How to Choose Cat Food

Recently, many friends have been asking me, why don't Xiaowei and Panda get fat even though Xiaowei is already sterilized and doesn't weigh much (around 7.9 pounds) – it's actually because they eat such a good cat food. Since so many people are asking, I'll simply explain how I choose cat food.

Xiaowei and Panda

I've always felt that cats should eat raw bones, but because everyone doesn't have enough time and energy to study the nutritional composition, how to make it, and how to select and store it (I can't even choose vegetables, let alone meat). I also won't release some videos sharing homemade meat cat food regularly, so be sure to follow me.

Let's get straight to the point, how to choose cat food, first of all,Good cat food can significantly reduce the probability of cats having various problems, and cats' nutritional needs can almost all be obtained and should be obtained from the main food. Therefore, when there are good cat foods, cats don't need any nutritional supplements besides water.

Let's talk about what nutrients cats need

Adult cats: protein not less than 26%, fat not less than 9%, 0% carbohydrates

Kittens: protein not less than 30%, fat not less than 9%, 0% carbohydrates

After that is the ingredient list, the top five ingredients in the ingredient list are the main ingredients of cat food. Let's first take a look at the AAFCO definition of meat and related products:

1. Meat(meat): Meat is clean, fresh, meat or bone separated from animal carcasses with bone frame, or separated from tongue, diaphragm, heart, esophagus, striated muscle, skin, tendon, fat, nerves and vessels. The attached skin, tendon, fat, nerve and vessel can be accepted. If a specific meat type, such as Beef(beef), Chicken(chicken) and Lamb(lamb) is indicated, it must come from the corresponding animal type.

2. Poultry(poultry): Poultry meat is a mixture of clean meat and skin separated from poultry carcasses, may contain bones, but cannot contain feathers, head, feet and internal organs.

3. Meat Meal(meat meal): Such as Lamb Meal(lamb meal), meat meal is an animal organization extracted from the oil, without blood, hair, hoof, horn, stomach and rumen contents... etc. It cannot contain foreign matter.

4. Poultry Meal(poultry meal): Such as Chicken Meal(chicken meal), poultry meal is a dry, extracted oil, meat and skin mixture separated from poultry carcasses, may contain bones, but cannot contain feathers, head, feet and internal organs.

5. Meat and Bone Meal(meat and bone meal): Meat and bone meal is an animal organization extracted from the oil, without blood, hair, hoof, horn, skin, dross, feces, stomach and rumen contents... etc. It cannot contain foreign matter.

6. Meat By-products(meat by-products): Meat by-products are 'meat-other-part' separated from carcasses, including lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, blood, bone, part of low-temperature fat tissue and intestines (excluding contents). It does not contain hair, hoof, horn and teeth.

7. Poultry By-products(poultry by-products): Poultry by-products must contain clean head, feet and internal organs separated from poultry carcasses. It cannot contain feces and foreign matter - unless it is a minor impurity that cannot be avoided during the processing process.

8. Poultry By-product Meal(poultry by-product meal): Poultry by-product meal includes meat-like powder, extracted oil poultry carcass parts, such as neck, feet, unshaped eggs, intestine, without feathers. Unless it is a minor acceptable impurity that cannot be avoided during the good processing process.

9. Animal By-product Meal(animal by-product meal): Animal by-product meal is an extracted oil animal organization, without hair, hoof, dross, feces, stomach and rumen contents - unless it is a minor acceptable impurity that cannot be avoided during the good processing process.

AAFCO Cat Dry Food Nutritional Standards

From AAFCO's raw material quality ranking, the quality of raw materials is from high to low: Meat/Poultry Meat>Meat/Poultry Meal>Meat and Bone Meal>Meat By-products/Poultry By-products>Poultry By-product Meal/Animal By-product Meal.

In my opinion, choosing meatbone meal or products that are better than meatbone meal as a protein source is trustworthy.

Of course, we also need to know which ingredients should be avoided, such as wheat, corn, and soybeans. Cats cannot decompose starch in large quantities, and if cat food contains starch, it will lead to digestive problems (one domestic brand cat food contains starch, which makes cats feel full and eat less, and it is unclear whether it will cause nutritional deficiency).

Xiaowei

In general, everyone can choose cat food according to the AAFCO ranking, and at the same time, pay attention to the production list, whether there are any ingredients that should not be there, such as starch, I don't know if this article is useful to you, if it is, please collect it!

Xiaowei's weight of 7.9 pounds after sterilization is because she doesn't like to eat cat food =.=. I don't think cat food and eating cat food are related. When you buy cat food, it's best to buy small packages first, because the cats' stomachs are easily irritated, and switching cat food or trying a new food can cause soft stools.