Nutrition 101

Feline nutrition is very important to us and we have spent years educating ourselves on what we should and should not be feeding our kittens and cats. Cats are obligate carnivores meaning they require a meat based diet. This also means that plants do not provide enough nutrition for them. 

Unfortunately, we had to stop weaning kittens onto raw, we had some issues with feeding raw and have gone back to weaning onto wet food instead. Raw can be a safe, healthy option to feed your cats if done properly. If you are going to feed raw please remember that it does come with some added responsibilities. Proper food storage is key. Never thaw food too far in advance (follow packaging guidelines) Always ensure you are cleaning up after each meal. Wash hands, bowls, surfaces that have been in contact with raw meat with warm, soapy water.

The most important thing to remember is to feed what you’re comfortable feeding and to stay within your budget. Below you will find some helpful tips on feeding kibble and which ingredients you should stay away from.

If the ingredient list starts with ground corn, corn gluten meal or any animal by product meal AVOID, AVOID, AVOID. 

Watch out for: 

Meat by product meals (Chicken by product meal, duck by product meal etc)

Meat by product meals are rendered ingredients meaning they contain 4D meat. What is 4D meat? 4D meat refers to meat that is dead, diseased, dying or disabled.

4D meat may include road kill and euthanized animals. There is no way of knowing how much euthanasia/prescription drugs are in your pets’ food. Pentobarbital (euthanasia drug) has been the cause of several pet food recalls.

Try to avoid unnamed ingredient sources; “Animal fat” what type of animal is being used? 

Grain, corn and soy are added as cheap fillers. These ingredients are usually high in carbs and have little to no nutrition for cats.

Keep in mind that anything after “salt” on the ingredient list contains less than 1% of that ingredient in that bag of food. Ingredient splitting is a method pet food companies use to fool pet parents. Example Chicken, corn gluten meal, potato, brown rice, ground corn. Corn gluten meal and ground corn are both corn but the ingredients are listed farther apart in hopes that people don’t notice just how many carbs/fillers are in their pets food. It’s a tactic used so pet parents think their pets food contain higher amounts of protein than they actually do. If potato is used twice, corn is used twice, peas/lentils are used 2-3 times, it’s safe to say your pet is eating a diet that consists heavily of plant matter and not a lot of protein at all. Look it up, the results will shock you.

Kibble lacks moisture which is crucial to a cats urinary health. Water fountains can help entice your cat to drink but if you’re feeding kibble, you must include a wet food (canned) to ensure your cat is getting enough moisture in their diet.