What ingredients should I look for when buying kitten food?

Question

I know what KINDS of kitten food are healthy, but what healthy ingredients should I look for?

Answer 1

Food for cats and kittens - Look at the cat food label. If the first three or four ingredients are meat, then the food should be pretty good. Some manufacturers use meat by-products, which are OK, but regular meat is better. Avoid using food with artificial colors and artificial flavors. Your cat deserves the real thing, not fake cat food.

Try to avoid cat food that lists animal "byproducts" as the first or second ingredient. These are not animal parts such intestines but rather are some type of body secretion and/or wastes not suitable for human consumption.

Don't feed your cat only dry food, since this could cause bladder problems. Cats often have difficulty getting enough water. Moist cat foods help them stay hydrated.

Be careful of dyes in foods - Sometimes the dyes that are used can cause digestive upsets. Try a food that specifies, "No artificial colors or flavors."

The pet food business is very competitive. To keep prices as low as possible, low-priced, low-quality products are used - by-products, animal fat, corn gluten meal, ground grain sorghum, BHA/BHT chemical preservatives plus others. Avoid them all ...

Answer 2

Look for meat ingredients. The first or first several should be meat. If you are buying dry food, look for meat meal, such as chicken meal, lamb meal, etc. This means that the meat was weighed after it was cooked and dried. If it is weighed before, then it is weighed with all the moisture that it loses when it is cooked and that skews where the ingredient is placed on that list.

Also look for a food without corn. Many cats are allergic to corn and it is a very cheap filler companies use. Cats get no nutritional value from corn. Most foods will have some sort of grain (Innova is grain free) but rice in the food is better than corn.

Please do not feed your cat Science Diet. It is WAY over priced and filled with corn. It is no better than feeding your cat cheap grocery store food. Vets are trained and paid by Science Diet to promote it. If you do some searches online, there is a lot of information about the different foods out there. The cat section of about.com has a wealth of information.

As far as a kitten formula vs a cat formula, most of the high quality foods are for all life stages. That means it is healthy for kittens and cats of all ages. The pieces are generally quite small because they aren't filled with corn and puffed up.

Also, do not feed your cat cow's milk or other cow dairy products. Most cats are lactose intolerant, and it will cause diarhea or other stomach ailments such as foul smelling gas.

Answer 3

In my opinion the best food available for your feline friend has to be Science Diet. It is low in ash and promotes good health. I took the advice of my Vet when it was introduced some 15 years ago. The list of nutrients is long.

Since then my cats have been healthy and full of energy. The dry food does not cause tarter build up. I only feed with the Science Diet and once in a while a ham sandwich. (My cat loves ham on wheat bread.)

Answer 4

Aviod soy beans at all cost, not only will it make your cat gases but as I found out the hard way is not good for your kitten for up to 8 months, The reason kitten food is better for kittens than adult food is the size and the vitaims in it.

Answer 5

Purina is one of the worst things you can possibly feed a cat. Canned food can contain just as many by-products, and some really dangerous chemicals, and IS NOT always safe. Never feed cats: Corn, wheat, soy, milk, or any other plant based products. Good brands for the money: Felidae California Natural

Answer 6

Don't buy kitten food. Buy medium priced adult cat food and add cows milk, raw eggs and/or finely cut up meat scraps to it. The adult cat food is cheaper, but kitten food does not have as much digestible nutrients as it claims it does. Kittens need fat, protein and vitamin E more than anything. They will get that from the milk, eggs and meat and the cat food will be filler.

Answer 7

Generally the first few ingredients should involve meat - cats are carnivores and foods that contain mostly corn and wheat don't follow their natural diet.