What should a cat eat?

Question

Please any cat nutritionsists out there: I would like to cook for my cat, especially with this story about cat foods that cause kidney failure. But also because fresh premium products that I buy for myself are definitely better that by-products and artificial flavourings put in cat foods. But I need to know what is required for a balanced diet. I know cats mostly eat proteins (meat, fish, chicken). But should I add any carbs, like rice, or egg, or some veg, carrots, etc?

The recalled foods included brands like Hill's, Iams, Eucanuba, Nutro, etc, I mean good and expensive brands.

Oh, and regarding the fact that cats must only eat cat food, and the human foods are not good for them, I think the fact that cats have survived for many centuries before cat food brands were invented shows that the cat food companies have persuaded us they know better than nature!

Answer 1

I'm not a cat nutritionist, but I do know that cats require a certain amount of non-meat food, such as rice and veggies (or greenery of some sort) for the fiber if nothing else. I'm not sure it is realistic to only feed your cat something that you cook because they have such specific nutritional requirements, but I do understand your concern over the current cat food recall since I own cats as well. You might also want to talk to your vet, since he/she would know about any medical conditions that your cat might have that would need to be taken into account with a specialized diet, such as UTIs, age, etc. Good luck with it and I hope it works out for you.

Answer 2

First off, you should not "cook" for your cat. If you cook the meat protein you destroy the essential amino acids - taurine and arginine which cats must have. Many people who prepare raw diets for their cats add lightly steamed vegetables to their mxture - I don't. To learn about the approach to raw diets from a veterinarian go to: www.catinfo.org.

There are a number of Yahoo groups with people who prepare their cats' food themselves, such as: naturalCATS, RawPaws, rawKatz and blackkatz. Join one of more of these groups are learn how others do it. They usually have recipes in the files section of these groups.

An excellent book on cat health and preparing your cat's food is "Whole Health for Happy Cats" by Sandy Arora. The book is published by Quayside Publishing Group, Gloucester, MA (telephone [phone]). It is a recent publication and probably not available in most bookstores. It might be available through Amazon. It's a trade paperback selling for around $17.

Ms. Arora ran a Yahoo group called Holisticat for a number of years. It is now available at holisticat.com. There is a fee ($10 for three months, $25 for a year) to belong to the group. You can probably purchase her book through the site or join for a short time to get the information you need on feeding your cat the "natural" way.

Answer 3

I'm not going to pretend to know anything about what exactly a cat needs in nutrition. I feed my mine both Nutrience Holistic, very high quality food and unfortunately, very expensive.

But, they eat less of it than "regular" cat food, their litter box doesn't smell as bad, my male hasn't gotten one UTI since the switch, my female no longer has runny poops that we end up having to cut out off of her furry butt and instead of coughing up a hairball each every day...I only have to deal with maybe 1 a week :-)

I do know however, that milk is bad. Cats are lactose intolerant, just because they like something, doesn't make it good for them. And with that being said...they shouldn't eat tuna either. Cat's don't go fishing in the wild so it's actually really unnatural for them to eat fish....even though they love the taste, the litter box smell alone would tell you it's not such a good idea.

Answer 4

I am not a nutritionist but I have worked with animals many years in pet shops, a vet hospital and a no-kill shelter. Commercial cat foods really are the best way to go. The media hype over the commercial food that has caused animal deaths makes it sound worse than it is. That was a fluke, pet foods have been safe for decades. But if you really insist on making your cat food. Food must be low in ash and magnesium, both will cause Feline Urinary Syndrome. Cats need Taurine in their diet for their heart. Here is the link to Iams http://www.showcatsonline.com/x/cat_food_comparisons.htm

Answer 5

Please keep in mind the contaminated food we're hearing about are low cost foods. They were no good to begin with. Companies like Hills, Iams and Nutro are reputable. Increasing your cats protein intake if not done properly in the long run could cause renal problems as they get older. For more information go to websites like Tufts, Cornell and the Association of Feline Practitioners.

Answer 6

chicken or lamb for meat source and rice
canned pumpkin will help if your cat has hairball issues

eggs are ok but should be cooked.

cats are TRUE carnivours (unlike dogs) they require a good meat source, and dont need vegetable matter.

no fish (which is bad for cats for many reasons)
no milk or milk products

- note Iams, Eukanuba, Hills, and Nutro - NONE are excellent foods
Iams and Eukanuba are both owned by Procotor & Gamble the company notoriously linked to cruel animal testing and Iams formula was dumbed down years ago making it a crappy food
Hills Science diet PAYS for vet endorcement, some of the foods use cheap or even nasty ingredients (by-products) their price is inflated due to clever marketing strat.
Nutro is probably the best of the bunch BUT even they dont use HUMAN GRADE ingredients and have range of product from junk (Max) to so-so (Natural Choice) to Holistic

there are some SUPER PREMIUM FOODS using HUMAN GRADE INGREDIENTS and NATURAL PRESERVATIVES - not knowing what country you are in makes it tough to suggest one.

Answer 7

I own cat and have for years, my cats have always use dried cat food, the need a lot of fiber to help keep their insides clean, their is a reason that people develop store brought cat food, as far as the kidney failure, this is a part of the food industry, the company that I use is cheap and works great, not hair balls, not kidney infections, no loose stool. buy the cat food in dry that is for inside cat. Purina have used with great sucess, and your cat intestines is not like ours and they should not be eating people food.

Answer 8

If you want to feed your cat food that are good for him, you can cook chicken (boiled), boiled rice a lot of my cats love green beans. Don't give your cat human tuna because of the mercury content in it. Here are 3 web sites that will explain how to make your own cat food. It is created by a vet.

http://cats.about.com/od/homepreparedfood/HomePrepared_Cat_Food_Cooked_and_Raw_Diets_for_Cats.htm
www.catnutrition.org.
www.catnutrition.org/foodmaking

Answer 9

You could put the chicken, fish, and meat in but you could also try putting small peas or carrots in there. I'm not sure if they'll like it but if they do than you'll be suprised.

Answer 10

Cat food would be appropriate.