The best diet for cats

With so many brands and varieties of cat food on offer, you might be wondering what is the best food for cats? What should you look for when it comes to choosing the right food for your cherished cat companion? What are the important things to know about cat nutrition? And what foods should you avoid? 

Here at Burgess Pet Care, we encourage you to feed your cat a high-quality, nutritionally balanced, complete cat food, just like the one we’ve created, to make sure you’re providing them with all the nutrients they need to thrive. 

In this blog, we’ll dive into the best food for cats and tell you all about cat nutrition, feeding guidelines, & plenty more. Let’s get started… 

The importance of good food for cats 

With the current UK pet food market being worth £4.1bn, there are plenty of global pet food manufacturers spending big bucks to attract your custom. In order to discover the best food for your cat, there are lots of things that you need to consider. 

Cat expert Juliet Jones of rehoming charity Woodgreen says: “Many cat foods are designed by companies to appeal to humans. They will often place vegetables in them, make them multi coloured or design them to look like our food. In reality, this is done to attract us, rather than the need for the cat to have vegetables or fruit in its diet. Try to avoid products with unnecessary ingredients or lots of brightly coloured biscuits.”

It’s important to remember that the nutritional needs of a cat are distinct and different to humans. Cats require 41 essential nutrients for healthy body function, so as a cat owner, you should be feeding your cat a complete commercial cat food that addresses your cat’s nutritional needs.

The main characteristics of a satisfactory cat food are that it is:

• Complete – Providing adequate amounts of all the required nutrients
• Balanced – The nutrients are present in the correct proportions
• Digestible – Your cat is able to digest the food and absorb the nutrients
• Palatable – Appealing enough to be eaten
• Safe – Free of toxins or anything which could harm a pet

To help you make the best choice when it comes to feeding your cat, let’s have a look at some factors you need to consider in a bit more detail! 

Finding the right nutrition for your cat 

All cats must eat meat to survive - they can’t be vegetarian or vegan!

Meat contains essential amino acids which cats can’t make themselves. So, while they might be able to ingest small amounts of plant matter, they’re not able to fully digest it.

Our own in-house vet at Burgess, Dr Suzanne Moyes MVB MRCVS, explains: “Cats have a very specialised digestion, and their stomach secretes digestive juices that act primarily on meat. As strict carnivores, felines have high protein requirements and their metabolism appears unable to make essential nutrients such as retinol (Vitamin A), arginine (an amino acid), taurine (an organic compound found in animal tissue) and arachidonic acid (a polyunsaturated omega-6 fatty acid). In order to get these essential nutrients, a cat has to eat meat.”

>> A good quality cat food should contain: High levels of protein, vitamins and minerals, taurine, prebiotics, essential fats, and carbohydrates. 

Should you feed your cat wet food or dry food? 

Well, when it comes to convenience, dry food beats wet food every time. Serving up tasty kibble of crunchy goodness is the easiest way to provide your cat with a complete, balanced diet without mess or fuss. 

What’s more, unlike wet food, dry cat food stays fresh inside the packet until you’re ready to serve. And that’s not all! Some other benefits of choosing a dry cat food include: 

• Free feeding - Dry food can be left out for longer as it won’t spoil 
• Great for healthy teeth - Munching on crunchy kibble encourages chewing and helps to keep your cat’s teeth clean 
• Better portion control - By following the on-pack instructions, it’s easy to measure out exactly the right-sized portion to help your cat maintain a healthy weight. 

Feed your cat for its life stage 

In recent years, life stage food has been developed by vets and animal nutritionists to meet the different nutritional requirements of pet animals within specific age groups, such as kittens, adults, and seniors. 

Dr Suzanne Moyes says: “We now know much more about the significant role nutrition plays when it’s tailored to the different stages of our pets’ development, ensuring the optimum quality of life for the longest time possible.”

Find out more about our life stage foods here: 

FOOD FOR KITTENS  - Our complete kitten food can help your cat get all the essential nutrients they need for the very best start in life. Kittens grow at roughly 15 times the rate of a human baby and so need a diet that is high in energy and boosted with extra minerals and vitamins. From around three weeks old, feed very small amounts, softened with water or special kitten milk (not dairy milk) and mashed up, served in a shallow bowl. Gradually increase the amount as they grow. 

FOOD FOR ADULT CATS - Our complete adult food will ensure your cat gets all the protein, vitamins, and minerals they need to stay in tip-top condition during the prime of their life. 

FOOD FOR SENIOR CATS - Our mature cat food (generally aged from 7+ years) contains beneficial ingredients to support your senior cat during their golden years. These should include easily digestible protein to maintain muscle and body condition, glucosamine to help support joint mobility in older, less agile cats, cranberry to support urinary tract health, essential fats to provide energy, and omega 3 and 6 to help maintain a shiny coat and healthy skin, heart and brain.

FOOD FOR NEUTERED CATS - In just 48 hours after neutering, cats need an estimated 20% fewer calories. A switch to a neutered cat food can help to support any changes that your cat may experience. Simply reducing your cat’s intake of their original food may lead to your cat lacking essential vitamins and minerals. 

How much to feed and how often 

With dry cat food, by following the on-pack instructions, it’s easy to measure out exactly the right-sized portion that’s suitable for your cat’s age and lifestyle.

For instance, house cats may need fewer calories than cats who spend much of their day roaming outdoors.

The golden rule is don’t guestimate – measure out accurate portions. Giving your cat a little more than they need means they could become overweight. If you don’t feed enough, your cat will not be getting all the nutrients they need and will become underweight.

Kittens have small stomachs, so they need to be fed little and often. Kittens aged 8 to 12 weeks need four meals a day, kittens aged between 3 and 6 months old need three meals a day, kittens over 6 months old need two meals a day. When your young cat reaches their first birthday, it’s time to move them onto adult cat food, which is suitable for cats from 12 months

Adult cats are generally fed twice a day. Alternatively, as cats in the wild naturally eat lots of small meals per day, you could try splitting their daily intake into several small meals (unless advised otherwise by your vet).

Senior cats may prefer smaller, more frequent meals. We’d suggest four to six small meals a day, adding a small amount of water to soften the food, mashing it up with a fork if your cat has dental issues.

Some foolproof cat feeding tips! 

Fussy felines can sometimes be hard to please when it comes to dinner time. Here are some top tips that can help! 

• In the wild, cats have to work for their food, which exercises their bodies and stimulates their minds, doing wonders for their health and wellbeing. Dry cat food is easier to use with treat balls and puzzle toys, providing environmental enrichment and mental stimulation. You could also create forage boxes with shredded paper and dry food inside.
• Cats like to feel safe and secure when eating, so place feeding bowls in quiet locations.
• If you have more than one cat, always feed them separately – even if they seem quite happy eating together. This means each cat gets their time to eat in peace and you can monitor who is eating what.
• Choose low-sided feeding bowls so your cat can eat comfortably; pressure on the whiskers can be an unpleasant sensation for a cat!
• Provide water in a separate location to their food. As cats originally evolved in dry, desert environments, their motivation to drink is not connected to hunger – unlike us, they don’t want to eat and drink at the same time. If your feline friend prefers running water – as many cats do – invest in a pet drinking fountain to encourage them to stay hydrated.
• When introducing a new food to your cat, gradually mix in the new food with the old over a period of 7-10 days until the new food completely replaces the old diet, to avoid any tummy upsets.

What foods should you avoid giving to your cat? 

Avoid giving your cat the following: 

• Vegetarian or vegan cat food - Feeding a plant-based diet is likely to make them seriously ill. Cats are obligate carnivores and should not be fed a vegetarian or vegan diet as they require animal-sourced ingredients to provide essential nutrients. 
• Raw food - Raw food, especially meat, contains bacteria, parasites, and other pathogens that would normally be killed during the cooking process. 
• Human food - It might be tempting to give your cat scraps from your own dinner, but giving a feline human food can be extremely bad for their health. 

Never give your cat: alcohol, chocolate, tea, coffee and energy drinks, cheese and milk, fat trimmings, raw eggs, raw meat and raw fish, grapes and their dried forms, raisins, sultanas and currants, onions and garlic, and anything containing the artificial sweetener Xylitol. Should your cat consume even small amounts of these items, immediately seek advice from your vet.

Every cat deserves a delicious, nutritious dinner from Burgess Pet Care! 

And there you have it… What we believe to be the best food for cats. Here at Burgess Pet Care, all of our pet food - whether that’s our small animal food, dog food, or cat food- is made using premium ingredients to ensure excellent quality and superior taste to help your cat feel happy and healthy. That’s why we believe it is the best you can get! 

> Discover more! Learn more about your cat by reading our following guides: 

• A guide to cat nutrition
• How often should you feed your cat? 
• The next big step for your little cat
• Adapting your cat’s diet throughout their life 

Got more questions about your furry friend or about our recipes? Get in touch with our team today!

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