How to Choose a Healthy Cat Food | Alaska Mill & Feed

Many people are surprised to learn that there is no such thing as a perfect cat food.

What may work for one cat may not be right for another. Picking the right food isn't an exact science, either. Sometimes it takes a few tries to find one that works well.

Learn to read a cat food label. Choosing a healthy cat food starts with understanding a cat's nutritional needs, and how to read a food label. We can help make sense of an ingredient panel and unravel the mysteries of a cat's feeding behaviors.

Look for high-quality proteins. Because cats are obligate carnivores, they need nutrients that are generally only found in meat, like Taurine, certain essential fatty acids and fully-formed Vitamin A (unlike most mammals, cats can't synthesize Vitamin A from beta-carotene).

Choose digestible carbohydrates in proper proportion. While cats don't have a nutritional requirement for carbohydrates, they can use them if they are highly digestible. If a cat food contains a carbohydrate, as all dry foods must, it should be a high quality source. Cooked rice and barley are examples of good sources of carbohydrates for cats.

Be mindful of moisture. Because cats are desert creatures, they have a tendency to not drink as much water as they should, in favor of getting their requisite moisture from the food they eat. A cat's diet in the wild would be approximately 78% moisture, while a dry cat food is only about 10% moisture. If a cat is fed only dry food, he may be chronically dehydrated. Canned and raw foods are about 78% moisture, and may help to reduce the health effects associated with chronic low-level dehydration.

If you have questions about what to feed your cat, please ask one of our trained and knowledgeable staff.