What does good cat food need?

Cats have lived alongside humans for thousands of years, well before they were domesticated. There were advantages for both sides: They hunted rodents such as mice, which feasted on people’s food, and for the cats, there was always food to be found near people. Besides mice, which provided the best nutrition, there was also leftover human food. That is why cats are still kept on farms, for example. 

Cats are carnivores and their body, including the gastrointestinal tract, is designed for this. They have a short intestine that can optimally digest the meat and the carbohydrates, fats and proteins it contains. In view of this fact, the first answer to the question ‘What does good cat food need?’ is provided: Meat! Because good food must also always be species-appropriate food! This means the cat is provided with the nutrients it needs for its daily requirements and it can best process at the same time. High-quality cat food should thus contain at least 80 percent or more meat. In nature, for example, a mouse would be their next lunch. It consists mainly of meat and also has a small proportion of vegetable components digested in its stomach that the cat would also partially eat.

It is not only the proportion of meat in the food that is important, but also the quality of the meat. Average industrial cat food partly consists of only a small proportion of meat that is also of inferior quality. Meat – especially high-quality meat – is expensive to buy. Manufacturers of industrial cat food therefore like to use cheap by-products such as slaughterhouse waste, production waste from the food industry or inferior-quality meat. As an alternative to fresh meat in high-quality cat food, meat-and-bone meal or meat meal is also often used as a meat component in cat food. In Germany, it is also legally permissible to add old industrial or catering fat, artificial enzymes and additives and to make the food artificially delicious for cats by using flavour, colour and odour enhancers. Unfortunately, savings are being made at the wrong end here, because even if the cat eats the food, it is at the expense of our animal’s health.

• Sugar
• Additives
• High grain content
• Water
• Meat meal or meat-and-bone meal

What good are the best ingredients or the highest meat content if the production method cooks away any natural vitamins, trace elements and amino acids and these then have to be added back artificially. This unfortunately is what happens with most cat foods. This is because the ingredients are pressed together with water under high pressure and at high temperatures to form a malleable ‘meat mixture’. Small pieces are then formed from this mixture and put through a dryer again before being packaged and sold as conventional dry cat food. Cats like this type of dry food and eat it from their dish on a daily basis, but veterinarians testify that this production process’ low level quality can harm the cat’s health in the medium to long term.

To ensure that the cat food doesn’t only taste good to your cat, but that it is also easy for your cat to digest and provides it with everything it needs to stay happy and healthy every day, compare the following points when selecting a cat food: 

• Production process: gentle production so that natural vitamins, trace elements and amino acids are not cooked away 
• Is fresh meat used or only meat meal or meat-and-bone meal? 
• Does it contain little to no meat? (Optimal amount: 80 percent or more fresh meat)
• Proportion of carbohydrates (as a favourable admixture in the food)
• Does it contain nutrient-less water instead of nutrient-rich meat juice?
• Were the nutrients and flavours added artificially afterwards? 
• Good cat food doesn’t need artificial flavours in order to be convincing. Avoid cat food with artificial flavour, colour and odour enhancers! 

• 83% fresh meat (no meat meal or meat-and-bone meal) 
• Freshmeatdryer as a production process
• Natural ingredients
• No attractants
• No grains containing gluten
• Nutritious and easily digestible
• Taurine optimised