Cat food

Most commercial cat food contains both animal and plant material, supplemented with vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. Cat food is formulated to address the specific nutritional requirements of cats, in particular containing the amino acid taurine, as cats cannot thrive on taurine-deficient food and go blind when fed with dog food, for example. Some manufacturers offer 'premium', 'natural' or 'holistic' formulas that are by-product free and contains less or no grains. Grain-free dry diets still contain carbohydrates, from sources such as potato or tapioca as the starch in those ingredients is needed to allow the kibble to hold its shape. Cats have no metabolic need for carbohydrates as the feline system prefers to create glucose from protein.

Dry food is generally made by extrusion cooking under high heat and pressure. It may then be sprayed with fat to increase palatability and other ingredients to complete its composition. Pet owners often prefer dry cat food due to the convenience and price. Besides usually being significantly cheaper, dry cat food can also be left out for the cat to eat at will over the course of several days; whereas, canned or raw cat food spoils or becomes unappetizing after several hours. Dry food is recommended by some based on the idea that cats break apart dry foods with their teeth, which causes the food to scrape off dental calculus. The degree of benefit this provides has been disputed in recent years. Many dry foods use meals as protein source, such as meat meal, chicken meal, fish meal, or corn gluten meal. This allows manufacturers to produce cheaper foods. Since the occurrence of BSE infection through contaminated meat and bone meal, the use of meat meal in pet foods has been prohibited in parts of the world (e.g. Japan and France) but is still common practice in other parts (e.g. USA). Comparative studies conducted by Japanese researchers have shown that meat meal is superior to the other protein meal sources in terms of dry-matter digestibility and nutritional value for cats, while corn gluten meal is the least nutritional. The same studies showed that cats fed with these dry food diets excreted alkaline urine. Urine pH has been implicated in the formation of struvite crystals in feline urolithiasis, and many dry food manufacturers address this by adding urine-acidifying ingredients to their food. However, this practice may lead to the formation of calcium oxalate stones, therefore water intake rather than urine pH appears to be the most crucial factor for the prevention and treatment of feline stones.

Although most cat owners don’t think twice about what ingredients are in their cat food, it is certainly worth looking into. Your cat food ingredients should include protein (very important). This is why fish is a popular cat dish.
The best cat foods also contain amino acids (taurine and arginine) as well as fatty acids like arachidonic acid and linoleic acid.
Retinyl palmitate or acetate are other important ingredients which are actually a form of Vitamin A.
The best cat food is something that is best discussed with your vet. The main thing is that your cat enjoys his food and that he is getting all the nutrients he needs.

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