Cat Diet: Tips For Cat Nutrition
In the wild, big cats get all the nutrition they need from their prey. While your feline friend shares her cousins' natural instinct to eat whatever she catches, she relies on you to feed her a healthy, balanced diet. So it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with what she needs.
Overview of Cat Diet Food
As an experienced cat parent, you must be no stranger to cats being incredible foodies who prefer a wider palette in their cat diet. And while cats prefer a meat-based diet, rarely do they shy away from trying out new cuisines containing citric fruits or steamed veggies. However, cats are carnivores, so essential cat nutrition consists of animal proteins, fats, and fatty acids that cats derive from cat food supplements, animal meat, fish, and poultry products. In addition, cats also require balanced amounts of vitamins, minerals such as copper and zinc, carbohydrates, and folic acid as cat nutrition. While the caloric requirement of cats can depend on factors such as breed, age, and weight, the average adult cat needs cat nutrition food with caloric intake of 280 calories.
To help you keep your furry munchkin healthy, this article will provide an overview of a cat’s dietary needs, cat nutrition, and weight loss plans.
Essential Cat Nutrition
Cat Diet Plan Varieties
Furry felines can be quite the food connoisseurs who prefer a little variety in their everyday meals. While cats are carnivores with animal protein constituting a major portion of their everyday cat diet, these adorable furries are likely to enjoy having a wide palette of flavours consisting of fish, eggs, and even certain veggies as a part of their meal. So, mentioned below are some cat diet plan varieties that your feline munchkin might enjoy:
Dry Cat Food
Commercially available dry cat food is one of the popular choices for feeding cats, as it is convenient for cat parents who do not have the time to prepare home-cooked meals for their fur babies. Dry diet cat food like Whiskas is packed with proteins, vitamins, and essential minerals that your cat needs for leading a healthy, active life.
Semi-Moist Cat Food
Semi-moist diet cat food is also a good choice of food for cats, especially since they come in balanced portions of cat nutrition food supplements. In addition to containing all vital nutrients and proteins, semi-moist cat food also has a considerable moisture content that helps your kitty stay hydrated.
Canned Cat Food
Canned diet cat foods such as Whiskas have grown considerably popular among feline munchkins because of the wide variety of textures and flavours they come in. In addition to being available in different flavours such as tuna, ocean fish and sardines, the canned diet cat foods packed with all the important nutrients needed by cats.
Homemade Cat Diets
Homemade cat diets are possibly another option for cat nutrition food for indoor cats, especially since they are prepared from fresh ingredients and do not contain commercially added preservatives. In addition to being able to be creative with their feline munchkin’s meals, home-cooked food allows cat parents to bond with their fur babies.
Cat Treats
Rich in flavour and texture, cat treats are always a hit among our furries who simply can’t get enough of the luxurious taste of cat treats. However, high calorie kitten food is also a potential cause of feline obesity, so must only be fed in moderation.
What is a Balanced Diet Cat Food
A balanced diet for cats refers to daily food consumption which contains all essential cat nutrition, cat food supplement, and food groups as required by cats in proper amounts. As carnivores, a complete and balanced cat diet must contain sufficient animal protein, fat and fatty acids, other essential vitamins and minerals, and low carbohydrates.
Creating a Weight Loss Plan for Cats Diet
Given that cats are often prone to overeating, as cat parents, it is important to be attentive to what they are eating by following a cat nutrition requirements chart. If required, you must also create a weight loss program for your ‘chonky baby’. Here are tips on creating a weight loss program for your little furry:
- Avoid free feeding your cat. While it is a convenient way for working cat parents to make sure their fur baby is well-fed throughout the day, free feeding often encourages overeating in cats.
- Cut back on treats and high calorie kitten food you are feeding them.
- If your cat prefers frequent meals, consider serving smaller food portions following the cat nutrition requirements chart to balance their caloric intake. Placing food bowls containing nutritional cat food in various parts of the house encourages cats to stay physically active.
- Play games with your furry like chase, fetch, and hide and seek that require active physical participation.
Importance of Weight Management in Cats
Obesity in cats can give rise to other pressing health concerns such as Type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, and heart disease. So, it is important to keep your kitty on a strict balanced cat diet plan.
Benefits of Veterinary-Recommended Weight Loss Diets
If your kitty needs to lose only a little weight, a commercially available diet cat plan and cat food for weight loss is usually sufficient. But if your kitty needs to go on a weight loss program, relying on a veterinary-recommended weight loss diet is advisable. Veterinary-recommended weight loss diets contain instructions for a balanced cat diet that helps cats reduce their caloric intake without compromising on the essential cat nutrition they need.
Feeding Guidelines for Cat Weight Loss
In addition to following a veterinary-recommended weight loss cat diet plan, here are some additional guidelines to help your kitty lose weight.
- Feed your cat nutritional cat food under a fixed schedule instead of free-feeding.
- Instead of giving in to their desire for delicious cat treats, try to bond with your cat through physical affection and play sessions as positive reinforcement.
- Place their nutritional cat food bowls around the house to encourage them to be more physically active.
Tips for Encouraging Exercise in Cats
Given that adult cats often run the risk of obesity if they are overfeeding, it is important to make sure they are getting sufficient physical exercise to burn excess calories. So, if you are looking to give your little munchkin a little encouragement to get started on an exercise routine, here are some tips that might come in handy:
- Cats are immensely playful and energetic. So why not use play sessions to get them to be physically active? Games like chase, hide and seek, and fetch require physical participation while having fun. Additionally, playing also helps in the development of their cognitive abilities and can allow you to establish a deeper, precious bond with your furry kitty.
- You can also consider building an indoor kitty recreation centre complete with their favourite cat toys, high posts, and swings where your fur baby can have a blast playing.
FAQs
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Q:
What is the healthiest food for a cat?
A:Since cats are carnivores, they require a substantial amount of animal protein and fats to sustain life. When it comes to meat, chicken, turkey, lamb, beef and mutton are some of the most nutritious cat food that contain animal protein.
Q:What is a cat’s main diet?
A:As a carnivore the primary diet of cats include animal proteins and fat. Additionally, cats should also eat cat food that are fortified with balanced amounts of vitamins and minerals like copper and zinc present in balanced diet cat food.
Q:How much food a cat eats per day?
A:The daily cat nutritional needs are generally dependent on their age and weight. While a kitten weighing 2kgs to 3kgs requires about 210 grams of food every day, adult cats weighing over 6kgs may need over 360 grams of food.
Q:Can I feed my cat all day?
A:No, it is unwise to feed a cat all day. Adult cats do not require a caloric intake of more than 200 calories per day. Feeding an adult cat all day can lead to feline obesity and other health concerns.
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