homemade cat food

Homemade cat food

/ susanbulanda / Leave a comment

In an attempt to give cats a healthier lifestyle many cat owners have opted to make their own cat food. A search on the internet will turn up many recipes. But is homemade cat food good for your cat?

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A first of its kind study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, have determined that most homemade diets do not provide cats all of their essential nutrients. Not surprising, some recipes may contain ingredients that are potentially toxic to cats.

Even recipes that were written by veterinarians lacked nutrients and/or were deficient in meeting the nutritional needs of cats. For example, some recipes lacked up to 19 essential nutrients.

The study suggests that if you want to make your own cat food that you should consult a board certified veterinarian nutritionist to design a diet that will meet your individual cat’s needs. Keep in mind that age and health issues will change a cat’s nutritional needs.

It is a good idea to check with some online sites that evaluate cat and dog food. http://catfooddb.com/blog/cat-food-advisor

Homemade cat food

/ susanbulanda / 2 Comments

In the first of its kind study by researchers at the University of California, Davis they found that the recipes found on-line, even those written by veterinarians, did not meet the nutritional needs of cats. Some lacked proper instructions, did not clearly identify the ingredients and some even contained products that are toxic to cats.

 

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According to the article, about a decade ago toxic substances were found in cat food that was imported from China. This caused cat owners to stop using commercial cat food and switch to homemade food. (The same happened with dog food.)

The researchers point out that it is OK to feed your cat commercial foods. I suggest that you google sites that evaluate all brands of cat (or dog) foods to see which the best is. Avoid any food that is not made in the US and especially food that comes from China and possibly other countries. Since there has been contamination of produce for humans that originates from Mexico, I would be concerned if any pet food ingredients originate in Mexico as well. This is just my opinion. Keep in mind that the smaller the pet, the less toxic substances it will take to make the pet sick or cause death.