How to choose the best cat food: veterinary advice

Pets are convenient and profitable to feed the finished product. This saves owners time, and animals like such food. But today, a huge number of different products are presented on the shelves of veterinary pharmacies and pet stores. Unfortunately, not all of it is useful and safe. What kind of food to choose for a cat, so as not to harm her health?

Cat Feed Classes

Pet food is divided into 3 main classes:

Economy - they are cheaper, because they usually use the worst quality raw materials or instead of meat there are a lot of vegetables and cornmeal, as well as flavorings and flavorings. Such a product should not be taken;

Premium is a little better and more expensive than an economy class.

Superpremium - it is believed that the most high-quality and expensive product that is not the same for different groups of animals: puppies and adults, elderly, active, large and small, etc. Super-premium cat food is usually not sold in the supermarket, but in pet stores and specialized pet stores. The most popular brands: Royal Canin, Pro Plan, Hill’s.

Recently, the ultra-premium classes, holistic super premium, biologically appropriate and gourmet classes have been separately distinguished separately in the form of canned goods, supposedly for gourmets. The first three claim to be even better than the super premium. However, there are no clear boundaries between them, nor any criteria that will help determine exactly which class the feed belongs to. So this is rather a marketing ploy.

As you can see, the class indicated on the packaging says little about it. Therefore, when choosing animal feed, you should look at the ingredients of which it consists.

Read the composition of cat food

First of all, you need to understand what is the basis of the product - vegetable proteins and carbohydrates (cereals, potatoes, legumes) or animal protein (meat, fish and poultry). Of course, the second is more useful for all animals.

Therefore, in the best food for cats in large quantities (at the very beginning in the column “Composition”) there should be meat (beef, lamb, rabbit), poultry (chicken, turkey), fish (salmon), offal (liver, heart). Moreover, it is necessary to indicate which meat and offal are part of the composition, and even better with their percentage. Further, the composition should list vegetables, cereals and legumes (no more than 25-45%), vitamins and minerals, extracts of herbs and vegetable oils are allowed.

Ideally, food for animals should be free from flavors, artificial colors, antioxidants (e.g. E321, E320), preservatives, cellulose, sugar. And no products of dubious origin (like ground skin and turkey flour)! If the food smells strongly and has an attractive multi-colored appearance (granules of yellow, red, green shades), then its quality must be called into question. In addition, the shorter the list of ingredients, the better.

Individual selection of pet food

Currently, there is a ready-made dry and wet food for cats. There is no fundamental difference between them. Choose the option that your mustachioed animal likes best. And, of course, carefully read the composition.

And pay attention to the age of the pet, its breed, type of coat, health status. Please note that food for sterilized and neutered cats is different from normal. To prevent the development of an urolithiasis in an animal deprived of child-bearing function, feed it with specialized food and do not forget to leave clean and fresh water.

To understand whether the food you’ve chosen is suitable for the cat, observe its behavior and evaluate its appearance. The optimal and constant body weight, good physical condition and sufficient activity, shiny coat, healthy teeth, regular and normal stool testify to proper feeding. Feed your pet only quality food!