whats the best food to feed her
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
What to feed a 5 year old cat?
- Thread starter belia and mari
- Start Date
Hi 
Be ready for a lot of different response for this question :lol3:
IMHO, a raw diet is the best diet for a cat.... simply because they are obligate carnivores, and made to eat and digest meat. Every part of their digestive system, starting from their mouths, is made to process meat. They completely lack the ability to digest vegetables and grains - that doesn't do anything for them, and can be detrimental for their health long term....
A lot of foods out there are made with quite a bit, if not a lot of plant based ingredients..... which is not good for a kitty.
Also, cats do get the majority of their water from the food they eat - and that is essential for their urinary tract and kidney health - so if not raw, an all wet diet would be best.
So, here is my opinion:
1- Raw
2- Grain free wet
3- Wet
4- Wet and Dry
last, Dry..... if all possible grain free, with the least amount of carbs possible.
Here is some reading on the subject: Feeding your cat - The Basics of Feline Nutrition
Be ready for a lot of different response for this question :lol3:
IMHO, a raw diet is the best diet for a cat.... simply because they are obligate carnivores, and made to eat and digest meat. Every part of their digestive system, starting from their mouths, is made to process meat. They completely lack the ability to digest vegetables and grains - that doesn't do anything for them, and can be detrimental for their health long term....
A lot of foods out there are made with quite a bit, if not a lot of plant based ingredients..... which is not good for a kitty.
Also, cats do get the majority of their water from the food they eat - and that is essential for their urinary tract and kidney health - so if not raw, an all wet diet would be best.
So, here is my opinion:
1- Raw
2- Grain free wet
3- Wet
4- Wet and Dry
last, Dry..... if all possible grain free, with the least amount of carbs possible.
Here is some reading on the subject: Feeding your cat - The Basics of Feline Nutrition
Cats are obligate carnivores as Carolina posted. Waltham Center for Pet Nutrition suggests an 80% wet to a 20% dry kibble diet. Wet being canned cat food. That is the ideal diet Waltham suggests for your cat. There are many factors involved in the purchase of pet food. Most people on this forum have only one concern and that is the health of the cat. That said, there are also a few fanatics so use the information you want to and discard the rest.
Which kind of diet you put your cat on is one that best suits your lifestyle and budget. You will have some that will tell you an all kibble diet is poison and horrible for your cat. This is simply not true. One issue with an all kibble diet is hydration. Cats are not wired like dogs are in that they run to the water bowl for a big sloppy drink
Cats tend to get their moisture from the food they eat. That said; if your cat is drinking plenty of water an all kibble diet will be just fine for your cat as long as the kibble is of good quality. The downside to kibble is that it is calorie/carb dense. If the cat's all kibble diet is not monitored, obesity is a common side effect. Obesity can lead to diabetes etc. If the cat is not hydrating itself and on an all kibble diet there are many possible side effects, UTIs being one of the most common.
To answer your original question; My cats have all done well on Nutro products. Nutro Natural Choice wet food is the major part of their wet diet. I will also buy other premium wet foods to give them a variety of flavors and textures to choose from. Their kibble is Nutro Max Indoor roasted chicken. This is the only kibble they will eat and have done well on it. I do not switch their kibble around but do switch their wet around. You can find more info on this brand here http://www.nutro.com/natural-cat-food.aspx I try to stay as close to the 80/20 rule as possible. I have 4 cats and I do free feed their kibble but it is measured so I know pretty much what they are eating. I do not suggest free feeding an all kibble diet. The cat will most likely over eat and become overweight, which we don't want
If you choose an all kibble diet, you might want to do scheduled feedings in order to maintain the cat's weight and be sure to watch the water intake.
Personally I have no problem with any diet a cat is on be it the wet/dry, all wet, all dry or raw. As long as the diet you chose for your cat is of good quality and your cat is getting proper nutrition you should have no problem deciding which is best for you and your kitty.
And don't forget the kitty treats. Mine love feline Greenies
Info can be found here http://www.greenies.com/en_US/Products/FelineGreenies.aspx Best of luck to you! You can always email me if you need more information.
Which kind of diet you put your cat on is one that best suits your lifestyle and budget. You will have some that will tell you an all kibble diet is poison and horrible for your cat. This is simply not true. One issue with an all kibble diet is hydration. Cats are not wired like dogs are in that they run to the water bowl for a big sloppy drink
To answer your original question; My cats have all done well on Nutro products. Nutro Natural Choice wet food is the major part of their wet diet. I will also buy other premium wet foods to give them a variety of flavors and textures to choose from. Their kibble is Nutro Max Indoor roasted chicken. This is the only kibble they will eat and have done well on it. I do not switch their kibble around but do switch their wet around. You can find more info on this brand here http://www.nutro.com/natural-cat-food.aspx I try to stay as close to the 80/20 rule as possible. I have 4 cats and I do free feed their kibble but it is measured so I know pretty much what they are eating. I do not suggest free feeding an all kibble diet. The cat will most likely over eat and become overweight, which we don't want
Personally I have no problem with any diet a cat is on be it the wet/dry, all wet, all dry or raw. As long as the diet you chose for your cat is of good quality and your cat is getting proper nutrition you should have no problem deciding which is best for you and your kitty.
And don't forget the kitty treats. Mine love feline Greenies
Last edited:
I also vote raw. That is what my cats eat, and they are doing fantastic so far.
My list would be the same as Carolina's.
My list would be the same as Carolina's.
Absolutely, no doubt about it.
I'm not sure what Mike means by this, but most of us certainly are fanatics about our cats' health. There is a lot of information and research available on what the best diet is for a cat, and it is all open to debate.
And I don't think there is anyone on this site that will disagree with this statement! But armed with information on what is best for your cat can help you seek solutions that fit your lifestyle and budget.
And this opinion is as valid as the opinion that kibble is poison.
The fact is that cats are obligate carnivores. This means they have no dietary requirement for carbohydrates. This report, "Estimation of the dietary nutrient profile of free-roaming feral cats: possible implications for nutrition of domestic cats," (Plantinga et al. 2011) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22005434 published last October, is an analysis of the nutritional content of feral cat diets - 27 studies, 6,666 data points. And the cats consumed approximately 2% carbs - all were incidental ingestion, meaning the stomach contents of consumed prey animals.Cats are designed to get their nutrition from raw meat - they lack many of the digestive enzymes necessary to derive any nutritional value from plant-based sources of nutrition. For instance, cats do not possess the ability to synthesize vitamin A from its building blocks, one being beta carotene. Carrots in cat foods is filler. Beta Carotene in cat foods adds color. Period.
There are VERY few kibble products that have fewer than 20% carbohydrates. In an analysis of 48 kibble products, I found four that have less than 10% carbs. And one of those is an air-dried raw meat food. So you are definitely correct: kibble is typically carb dense. Despite this, it can sustain life, no doubt. But It is not a species-appropriate food for a cat, if that matters to the pet parent.
Last edited:
Absolutely, no doubt about it.
I'm not sure what Mike means by this, but most of us certainly are fanatics about our cats' health. There is a lot of information and research available on what the best diet is for a cat, and it is all open to debate.
And I don't think there is anyone on this site that will disagree with this statement! But armed with information on what is best for your cat can help you seek solutions that fit your lifestyle and budget.
And this opinion is as valid as the opinion that kibble is poison.
The fact is that cats are obligate carnivores. This means they have no dietary requirement for carbohydrates. This report, "Estimation of the dietary nutrient profile of free-roaming feral cats: possible implications for nutrition of domestic cats," (Plantinga et al. 2011) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22005434 published last October, is an analysis of the nutritional content of feral cat diets - 27 studies, 6,666 data points. And the cats consumed approximately 2% carbs - all were incidental ingestion, meaning the stomach contents of consumed prey animals.Cats are designed to get their nutrition from raw meat - they lack many of the digestive enzymes necessary to derive any nutritional value from plant-based sources of nutrition. For instance, cats do not possess the ability to synthesize vitamin A from its building blocks, one being beta carotene. Carrots in cat foods is filler. Beta Carotene in cat foods adds color. Period.
There are VERY few kibble products that have fewer than 20% carbohydrates. In an analysis of 48 kibble products, I found four that have less than 10% carbs. And one of those is an air-dried raw meat food. So you are definitely correct: kibble is typically carb dense. Despite this, it can sustain life, no doubt. But It is not a species-appropriate food for a cat, if that matters to the pet parent.
To all that..... Furthermore..... The Waltham Center for Pet Nutrition, to which NutroMike refers to it on his post, lets not forget, is owned by no other than Pedigree PetFoods, a subsidiary of Mars, Inc. Coincidentally, one of Mar's brands is no other than Nutro, for which Nutromike works for.
The Waltham Center for Pet Nutrition does contract research for some of the Mars and Pedigree Brands, which includes:
Royal Canin
Pedigree
Nutro
Whiskas
Banfield
Cesar
Greenies
Sheba
Mars Veterinary
Optimum
I would keep that in mind..... :nod:
Last edited:
Well, I think 80% wet food and 20% dry food is perfectly acceptable, and considering most owner's need for convenience and economy, the most realistic. Probably not "best", though.
Oh, absolutely.... not disputing this in any way..... Certainly far better than an all kibble diet :nod:
But, I have to say, you can feed raw for less than you spend on an 80% wet 20% kibbles.... even when you are talking about Whyskas and Friskies.... And I am talking about commercial Raw, not even Home made.... (If that's the route one wants to go, of course but is afraid of budget issues)
LDG put together a cost comparison that was really quite revealing :nod:
Last edited:
