Cat Food

Before deciding what type of diet is best for your cat it’s important to consider their age, temperament, activity level and any health conditions they might have. Their diet needs to include the right balance of protein, fat, minerals, carbohydrates, vitamins and water. If in doubt, any good quality, commercial complete cat food should provide these basic nutritional requirements. 

Keep reading if you’re interested in providing a more specialist diet for your cat.

Grain free cat food

Some cats are allergic to the gluten in grain and may experience skin or stomach issues as a result. If this is the case, then your cat may benefit from a Some pets with these signs may not be allergic to grain at all, but to other ingredients in the food, in which case, choosing a grain free food without considering the source of the allergy may not be helpful to your pet. However, grain free foods do tend to be of a high quality and contain good protein sources so it can definitely be beneficial, allergies or no allergies!

Hypoallergenic cat food

Whether or not a food will trigger an allergy is partly down to your pet’s individual sensitivities - different pets will be allergic to different ingredients. Most  will exclude common allergens, so are perfect for cats with allergies. Some will include protein sources such as duck or turkey and carbohydrate sources such as rice and barley. Your pet is less likely to have been fed these ingredients before and so they are less likely to trigger an allergy. Signs of an allergic reaction in pets include itchy skin and stomach upsets. If you think your pet might be reacting to their food, then speak to your vet who can recommend an appropriate diet or further investigation.

Prescription cat food

Using a Kittykit Cat Bowl Surprisingly, these foods do not require a prescription and do not contain any medicines but are usually recommended by a vet to help treat specific medical conditions such as joint disease, urinary problems, diabetes and various allergies.  can be a very effective way of helping to manage these but should only be used following the recommendation of your vet.

Wet vs dry cat food

Many people prefer feeding their cat as it’s easier to store, has fewer odours than wet food and is more hygienic and less likely to spoil when left in your cat’s bowl. In addition, dry food may help with dental health as the crunching action can help reduce the build-up of tartar. Wet food has a higher water content and may be beneficial for cats that need to keep their water intake up. It simply comes down to what you and your cat prefer.  Make sure that you use a low rim cat bowl when serving cat food.

Complete cat food

A complete cat food contains all the energy and nutrients that your pet requires. On the other hand ‘complimentary’ foods such as treats would not so should not form the main part of your cat’s diet.

Life stage cat food

A life stage diet is one that is specially formulated for a particular stage in your pet’s life, for instance: kitten, adult, senior, pregnancy and nursing. Pets have different nutritional requirements at different times of their life, for example, kittens require more calcium, whereas seniors may require less calories. Choosing a life stage diet allows you to feed the most appropriate food to your pet for their age and lifestyle.

Home-made cat food

Some people prefer to feed their cats home-made food. For those who do go down this route, a properly prepared food for your pet needs to contain premium protein sources, a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and fibre and meet the animal's entire vitamin and mineral needs. This can be expensive and time consuming and takes knowledge and awareness of your pet’s nutritional requirements. For these reasons, most owners prefer to feed a complete commercial diet where the hard work has already been done for you. If you do decide to feed a home-made diet, it’s worth speaking to your vet or a veterinary nutritionist to make sure your pet is getting everything they need from their food.