Healthiest protein choices

[ModernCatLady]

Hello!

What would you say is the healthiest protein sources for cats? Currently I feed my kitten canned food: chicken, turkey, rabbit, beef and salmon. I have heard that beef canned food isn't great for cats online so it got me thinking if there are certain kinds of meat/protein I should avoid. Thanks.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

What you want to feed is highly digestible protein. I take this to mean ANIMAL protein, not wheat, corn, rice, that sort of thing.

One of my cats eats quite a bit of beef, which does sound weird because in the wild we don't think of a cat taking down a cow! Wonder why they don't sell mouse cat food? That would make much more sense

Anyway, I think you're doing great feeding him wet food AND giving him such a big variety so he won't grow up to be picky. AND caring enough about his nutrition to ask these questions.

 

[She's a witch]

Rabbit is my favorite as it seems to mimic cats’ natural prey the best. Luckily my cats love it. They also go crazy for lamb and venison, and I feed them that despite it’s red meat and pretty unlikely they would feed on it in the wild. I just make sure to feed some poultry on the day they get the red meat to sort of even things out or compensate. You never know.
I also feed variety but I’ve read useful advice here on this forum: not to feed everything, to leave one or two types of meat out in case the cat ever develops allergy and needs to be fed some novel protein.

 

[lisahe]

What you want to feed is highly digestible protein. I take this to mean ANIMAL protein, not wheat, corn, rice, that sort of thing.

I agree that this is the big thing. IMHO, avoiding foods with ingredients like wheat gluten, pea protein, potato protein, and the like is more important than focusing on one protein over another.

I also feed variety but I’ve read useful advice here on this forum: not to feed everything, to leave one or two types of meat out in case the cat ever develops allergy and needs to be fed some novel protein.

Yes, this is a good thing, too! I very consciously keep rabbit in reserve and there are other proteins that I've never fed, too.

Our vet strongly advises avoiding beef and fish because both have a tendency to be inflammatory. Fish has other downsides, many of which are outlined in this vet-written piece. We feed our cats very little fish. Their diet is largely chicken, pork, and turkey.

 

[ModernCatLady]

What you want to feed is highly digestible protein. I take this to mean ANIMAL protein, not wheat, corn, rice, that sort of thing.

One of my cats eats quite a bit of beef, which does sound weird because in the wild we don't think of a cat taking down a cow! Wonder why they don't sell mouse cat food? That would make much more sense

Anyway, I think you're doing great feeding him wet food AND giving him such a big variety so he won't grow up to be picky. AND caring enough about his nutrition to ask these questions.

Thank you! I appreciate your tips! When I was younger I had a dog and he became I'll I really had no idea about the nutrition he should have so I want to make sure this time I take care of my kitty the right way.

 

[ModernCatLady]

I agree that this is the big thing. IMHO, avoiding foods with ingredients like wheat gluten, pea protein, potato protein, and the like is more important than focusing on one protein over another.


Yes, this is a good thing, too! I very consciously keep rabbit in reserve and there are other proteins that I've never fed, too.

Our vet strongly advises avoiding beef and fish because both have a tendency to be inflammatory. Fish has other downsides, many of which are outlined in this vet-written piece. We feed our cats very little fish. Their diet is largely chicken, pork, and turkey.

Thank you. I will take a look!

 

[ModernCatLady]

Rabbit is my favorite as it seems to mimic cats’ natural prey the best. Luckily my cats love it. They also go crazy for lamb and venison, and I feed them that despite it’s red meat and pretty unlikely they would feed on it in the wild. I just make sure to feed some poultry on the day they get the red meat to sort of even things out or compensate. You never know.
I also feed variety but I’ve read useful advice here on this forum: not to feed everything, to leave one or two types of meat out in case the cat ever develops allergy and needs to be fed some novel protein.

Thanks so much