High Protein Cat Food:
A Healthy Cat Option

"Are you serving your feline high
protein cat food? Should you be?

The finer points of feline nutrition may make more sense to veterinarians than to us mere cat lovers, but the basic premise makes a lot of sense. You wouldn't feed your human child a diet of fish food - it would never occur to you that a fish and a child need the exact same foods. You wouldn't feed horse's hay to a dog, and so on.

The point is that all creatures have a diet that is better for their overall health, and when they/we don't get the main nutrients we need, our health is not optimal and will probably suffer.

Unfortunately, many of us serve our cats and kittens cat food brands that are based on starches first and meat protein only as a second or third runner-up.

Obligate Carnivores

Cats are "obligate carnivores." This means they must have meat in their diets to ensure good health and a long life.

One of the main reasons that cats need meat is that a feline's body cannot manufacture all of the essential amino acids found in animal protein that are needed for your feline's good health. These necessary amino acids are naturally found in certain animals.

Taurine is the most important amino acid found in meat that your cat's body cannot manufacture. A taurine deficiency can lead to blindness, heart failure, and reproductive problems.

In short, your cat needs a sufficient quantity of animal-derived protein to stay healthy.

What About Grain-Based Proteins in Cat Food?

So as long as your cat gets a sufficient quantity of food, why does it matter if the protein is animal-based or grain-based?

There are quite a few reasons. A cat's digestive system is poorly designed to actually extract the protein from grain and grain-based foods before it passes out of their system.

Grain basically provides bulk, and calories, but little protein, making it certain that your kitty will have to eat more food to get the nutrients she needs. This alone contributes to the problem of being overweight. High protein cat food with a solid meat base solves this problem immediately, providing protein in the form and at the levels natural to a feline's biology.

Other Issues with Grain-Based Proteins

Even worse than weight problems, grainbased diets are associated with digestive, bladder, kidney and allergy problems. You may have heard that kidney problems are usually treated with a low protein diet - but that was the standard at a time when all high protein diets still tended to be high in grain protein. Research is indicating that the problem wasn't the protein, but the source of the protein. So a good high protein cat food based on animal products is now considered by many vets to be a reasonable and first-line modification of diet for cats with kidney associated problems.

As for the bladder and allergy problems? Grain is so closely associated with these that the first step in treating a pet is often to change the diet to remove or control the nature of the grain sources. A high protein cat food is an automatic safety net to help prevent and reduce cat allergies. For good cat nutrition there are few things better than a high protein cat food made by a reliable manufacturer using a properly balanced formula based on animal products.

You want to provide the best feline nutrition possible for your cat to ensure good health and well-being. Providing your cat or kitten with the best possible diet that includes high protein cat food is one way to accomplish this.

Caution

If for some reason your veterinarian recommends against a high protein cat food due to your cat's individual health issues, you should follow your veterinarian's advice. If for some reason that advice does not seem to make sense to you, then ask questions and/or please consult with another veterinarian.

The information provided in this cat food article and on this site is intended for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace your vet's advice. If you suspect your kitty is sick or ill, please consult your trust veterinarian.

Best Source for Healthy Cat Food

Life's Abundance Premium Cat Food is our #1 recommendation for the best high protein cat food online (or anywhere!). This is what we feed our two healthy cats. They love it and we feel confident that they are getting the best possible feline nutrition. You can try a free sample to make sure your feline friend likes the taste.

Only Natural Pet Store is our #2 recommended source for the best cat food online. They carry only natural pet products using the best ingredients. The pet foods they carry are made from "human grade" products and exceed all AAFCO standards.

Even if you don't buy your pet food online, take a look at Only Natural Pet's website for specific brand ideas for the healthiest cat food you can buy at local top quality pet food stores.

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