Comparison of cat food composition

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

Complete cat food is a great option for a tailed pet. However, many owners are afraid to purchase such feeds, especially dry ones, as they believe that they are harmful to he alth. Experts say: high-quality ready-made food is an excellent alternative to natural nutrition, you just need to choose it correctly. And to do this, you need to compare cat food, figure out what types it is, and analyze the composition of existing brands.

Types of food

In order to make a comparison and analysis of cat food, you need to understand what food classification is and on what basis it is built. There is a popular myth that absolutely all ready-made foods, both dry and wet, only bring he alth problems in the future. But often, in case of any diseases or problems, veterinarians recommend switching to ready-made food from the medical line. Where do fears come from, if even professional breeders and veterinarians feed their pets with commercially produced food?

Complete cat food is divided into four grades:

• economy;
• premium;
• super premium;
• holistic.

These categories differ both in composition and price. Super premium and holistic are the categories recommended by veterinarians. They will bring only benefits to the animal, and in terms of quality they are in no way inferior to natural food. Premium is a good budget option for pets in good he alth. But economy-class food, popular among the inhabitants, is precisely the cause of numerous diseases.

Cheap food is the enemy of cat he alth

Comparison of cat food let's start with popular inexpensive food. No owner who loves his pet should give his cat an economy-class food! These brands are well advertised, presented in abundance on the shelves of supermarkets and pet stores. They are often sold by weight.

Read the composition of this food. In the first place will be ingredients such as cornmeal, grits, corn gluten, rice, bone meal, animal fat, soybean meal. And only in the last place you will see chicken offal (some feeds don’t even have them!). And under the name of chicken meal, meat and bone meal or meat products, processed feathers, beaks, hooves, bones can be hidden. It is clear that there is absolutely nothing edible for a cat in such a product, not to mention some usefulness!

What makes mustachioed cougars eat like that? Aggressive chemical flavors and flavors! They call atanimal addiction, taste buds are clogged and other, better food seems to the cat insipid and tasteless. Since cheap food is low in nutrients, you need to eat more to saturate it. Cats have to eat 2-3 times more cheap food, eat often and in large quantities, and in nature they do not stuff their bellies all day long.

For normal digestion, a cat should drink 2-3 times more water than she ate dry food. This does not happen when eating economy class food, since its volume is too large. Gradually, such improper feeding leads to diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. A common diagnosis found in cats fed cheap food is urolithiasis. Examples of economy class foods are: Kitekat, Whiskas, Friskies, Cat and Korm, Purina, Oscar.

Premium food - the bare minimum

Continuing the comparison of cat food. Premium food is a little more expensive than economy food, but their composition looks more edible. The feed also includes cereals, flour and animal fat, but it contains chicken offal and meat. Such a composition cannot be called ideal, but it no longer harms the he alth of the animal.

Daily allowance of a good premium food is much smaller in volume, which means it does not put such a catastrophic burden on the kidneys. Many cat owners choose the premium class, as it is inexpensive, and nothing threatens the he alth of the pet. Such food can be safely given to a cat for life.

Kpremium feeds include Royal Canin, Hills, PurinaProPlan, Eukanuba. At the same time, the products of the first two brands are so high quality that some experts classify them as super-premium. At the same time, there are unscrupulous manufacturers. For example, Purina Cat Chow economy food is similar in name to Purina ProPlan premium and super premium food.

Super premium class - everything a cat needs

Thinking about what your tailed companion will eat? The cat food comparison continues with a super premium grade recommended by all veterinarians and breeders. Really high-quality ingredients are used for production, and the amount of protein is strictly controlled (an overabundance of protein is harmful for cats). The amount of dyes and flavors in such food is minimal.

If your cat is fed a super-premium food, you can be sure that she is getting enough of all the necessary substances without harm to her he alth. Comparing premium cat food comes down to the choice of ingredients. For example, some cats are intolerant of chicken and there are turkey or fish based lines for them. The super premium class includes foods such as 1st Choice, Bosch SANABELLE, Arden Grange, ProNature Holistic.

Holistic class - the best professional food

The holistic category includes the highest quality food of the highest price category. Exactlypets of famous nurseries eat this food. If we continue to compare dry cat food by composition, then the first places on the label of holistics will be chicken or salmon, chicken (salmon) meal, starch or potatoes, peas, chicken (salmon) fat.

At the same time, both an advantage and a disadvantage is the absence of chemical flavors and flavorings. Therefore, if the animal used to eat feed with an abundance of chemical additives, then the new product does not attract him at first. Even if the cat initially refuses high-quality food, then you should not immediately give her flavored food. You wouldn't feed your baby chips just because they like the taste, would you? Wait a little, and the tailed finicky will taste the new food. Holistics include: Innova, Golden Eagle Holistic, GO and NOW Natural holistic, GRANDORF Natural & He althy.

What to look for when choosing food

A new cat owner who enters a pet store for the first time is simply lost at the sight of a huge shelf of food. What will the little companion eat? Comparing and analyzing cat food under such conditions is difficult, but nothing is impossible. The choice of the brand of food should be approached responsibly and pay attention not only to the bright inscriptions on the packages and the price, but also to what is written in small print.

First of all, pay attention to the country of origin. The best feeds are produced in Europe and the USA. Immediately cut off the cheapest brands of domestic production, nothing usefulthey don't have. The next step is to analyze the composition to assess its usefulness or possible harm.

Analysis of the composition of cat food. Harmful Ingredients

Compare cat food by reading the ingredients. It may contain ingredients that are harmful to the animal's he alth.

• Don't buy if you see sugar, caramel, cellulose or propylene glycol in the food.
• Dye E 127 provokes the development of cancer.
• Don't count on the by-products listed in cheap food to be he althy liver, heart, lungs. This word most often disguises feathers, beaks, hooves and other waste from the meat industry.
• The word "meat" also does not guarantee its presence in the composition in our understanding. At best, these will be skin scraps. The responsible producer indicates what kind of meat it is and what grade it is.
• Antioxidants E324, 320 and 321 affect the liver.
• The presence of chemical preservatives, flavors and flavors is also not a plus.

Cat food analysis. Composition of good food

What a quality feed composition should look like:

• At least 35% meat - chicken, turkey, beef, rabbit, fish.
• 20% milk or egg protein.
• 10% quality by-products.
• No more than 25% plant fibers. Corn, rice, potatoes, wheat, oats, peas are necessary plant ingredients, but they should not serve to save onmeat.
• Vitamin supplements.

Comparison of cat food of different classes

So you already have an idea of what food classes are and how they differ. Let's compare them in terms of market availability, exposure, and digestibility.

Budget food is immediately recognized on the shelf by everyone, even if he does not have a cat. They are widely advertised on television and we can safely say that it is advertising costs that occupy the lion's share of their cost. You can buy such feed in any supermarket, they differ only in taste. Their digestibility is only 60-65%.

Higher quality premium grade. These feeds are also inexpensive, but their composition is no longer scary. A little meat and offal, a significant proportion of plant components. Such feeds have several lines by age. The names are also well-known, although the advertising is not so aggressive. Digestibility - 70-75%.

Super-premium class has a rather high price. Their advertising is extremely rare, and the names are known only to owners of purebred cats. Feed of this class is sold only in pet stores and veterinary pharmacies. They have a lot of meat, no flavoring additives. Cat breeds are taken into account. Digestibility - 85-95%.

Holistic is the most expensive natural food. They are advertised only in specialized publications for professional breeders and veterinarians. Absorbed completely. In the composition - no artificial additives, only meat and a small amount of herbal ingredients. Most likely this type of foodwill have to order individually.

Wet food

So, we have already made a comparison of dry cat food. What about wet food? It turns out that their composition is almost identical to dry food, and the only difference is the presence of jelly. Therefore, the comparison of cat food with jelly bags is made in the same way as dry ones. True, there are several nuances.

Wet food manufacturers often cheat on ingredients. For example, if a jar indicates that there is only 5% fiber in the dry residue, then at a moisture content of 80% it turns out that fiber takes up exactly a quarter of the entire jar.

Also pay attention if meat is indicated in the first places, but at the end there is a whole list of different types of flour. After adding up the total amount of herbal ingredients, it may turn out that they occupy almost half of the composition.

Another snag is the phrase "with taste". If the food tastes like shrimp, then you will hardly find them in the composition. But the abundance of flavors and flavors is guaranteed.

Comparing the composition of cat food will help you find the best brand for your pet. Read the label carefully, choose responsibly, and the fluffy beauty will be grateful to you.