Cat Nutrition: The Best Diets

By Alyssa Burgess

For most cats, childhood lasts for about one year. During this time kittens require higher level of minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, protein, vitamins, and energy then they will as an adult. Therefore, foods fed to young, growing cats should contain higher levels in balance with each other and with all the other dietary cat nutrition..

Kittens should be fed food with high quality and balance in it. To get the correct type a veterinarian can advise the right one. A life long healthy and happy life will have been influenced by the kittens nutrient intake. Investing great nutrition at this young age is very important.

At about twelve months of age switch the feline to a maintenance diet for adults. Once the kitten is grown, its nutritional needs are reduced considerably from those during the rapid development of that first year. Continuing to feed your adult cat high levels of minerals, proteins, and energy could lead to problems later in life.

Feed a high quality, complete and balanced diet specifically designed for adults. Beware that food that say they are complete and balanced are actually designed for kittens, since they have formulated to meet the needs of the most demanding life stage. They contain excesses of most nutrients for adults and seniors.

Pregnant cats will need extra nutrition during the few weeks of pregnancy and throughout the lactation. Growth diets fulfil this role well. Feed such a food starting in the last trimester of pregnancy and continue until all the kittens are weaned. Also feed her free choice and do not add vitamins or mineral supplements unless recommended by a veterinarian.

At age seven a cat becomes a senior and the diet has to be changed once more. Any health problems need to be looked into so that the proper diet can be recommended for the cat that has a high quality, balance.

Adjust the felines diet to match its health needs. A veterinarian can assist with the switch. If the feline suffers from a specific ailment, such as heart disease, special diets can be prescribed to reduce the wear and tear on the affected organ systems.

Cats that are already healthy should be fed food that has a fibre increase and a calorie decrease. Do not decrease the amount of food that is normally fed to the cat if he is obese, it will not work. If this was done it would cause the feline to suffer from mild starvation.

Instead of cutting back on its ration, switch the feline feed to one that is specially formulated for weight loss. Studies have shown that a high protein, low fat diet can promote weight loss while maintaining lean body mass.

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