Ever since the pet food recalls of 2007, pet owners have become more aware of the ingredients used in the meals they feed their cats. Obligate carnivores, or animals requiring meaty diets, cats have been domesticated to accept subpar diets that do not meet their needs and can have disastrous effects on their health.  Learning what cat food ingredients you should avoid giving your own pets will help you to be a better owner and family member.  Furthermore, with cats who feast on healthier diets, you stand to save a lot of money on remedy health care.  Prevention is, after all, the best medicine!

Avoid High Carb, Low Protein Fillers in Cat Food

Among the ingredients most often listed on nutritional labels for bagged, canned, or treat packages for cats are wheat, corn, gluten, soy, and other protein substitutes and fillers.  Known to provoke allergies in humans and cats alike, many of these ingredients are cheap and easily accessible to pet food companies because they have been grown using genetically modified organisms (GMO) that has cell invasive properties with inconclusive effects to health.  

Regardless of the plausible claims that such products may be related to increased cancer rates in certain animals, these fillers do not belong in your cat’s diet and should be avoided.  The two main reasons to avoid these ingredients are that they:

    * act as insufficient protein substitutes
        and
    * introduce indigestible carbohydrates into feline diets.

Cat’s require high amounts of true protein.  In their ideal diets, cats eat mice and other small animals for a reason.  Gamey meat would deliver protein levels of nearly 60% with 20-30% fat to support other needs, such as healthy skin, fur, and brains. Adapted to consume carnivorous diets, cats lack the digestive tracts, stomach volume, and essential amino acids necessary to break down high amounts of vegetable/plant matter.

Subjecting cats to diets high in fillers of insufficient protein and elevated carb levels will result in pets with reduced muscle mass and higher occurrences of obesity and/or diabetes.

Avoid Mysterious Meat By Products in Cat Food

Pet food companies haven’t come this far without realizing what their human counterparts know.  A pretty phrase or near truth can dazzle buyers.  People hoping to avoid cat food ingredients that fail to deliver healthful benefits may feel as if their best choices include meat by products that may offer higher protein and fat than other filler options.

The sad truth is that meat by products may due great harm to your cat’s health by including portions not fit for their consumption or insufficient to meet their dietary needs.  Meat by products are, generally, any slaughter portion not fit for human consumption.  The list of ingredients chopped and churned into by product meals include pieces that simply cannot deliver the nutritional benefits your cat needs for optimum health.  Furthermore, pet food companies may include portions deemed unfit for human consumption based on livestock illnesses, often leading to being put to sleep and no longer salable to for human diets.

Ideal Diets for Feline Family Members

While some people will argue that cats eat whole animals by Nature, one thing seems clear, protein and fat delivered by a single prey animal acts more efficiently than discarded portions of grain-fed poultry and livestock.  Ideal cat diets will adhere to the pet’s natural needs without fillers and by products that deliver insufficient levels of nutritional requirements and high levels of flavorings such as carbs.

To ensure your feline family member’s greatest health, consider balanced choices that deliver high meat protein and sufficient fat to meet their natural requirements, promote their best digestion, support their metabolic needs, and protect them from disreputable cat food providers.  Bringing a cat into your home comes with certain responsibilities.  Chief among these is concern for his healthy diet and other basic needs.