Feeding Your Feline Right: Nutrition Tips for a Healthy Cat
Giving your cat the best start to a long, happy life begins with what’s in their bowl! A balanced diet is the key to keeping your feline friend full of energy, curiosity, and purrs. Since cats are obligate carnivores, they feel their best on a meat-based diet packed with essential nutrients. By understanding and meeting your cat’s unique dietary needs, you’re setting them up for a life full of play, naps, and love.
Understanding your cats natural eating habits:
- Cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they only eat meat. They need diets that are high in protein and moderate in fat, with nutrients from animal-based protein sources.
- Cats need the amino acid Taurine to stay healthy, yet they can not naturally produce this themselves, instead they get it from their food. It is important you feed your cat, food made only for cats as these will all contain the correct amounts of Proteins.
- In the wild, cats will hunt small prey and eat several small meals a day, allowing your cat to graze, matches closely to their eating habits in the wild. This means leaving your cats food down all day to allow them to chose when they want to eat.
- However if your cat struggles to regulate their food intake, a more structured schedule would benefit your cat.
Smith’s Tip: Always feed your cat food that is says it is complete, this means it has all the nutrients your cat needs, whereas complementary means it should be given occasionally as a treat
Wet Food vs Dry Food:
Dry Food:
- Dry Food is convenient- it only takes a few seconds to fill up your cats bowl.
- Easier for grazing- as it can be left in the bowl for longer without drying out
- It has a high carbohydrate content- which means extra calories for thinner cats.
- Cost Effective- Dry food is generally cheaper than Wet food, and so is easier to maintain for those owners on a lower budget.
Wet Food:
- Loved by cats- Wet food has a similar texture, scent and taste to a cats prey in the wild, making it more appealing to your cat.
- Wet food has a high protein content, which is your cats main dietary requirement
- Wet food has an outstanding moisture content, keeping your cats hydrated. This is great as cats are usually not very enthusiastic about drinking water.
Combining Wet and Dry food:
The ideal feeding pattern for your cat would be to provide your cat with both wet and dry food, (providing your cat is healthy and enjoys both food types). This way your cat gets the opportunity to graze on their dry food, whilst also getting an ideal amount of protein and water contents from their wet food.
Tips for healthy eating habits:
- Cats are very clean animals and like to eat from clean bowls, it is important you wash your cats bowls after every meal to prevent putting them off eating
- Keep food bowls away from litter trays, no one likes to eat near the toilet!
- Try using Licky Mats/Puzzle Feeders to encourage hunting behaviours and slow down any speedy eaters
- If you have a multiple cat household, give each cat their own food bowl/puzzle feeder in different areas, to avoid conflict and competition
- Provide water in different areas of the house to encourage your cat to stay hydrated.
- Some cats do not like their food bowls next to their water bowls
Treats:
Giving your cat the occasional treat is generally not harmful and can be great for helping to bond with your cat or encouraging positive behaviours. It is important to not over feed treats to your cat as this can lead to obesity, fussy eating habits and other health issues. We recommend avoiding cows milk as a treat, cows milk contains lactose and most cats are lactose intolerant, and so milk will likely upset your cats tummy.
Foods to avoid/are toxic to cats:
Toxic: Foods such as: onions, raisins, grapes, chives and leeks are all poisonous to your cat and it is important to keep these foods out of your cats reach at all times.
Our Smith’s Recommended Cat Essentials:
At Smiths Pets, we’re passionate about helping you give your cat the very best. That’s why we’re excited to introduce our new range of Catit products, carefully selected to support your cat’s health, happiness, and natural instincts. From nutrition to enrichment, it’s what we trust and recommend for our own furry friends. Come in and explore the range, we’d love to help you find the perfect fit for your cat!
Not sure if Catit products are for your cat? We currently have a range of Catit food and treat samples for your feline friend to test and love. (only while stock lasts).
