Best Dry Cat Food
Trying to find the best dry cat food for your cat? This article has several tips to help you find the best food for your feline companion.
Cats are more than just a pet. To many people their cats are an extension of their family and they only want the best for them. You will want to ensure you are feeding your cat the best dry cat food possible. Feeding your cat a well-balanced diet made from the best ingredients can help to improve his quality of life, bones and overall health.
How To Find The Best Dry Cat Food:
Nutritional Needs for Cats
The nutritional needs for cats are pretty simple. Cats do not need foods that are filled with preservatives, fillers or additives. Cats also do not need carbohydrates but most products do contain some sort of carbohydrate.
What cats do need is protein, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, water, fatty acids and enzymes. When looking for the best dry cat food you should ensure you are checking off as many of those needs as possible.
What To Look For
When shopping for the best dry cat food you should ensure you are reading the labels before you purchase. All foods should have named protein such as chicken, turkey, fish or lamb. The label should not simple say meat. You will also want to check the expiration date to make sure you are not feeding your cat an outdated product.
Make sure any food you buy is labeled as complete and balanced. The wording complete and balanced can not be printed on any packaging where certain criteria is not met.
Some of the criteria for complete and balanced is:
- Has been tested to ensure it is healthy for the stage of life printed on the packaging. (Kitten, Adult or Senior)
- The food must meet or exceed the standards set forth by AAFCO. (American Association of Feed Control Officials)
- Uses natural preservatives, such as Vitamins E & C.
Knowing what to look for in advance will help you determine the best dry cat food for your cat.
Things to Avoid
Avoid buying any cat food that has the words; by-products, bone meal or animal digest. If you see any of these words on the packaging you should avoid purchasing that particular brand of food. You should also keep an eye out for chemical preservatives such as ethoxyquin, BHA or BHT. These are chemicals that you should not be serving to your furry buddy!
What is the best dry cat food?
Popular Brands of the Best Dry Cat Foods:
- Wellness Cat Food
- Science Diet Cat Food
- Blue Buffalo Cat Food
- Taste of the Wild Cat Food
- Innova Cat & Kitten Dry Food
- Evo Cat Food
- Eukanuba Cat Food
- Royal Canin Cat Food
If you are still unsure of what the best dry cat food is do not hesitate to ask your vet for a suggestion.
Our cats, and I guess all cats are known for their sensitive stomachs, and we finally found something that agrees with both our cats. Evo works for them, so we have stuck with that for a few years now. These are great tips.
WE have a dog, so I can’t tell you what cat’s need, but I agree on the no fillers, no by products, no wheat no grains, no corn. Dogs are carnivores, and they need the majority of their diet to be from meat. Raw is best, but I have found a brand that is only bison and deer in a bag!
Great post..Need to re consider out kitty’s food!
Thanks Nicole. I hope it helps. :)
This is great information! I think it’s really important for pet owners to understand that not all foods are created equal. Also, just because a store sells it doesn’t mean it’s good! We use a lot of the foods on your list.
Thanks for the recommendation! My cats’ food isn’t up there, I feel like a bad mommy and now I want to get them the best! :)
Some helpful tips here — thank you for a great article! writing this has made me realise that I have to start taking action