tips For Choosing A Healthy Cat Food Brand

Illustration of tips for choosing cat food (Unsplash/Abeer Zaki)

YOGYAKARTA – There are so many choices of cat food brands. Therefore, you must be careful about what nutrients your cat needs so that they can choose the healthiest food. For cat food, protein sources other than meat are needed. In addition, ingredients that are low in starch are recommended by the Association of American Feed Control Officers (AAFCO).

As carnivores, cats need animal protein in their diet to get enough nutrition. Cats also cannot efficiently synthesize the amino acid taurine from other nutrients except protein sources. Well, taurine is only found in animal protein. That means, it is not healthy for cats to be fed vegetarian food. To be more observant in choosing cat food, here are tips that you can follow.

1. Sufficient basic nutritional needs

As explained above, cats need a source of animal protein that contains taurine. If they lack taurine, they can develop serious heart muscle disease, also known as dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

According to the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), food safety, including for cats, is enforced. Manufacturers have selected the materials to be packaged in packs or cans on the recommendation of AAFCO. But sometimes nutritional adequacy is often misunderstood. Adequate nutrition needs to be adapted to the growth of cats from children to adults. So, to choose healthy food for cats, adjust it according to the cat's age. Choose food for kittens if they are still in their infancy and choose adult food when the anabul is an adult.

Illustration of tips for choosing cat food (iStockphoto)

2. Materials that need attention

In recent years, many pet food companies have listed ingredients on packaging. Written material in order of most to least. Some products that use meat as the main ingredient are usually more moist and add weight. However, some producing companies do not use meat and chicken ingredients. Another ingredient that is good for maintaining joint health is glucosamine.

It should be avoided if you include starch ingredients, including non-gluten corn starch, at the beginning of the composition. Because this is likely to be less of a protein source. Also pay close attention to the writing of protein ingredients, if it is made from fish meal, meat flour, or chicken flour, it is better to choose something else that is processed directly from fresh protein sources.

3. Canned food and dry food

There are two popular types of cat food, namely wet food which is packaged in cans and dry food which is packaged in closed packages. Which is better between the two? It turns out that both of them can provide cat nutrition. When giving wet food, cat owners can help the cat increase body fluids because it is 70 percent water. While dry food, can not be a risk to the cat's teeth.

That is, which one can better be adapted to the needs of the cat. If your cat has kidney disease, you can provide wet food because it can help clear urine. But it needs to be balanced with cleaning his teeth. In contrast to dry food, you need to be selective in choosing ingredients that are nutritious and low in starch.

Illustration of tips for choosing cat food (iStockphoto)

4. Grain free or contains grains

In the regulation of nutrition for cats, AAFCO does not regulate which is more recommended. Whether it contains grains or grain free, depends on the diet that your beloved cat needs to make at home. Diets that are deficient in protein or protein in recent years have something to do with grain-free diets.

5. Raw food

Giving raw food is also a diet for cats. Either giving raw food freeze-dried or raw, freeze-dried, may provide a number of benefits. But unfortunately, the benefits of cats eating raw food have not been scientifically documented, as reported by The Spruce Pets, Tuesday, July 5.

In addition to paying attention to the tips above, you can seek advice from a professional veterinarian so that your cat at home gets enough nutrition from their food.