Comparison of feed for cats by composition

Ready-made cat food is an excellent option for a caudate pet. However, many owners are afraid to purchase such feeds, especially dry ones, since they believe that they are harmful to health. Experts say: quality ready-made food is an excellent alternative to natural nutrition, you just need to pick it right. And to do this, you need to compare the feed for cats, understand what kinds it is, and analyze the composition of existing brands.

Types of feed

In order to make a comparison and analysis of fodder for cats, you need to understand what is the classification of feeds and by what principle it is built. A popular myth is that absolutely all ready-made fodders, both dry and wet, bear only health problems in the future. But after all, often with any diseases or problems, veterinarians recommend switching to ready-made food from the treatment line. Where does the fear come from, even if professional breeders and veterinarians feed their pets with feeds of industrial production?

Ready-made cat food is divided into four classes:

• Economy;
• Premium;
• Super-premium;
• Holistic.

These categories differ in composition and in price. Super-premium and holistic are categories of feeds recommended by veterinarians. They will bring only benefit to the animal, but in quality they are not inferior to natural food. Premium - a good budget option for animals with good health. But the economy-class feeds popular among the inhabitants are just the cause of numerous diseases.

Cheap feed - enemies of cat's health

Compare the feed for cats with popular low-cost feeds. No owner who loves his pet should give the cat food of an economy class! These brands are well-advertised, in abundance are represented on supermarket shelves and pet stores. Often they are sold by weight.

Read the composition of this feed. In the first place will be ingredients such as corn flour, cereals, corn gluten, rice, bone meal, animal fat, soy flour. And only in the last place you will see chicken offal (some feeds do not even have them!). And under the name of chicken meal, meat-bone meal or meat products, recycled feathers, beaks, hoofs, bones can hide. It is clear that there is absolutely nothing edible for a cat in such a product, not to mention any usefulness!

What causes moustached predators to eat like that? Aggressive chemical flavors and flavors! They cause addiction in the animal, taste receptors are clogged and other, better quality, food seems to the cat to be fresh and tasteless. Since there are few nutrients in cheap feed, you need to eat more to saturate it. Cats have to eat 2-3 times more cheap food, eat often and a lot, but in nature they do not fill their stomachs all day.

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

Premium food is the required minimum

We continue comparing the food for cats. Premium food costs a little more than the economy, but their composition looks already edible. In the feed also includes cereals, flour and animal fat, but there are chicken offal and meat in it. Such a composition can not be called ideal, but it no longer harms the health of the animal.

The daily norm of good premium food is much smaller in volume, which means that it does not give such a catastrophic load to the kidneys. Many owners of cats choose the premium-class, because it is inexpensive, and the health of the pet is not threatened. Such food can be safely given to a cat all his life.

Premium feeds include Royal Canin, Hills, PurinaProPlan, Eukanuba. At the same time, the production of the first two brands is of such high quality that some experts consider it to be a super-premium category. In this case, there are unscrupulous producers. For example, the Purina Cat Chow economy class food is similar to the premium and super-premium Purina ProPlan products.

Super-premium class - everything a cat needs

Think about what will eat your tailed companion? Comparison of fodder for cats continues with the study of super-premium class, which is recommended by all veterinarians and breeders. For production, really high-quality ingredients are used, and the amount of protein is strictly controlled (for cats, an overabundance of protein is harmful). The number of dyes and flavors in such feed is minimal.

If your cat is fed super-premium food, then you can be sure that it receives in sufficient quantities all the necessary substances without harm to health. Comparison of feeds for premium cats is reduced to the choice of ingredients. For example, some cats do not tolerate chicken, and for them there are rulers based on turkey or fish. The super-premium class includes such feeds as 1st Choice, Bosch SANABELLE, Arden Grange, ProNature Holistic.

Holistic class - the best professional food

The category of holistic includes the highest quality forage of the highest price category. It is this food that the pets of famous nurseries eat. If you continue to compare the dry food for cats by composition, then in the first places on the stickers label will be chicken or salmon, chicken (salmon) flour, starch or potatoes, peas, chicken (salmon) fat.

Simultaneously, the advantage and disadvantage is the absence of chemical flavors and flavors. Therefore, if the animal used to feed with an abundance of chemical additives, the new product does not attract him at first. Even if the cat initially refuses high-quality feed, then do not immediately give it flavored. You're not going to feed your child with chips just because he likes the taste? Wait for the mute, and the tail-wagging will try new food. Holists include: Innova, Golden Eagle Holistic, GO and NOW Natural holistic, GRANDORF Natural & Healthy.

What to look for when choosing food

A newly-made cat owner who first got into a pet store is simply lost at the sight of a huge shelf with feeds. What will a small companion have? Comparison and analysis of fodder for cats is difficult in such conditions, but nothing is impossible. To choose the brand of feed you need to approach responsibly and pay attention not only to the bright inscriptions on the packages and the price, but also to what is written in fine 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, there is nothing useful in them. The next step is to analyze the composition to assess its usefulness or possible harm.

Analysis of the composition of fodder for cats. Harmful ingredients

Compare the feed for cats by reading their composition. It may include ingredients that are harmful to the health of the animal.

• Discard the purchase, if in the composition of the feed you will see sugar, caramel, cellulose or propylene glycol.
• Dye E 127 provokes the development of cancer.
• Do not expect that the by-products indicated in the composition of cheap food are useful liver, heart, lungs. Under this word, feathers, beaks, hooves and other wastes from the meat industry are often masked.
• The word "meat" also does not guarantee its presence in the composition in our understanding. At best, it will be skin scraps. The responsible producer indicates what kind of meat is and what grade it is.
• Antioxidants E324, 320 and 321 affect the liver.
• The presence of chemical preservatives, flavors and flavors also can not be considered a plus.

Analysis of fodder for cats. The composition of good food

How should the composition of a quality feed look like:

• At least 35% of meat - chicken, turkey, beef, rabbit, fish.
• 20% milk or egg white.
• 10% of quality offal.
• Not more than 25% of plant fibers. Corn, rice, potatoes, wheat, oats, peas are the necessary plant components, but they should not serve to save on meat.
• Vitamin supplements.

Comparison of food for cats of different classes

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

The budgetary feed will be immediately recognized on the shelf by everyone, even if the cat does not. They are widely advertised on television and you can safely say that it is advertising costs that take the lion's share in their prime cost. You can buy such food in any supermarket, they differ only in taste. Their digestibility is only 60-65%.

Higher quality premium class. These feeds are also inexpensive, but their composition is no longer frightening. A little meat and offal, a significant proportion of plant components. Such feeds have several rulers by age. Names are also on hearing, although advertising is not as aggressive. Digestibility - 70-75%.

Super-premium class is already quite high price. Their advertising can be seen very rarely, and the names are known only to the owners of thoroughbred cats. Feed of this class are sold only in pet stores and vetaptekah. They have a lot of meat, no flavor additives. Cat breeds are taken into account. Digestibility - 85-95%.

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

Wet food

So, we have already made a comparison of dry fodder for cats. And what about the wet food? It turns out that their composition is almost identical to dry foods, and the difference is in the presence of jelly. Therefore, comparing the feed for cats with jelly in bags is the same as for dry ones. True, there are several nuances.

Manufacturers of moist feeds often cheat in the composition. For example, if the jar indicates that the fiber is only 5% in the dry residue, then at 80% moisture it turns out that the fiber occupies exactly a quarter of the whole jar.

Also note, if the composition of the first places indicated meat, but in the end a whole list of flour of different types. After summing up the total amount of plant ingredients, it can turn out that they occupy almost half of the composition.

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

Comparing the composition of fodder for cats will help find the most suitable brand for your pet. Carefully read the label, take your choice responsibly, and the fluffy beauty will be grateful to you.