Three weeks ago, Claire followed a training about cat feeding. This training was given by Philippe Bocion again, a behavioristic veterinarian.

Feeding correctly a cat seems so easy, and nevertheless that can be so much complicated !

For Mr Bocion, no matter that the cat eats kibbles, canned food, or « home-made” food : what is important is that all the nutriments necessary for the cat are present in good proportions and in adequate quantities.

In this table, the recommended minimal percentages are expressed for dry food material. For a can of patee for example, it’s necessary to do a small calculation : if there are 75 % of humidity in the food, there are 25 % of dry material. The label indicates 7 % of proteins. 7 % divided by 25 % equals 28 % : there are 28 % of proteins on a base of dry material in this patee. Thus this food contains a sufficient proportion of proteins for a grown-up cat. This calculation can be made for the other ingredients.

A food sold in a pet shop or at a veterinarian will be a little more expensive but will be of better quality than a low-end food. If your cat eats kibbles, you must make sure that he’s drinking enough.

What are the consequences of a food imbalance ?

As Claire loves us very much, and as we like you very much also, we prepared you a list of main nutriments that should be in our food. We have indicated their utility and the consequences of a deficiency or an excess for each of them. Just a small reminder :

• We are not veterinarians.
• We want to offer you an overview of nutritional information in tabular form of reference.
• This list aims to be as complete as possible, but is definitely not exhaustive.
• The sources of our information are indicated at the bottom of the list.

Enjoy it !

Part 1 – Cat feeding : introduction

Two weeks ago, Claire followed a training about cat feeding. This training was given by Philippe Bocion again, a behavioristic veterinarian.

Feeding correctly a cat seems so easy, and nevertheless that can be so much complicated !

Cats are strict carnivores. They need a lot of proteins, lipids, and little (even no) carbohydrates. It’s necessary to know that cats use first their proteins to produce the energy they need, while humans for example use first carbohydrates, then lipids.

Several nutriments that cats need are only in animal-derived food, food which have a digestibility and optimal biological values for them. These key nutriments must be brought by food in quantity and in proportion adequate according to the sex, the age, the activity, and the health of the cat.

How to read the label of a commercial food ?

1. Verify that it’s really complete food.
2. Prefer a food which presents ingredients individually (chicken, lard, …) rather than by categories (meats, cereal, animal fats, …).
3. Prefer a food which sources of nutriments are animal rather than vegetable.
4. Prefer a food which additives are natural rather than synthetic materials.
5. Don’t look at the price pro food kilo, but calculate the price of a daily ration for your cat.

Both the lack and the excess of a nutriment are extremely fatal in short, average, or long term !

The damage on the body already show after a few weeks, or on the contrary, declare themselves after several years, and are often irreversible.

As the majority of our meals are home-made (raw feeding), Claire was extremely attentive… and she did well : she discovered that our ration of calcium was a little bit insufficient, and that therefore, the ratio calcium / phosphor of our food was not optimal. Fortunately, the difference stayed in an “acceptable” zone, but it’s something she corrected at once to guarantee our good health on the long term : she uses now a complement to be added to some only meat for one of our meals, and slightly increased the proportion of bone in the others.

We’ll tell it you more about food balance in a next article !

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