Do You Feed Your Cats Premium Food?

People seldom know the type of protein, grains, or ingredients in their cat's food. They tend to only become slightly more knowledgeable once their cats have become ill.

I’ve been keeping an eye on and educating myself about the changes and improvements in the pet food industry. I’m seeing more premium brands being introduced. These include raw foods, grain-free, limited ingredients, organic, and many more options. I believe this is good for our animals but can be a bit overwhelming. There seems to be a little bit more focus on dog food rather than cat food. There also appears to be a lot more dog food commercials and advertisements. However, I know that cats face a lot of the same health challenges that dogs do. They, too, need a healthy diet and a broad selection of food from which to choose.

Most of the cats that have been in my care are feral cats. However, I still have provided them with premium dry and wet cat food. In order to keep their food as fresh as possible, they receive food twice a day. They will receive the same kibble topped with a wet canned food that contains excellent proteins like fish or poultry, no grains, and limited ingredients. I occasionally supplement their diet with some fresh unseasoned boiled or baked chicken. However, if they eat too much of the freshly made chicken they will sometimes leave me a little unenjoyable mess to clean up.

Do you know what's in your cat's food?

I’ve asked numerous people I know what types and brands of cat food they feed their cats. Often, they will tell me it is hard food from a bag that they leave in the cat's bowl all day long. Sometimes, they can tell me what color the bag is and possibly the name. However, they seldom know the type of protein, grains, or ingredients in the food. They tend to become slightly more knowledgeable once their cats have become ill and their cats have to go on a prescription diet. They don’t know the make-up of the food. They just know the vet prescribed the food because their cat had a particular type of health issue. Even then, they don’t realize that there are different manufacturers of prescription diets and they may be able to find one that works better or tastes better for their cat.

I do believe it is extremely important to find top-quality food that is healthy for your cat and that they also enjoy. As the options for premium cat foods increase, so should your knowledge of what’s available. It can be a challenge to keep up with but, we owe it to our cats to provide them with the best options that are the healthiest for them.

By feeding your cats healthy premium food now, you are giving them a better chance to live a happy and healthy life. It just may prevent you from paying more money later for prescription foods, medications, and veterinarian visits.