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What are Different Types Of Cat Food ?
Cat food are foods specially
engineered for feeding of cats. Cats are carnivores. They meet
their nutritional needs entirely by consuming other animals. A
variety of small prey animals, such as rodents, birds, reptiles,
insects and occasionally amphibians would meet all their
nutritional needs.
Cat’s
basic nutritional needs include
• Protein from a meat, fish, or poultry source
• Taurine, an essential amino acid
• Certain other vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and fatty acids
• Water
Cats do not need carbohydrates, although corn, wheat, and/or
rice are used as an ingredient. The cat thrives with very
little, if any, direct ingestion of plant material. Of all the
carnivores, cats are the most specialized meat-eaters. The cat
has enhanced or eliminated certain biochemical mechanisms to
deal with a diet rich in protein and fat, but with little or no
carbohydrate. The cat also needs certain nutrients made by the
metabolic processes of other animals and not available in plant
material. The cat is an obligate carnivore. To survive the cat
must eat meat. The metabolic requirement for glucose in the cat
is derived from protein (glucogenic amino acids) and fat
(glycerol). Cats are adapted to a protein- fat-rich,
carbohydrate-poor diet.
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Minimum protein requirements of cats
are 30 and 26 percent of calories for growth and maintenance,
respectively. Fats provide the most concentrated source of
energy (8.5 calories/g) of any of the necessary dietary
components. Cats deficient in essential fatty acids grow poorly,
and have increased susceptibility to infection. Carnivores, such
as the cat, convert glucogenic amino acids and glycerol to
glucose for the maintenance of blood glucose, and therefore,
have no established dietary requirement for carbohydrates. Cats
have relatively high requirements for B vitamins in their diets.
Calcium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, magnesium, iron, copper,
zinc and iodine are all indispensable in this species. Today,
there are hundreds of brands of cat food products on the market,
which can make providing the best nutrition for a cat, a little
confusing. The different types of cat food are endless, with
variations in texture, nutritional value, flavor, and dietary
needs. Choosing the right cat food for a cat depends mostly on
its age, health and personal preferences.
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Cat food comes in a variety of forms
that include dry food, semi-moist food, canned food and natural
prey. These vary in a number of characteristics including
moisture, cost, palatability and amount of nutrition delivered
per pound of food. The important criteria to consider in
choosing the type of product are the place the consumer shops,
how much money the pet owner would like to spend and the level
of convenience, palatability and digestibility desired. As long
as the product offers 100% complete and balanced nutrition, the
form of the food and the category are simply a matter of the pet
owner's preferences.
Dry cat
food Dry cat food contains meat and vegetables,
with about 9 to 10% moisture and about 30% protein and 8% fat.
Dry cat food, also called kibble, is hard and crunchy, dry cat
food is usually the least expensive, but it is often snubbed by
finicky eaters, which many cats are. Dry, commercial cat food is
by far the most popular product to feed cats. Dry commercial cat
foods are anything but healthy for cats. Commercial dry cat food
contains no more than 10% moisture. Cereals like corn, rice, and
wheat, create the base of dry commercial foods and make up over
half of the foods weight, and represent a cheap source of
calories. Dry food has definite benefits over canned food: dry
food is more convenient to serve, easy to store, has less odor,
is more hygienic and less likely to spoil, is less expensive.
Dry food also helps promote dental health because it helps
remove tartar on the kitty's teeth. It has more vitamins and
minerals than canned or semi-moist food. The disadvantages are
that dry food contains preservatives which can pose health
problems for allergy-prone cats. They are also high in
microorganisms (molds, insects, and fungi) which promote
disease. Some cats simply do not like the taste of dry food and
others can not digest the high fiber content. The digestibility
is about 80 percent for dry foods.
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Semi-moist cat food Semi-moist cat foods are
lighter and easier to store and are very tasty to most cats and
kittens. They are expensive however, and often contain a lot of
preservatives, artificial colorings, binders and sugar -
ingredients that give the food its meat-like texture. Semi-moist
food comes in easy to open pouches that are also easy to store.
It doesn't spoil if left out, as canned food does, and generally
contains more nutrients than canned food. Semi-moist food does
have it's disadvantages: these foods often contain coloring
agents that may be carcinogenic. It is also generally more
expensive than equivalent measure in canned food. They contain
about 27% protein and 7% fat, with about 35% water. They are
highly palatable, provide complete balanced nutrition, and are
available in different flavors. Meat and meat byproducts are the
primary ingredients. They are combined with soybean meal,
cereals, grain byproducts, and preservatives. The digestibility
is about 85 percent for semi-moist food. |
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Canned cat
food Canned varieties are highly palatable to cats.
Canned cat food has a water content of a least 75 percent, so it is
a good dietary source of water. When unopened it has the longest
shelf life. Canned cat food is a must for developing strong bones
and muscles. Feeding more (or only) canned food is a way to feed the
diet that most closely mimics the natural prey diet. Canned foods
are higher in fat and protein, and lower in carbohydrates, than dry
foods. Their high water content increases the cat's overall fluid
intake, which keeps the kidneys and bladder healthy. The higher fat
contributes to skin and coat health. Because the ingredients are
more easily digested and utilized by the cat's body, canned foods
produce less solid waste in the litterbox. Canned cat foods contain
45-50% protein. Most cats lose weight more efficiently on a canned
food than dry food diet. Even though they're often eating more
calories, these diets are much better suited to the unique feline
metabolism. In addition to ensuring adequate hydration, a high water
content of canned food helps eliminate crystallogenic substances
before they grow to sufficient size to interfere with normal urinary
function. In addition to the removal of crystals, benefits of
increased water intake include dilution of any noxious substances in
urine, and more frequent urination to decrease bladder contact time
with urine that may reduce the risks of urinary tract disease. For
that reason, canned diets are usually prescribed as the first-line
therapy for feline lower urinary tract disease. Digestibility is
more than 90 percent for canned diets with meat as the primary
protein source.
Reading the nutrition label on the packages is the best way to
compare cat foods. Pet-food manufacturers are required to supply
certain nutrition information on the package. Labeling regulations
are established by the AAFCO and the United States Food and Drug
Administration (USFDA). The calorific content of a cat food is
listed on the label. While choosing cat food, one should ensure that
the food is nutritionally to a cat’s age. Cats who are overweight or
underweight need different nutrition than those who are not. So, a
food should be chosen such that fits a cat's needs, whether it's
weight control, or maintenance. Also one should choose cat foods
according to the cat’s condition, that is whether it is suffering
from medical conditions such as diabetes, allergies, cancer or
digestive difficulties.
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