Want to know about cat food ingredients to avoid in detail? Here we are to provide you a full and proper awareness related to what ingredients you should have to avoid for your dearest feline’s better health.
In this article, we are not only telling you about cat food ingredients to avoid but also will give you awareness about what things or ingredients you should have to look upon before purchasing a cat food of any product.
So stick with us till the end of the article. Because this is going to be quite informational.
Want to buy some healthy food for your cats? Here they are
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| Feed Your Best Friend Better: Easy, Nutritious Meals and Treats for Dogs | PrimeEligible | Buy Now | ||
| Home Cooking for Your Dog: 75 Holistic Recipes for a Healthier Dog | PrimeEligible | Buy Now | ||
| Hill's Science Diet Dry Cat Food, Adult, Perfect Weight for Weight Management, Chicken Recipe, 7 lb. Bag | PrimeEligible | Buy Now | ||
| Hill's Science Diet Dry Cat Food, Adult, Sensitive Stomach & Skin, Chicken & Rice Recipe, 15.5 Lb Bag | PrimeEligible | Buy Now | ||
| Purina ONE Natural Dry Puppy Food, SmartBlend Healthy Puppy Formula - 16.5 lb. Bag | PrimeEligible | Buy Now | ||
| Meow Mix Original Choice Dry Cat Food, 22 Pounds | PrimeEligible | Buy Now | ||
| Purina Fancy Feast Grain Free Wet Cat Food Variety Pack Pate, Poultry & Beef Collection - (30) 3 oz. Cans | PrimeEligible | Buy Now |
Prices pulled from the Amazon Product Advertising API on:
Cat Food Ingredients To Avoid
To save money many low-budgets companies use many harmful ingredients in the cat foods which would be very dangerous for your sensitive felines and affect their health badly.
The cat food ingredients to avoid are listed below. Keep all of them in mind while buying cat food.
Meat By-Products
According to the research of AAFCO , meat by-products are the non-rendered parts of the meat that drive from slaughtered animals.
Meat By-Products include, lungs, blood, spleen, kidney, livers and some other fatty organs. But the list of meat by products are not limited to them. Many companies use worse organs and parts of animals which would be harmful for the cats.
By-Products are usually considered as the secondary products in any cat’s food. No doubt that they are nutrition but the excess amount of any kind of by-products can ruin the beneficial effects of the food.
Doctor Donna Spector is strictly against the Meat by-products in cat food. According to her, we should not have to feed those things to our cats which we also can’t eat.
Although a quality meat by product can be feed but if you don’t know about whose species of animal meat by product you are using for your cats (which is tough to find) then it’s quite dangerous for your feline. We conclude that meat by products are the cat food ingredients to avoid.
Meat And Grains
Meat and Grains are also cat food ingredients to avoid. The reason behind this is quite horrible. Most people who don’t have awareness related to cat healthy food consider that meat and grains are beneficial for cats. Yes they are, until we don’t know some things about them.
Meat
Meat is one of the best sources to fulfill your carnivorous pets (cats, dogs) protein requirements. But the horrible thing is that we have no idea about the meat that we are going to give our cats from where it comes from and from which animals it belongs to. In addition, there are many low-quality cat foods offering companies who use the meat of dead animals or expired meat which is absolutely against the good health’s rules.
To ensure that your cats are feeding the meat of the right animals in the right way, use fresh pieces of meat to fulfill their protein needs.
Grain
Grains such as soy, peas, corn, and wheat are not easily digestible for cats. That’s why they are in the list of cat food ingredients to avoid. Many low-quality cat food producing companies use wheat to fulfill the protein level in cats instead of meat (because meat is expensive). While digesting such wheat scratches is almost impossible for your cat to digest.
A normal dry food can contain almost 50% of gains. A 50% amount of grain in any cat food is quite miserable for older and seniors cats because they are usually diabetics and a full of grained food affects their health.
Always select that food for your cats who are grain-free and do not contain any meat. Otherwise your cats should have to face some issues.
Harmful Chemicals and Preservatives
Harmful chemicals and preservatives are the most hated listed cat food ingredients to avoid. As we all know that chemicals and preservatives are not good for human beings as well as for any animal. There are 3 most dangerous and highly affected chemicals which are broadly used in the cat’s food but they can cause serious damage in your cats.
BHT, BHA and Ethoxyquin are the chemical preservatives who can harm your cats internal sensitive organs and make your cat skin and unhealthy. Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and butylated hydroxy anisole (BHA) are widely used to preserve dry cat foods but they are the major reason for cancer in pet animals.
However Ethoxyquin is not strictly banned. It’s illegal to include Ethoxyquin in the cat’s food. But as it is a chemical preservative so it has some bad effects. Ethoxyquin is mostly used in “Fish Meal” without mentioning it on the upper packaging.
Although we must say, to keep your cats healthy and active try to avoid such foods that contain any of the harmful chemical preservatives and move on to naturally based cat foods, which are rich in Vitamin, E, D, C and many more as well as minerals.
Food Colors
Usually many cat food producing companies add food colors in the cat food to make them more appealing. But do you know food colors (Dyes) is one of the cat food ingredients to avoid even if its reactions are quite less but still avoiding dyes should be a good way to keep your cats healthy.
Blue 2, Red 40, Yellow 5 and 6 these number of food colors can be dangerous for your cats. Because it possesses reactions related to hypersensitivity, mood swings and cancer. If we say in a simple way, then dyes (food colors) seriously affect the mentality of your felines.
So try to avoid such types of cat foods in which food color is added. There is no use of dyes in the cats food because they are not appealing for cats.
Buyer’s Guide
After knowing properly about the cat food ingredients to avoid. Now let’s jump to the things that we should have to look upon while buying cat foods for your dearest feline.
Lets know about these essential things which we have to look for for the sake of our cat’s better health.
Ingredients List
This is the easiest and simplest way to choose the right one for your cat. Just simply read the ingredients list that is behind the can or pack which will guide you and provide you full awareness related to what ingredients and what kinds of meats are included in the manufacturing of the food.
Consider those cat food products who are offering enough fresh meat, amino acid and fatty acid. Because these are the basic needs of your feline to live a healthy and better life.
Additional Benefits
No doubt we use cat foods to make our cats healthier. But besides find that one product who is offering you more benefits related to your cat’s skin, coats and internal strength.
There are many standard cat food producing companies whose cat foods not only make your cats healthier but they also affect their internal health as well. Such as they use additional supplements and vitamins to make your cat’s skin and coats shiny and thicker. Also they increase, improve and develop the internal strength, digestibility, immune system and reduces the risk of having many dangerous diseases.
Your Cat’s Need
As we all know that not all cats are the same by face as well as by nature. It’s quite possible that if a food product is suitable for one cat then it could be harmful for the other one. All this is happening just because of the various nature of the cats.
Many times cats are allergic to some ingredients and you must have to avoid these ingredients to maintain a better health of your cat.
So always select that one cat food who will perfectly suit according to your cat’s nature. Otherwise you and your cat have to face some miserable outcomes and for them blaming the brand is just not right.
FAQs
Q1: What is the healthiest cat food?
A: The number of healthiest cat food is not limited. You will find a huge amount of food that is quite beneficial for your cats and makes them healthier and active. The most simple way to find the healthiest foods for your cats is to make sure you feed them as fresh a meal as possible, select a quality and standard brand of food that contains enough nutrition, have less amount of carbohydrates, and also try to put a variety of cat foods (wet and dry) to keep them engaged in their meal.
Q2: Should cats eat dry or wet food?
A: Cats can eat both dry or wet food. But it’s quite good if you choose a food type keeping your cat’s needs in mind. Both wet or dry cat foods carry different benefits. Wet food is beneficial for lowering the urinary tract diseases but it’s quite expensive and difficult to use.
While dry food is the most effective way to fulfill the calories requirements in old and weak cats.
Q3: Is chicken meal bad in cat food?
A: As cats are carnivorous, and being a carnivorous protein is one of the mandatory requirements of the cats. To fulfil this need chicken or any meal is good. But there is a big problem that we have no idea about which cat food products contain pure and fresh chicken meat or if they are expired or something else.
We will suggest you to choose a quality cat food brand or otherwise buy fresh chicken meat pieces for your feline. They are quite a safe and secure way to fulfill their protein’s requirements.
