Introduction to Fresh Cat Food
Proper feeding of cats requires choosing the right foods that cater for the cats nutritional needs in the right proportions. Dry cat foods are good for those cat owners who want to take care of their pets’health and feed them with fresh and quality food.
Compared to process dry food/kibble, a fresh food is made from natural ingredients and has fewer artificial ingredients added to it. It aids in digestion, increases energy level and gives sheen to coat. In the rest of this guide, we will discuss about the advantages and the process of providing the cats with fresh food diet.
1. What Is Fresh Cat Food?
Fresh cat food is one that contains foods that have not undergone several industrial processes before reaching the pet’s dish. It has protein in form of meat, vitamins from the vegetables and essential body fats. Fresh food products do not contain preservatives like commercial dry or canned foods or have extensive addition of fillers which may be damaging to the body.
It is either processed in the home or bought from different stores and then kept in the refrigerator or a freezer. To enhance the health of your cat timely, good and fresh foods should be provided to the cats as they are essential to their wellbeing. This food is believed to contain nutrients that are needed for proper functioning of the immune system, development of muscles as well as digestion.
2. Benefits of Fresh Cat Food
There are several benefits that one gets from the fresh cat food. It is a good source of quality proteins that helps in building muscles of the human body. It also has its peculiarity in that fresh food is not as likely to cause dehydration and yet contains some of its own moisture. This minimizes the possibility of having kidney diseases and urinary tract infections.
This makes it less hard in the digestion process since there are no added artificial components. Some of the changes observed by several pet owners include improvement in energy levels as well as shininess of the cat’s coat. In this case, feeding your hamster fresh food can help to minimize on allergies, obesity as well as digestion complications.
3. Key Ingredients in Fresh Cat Food
Like any other cats; carbohydrates are rarely used in preparing fresh cat food but protein, fats and fiber vitamins are used. The main ingredient should be animal protein which include chicken, beef, turkey, and fish among other lean sources of protein.
Some of the good fats include fish for omega-3 fatty acids which are essential for skin and coat of the cat. Vegetables like carrots and spinach supply fiber and antioxidants. Some recipes involve the use of organs for the preparation of the food to include extra nutrients to the diets they are preparing for their families. Products such as onions, garlic and chocolates should not be given to the cats since they are poisonous to the cats.
4. [Change your cat to fresh food diet]
Transit to new food should be done gradually to avoid gastric disturbances and reduce its impact on the digestive system of the animal. First Feeding should begin with what may be likened to the addition of some fresh food into the cat’s current feed. To avoid side effects or irritation of the gastric lining, the portion should be gradually increase over 7 to 10 days.
Check how your cat responds to the new diet plan you have presumed to provide for it. However, if any problems develop with digestion, then it is necessary to make the transition slower. It is important here to ensure that the food is well prepared and cooled for longer life as well as stored at the right temperatures. Ensuring clean water is also crucial as a service to attend to other human necessities which is provision of fresh foods.
5. Homemade vs. Commercial Fresh Cat Food
One of the main advantages of feeding your cat homemade fresh food is the ability to choose the components of the dish and its quality. But it takes time, effort, as well as understanding of what constitutes a good diet. To complement each cuisines, the amount of proteins, fats, and even vitamins should be present to some extent.
They will also feed their pets on some of the commercial fresh cat food that is available on the market to save time. It is compounded by experts for fulfilling the nutritional needs of cats to the optimum level. As for now, some brands provide customers with a subscription and deliver food directly to consumers’ homes. Either is possible and can prove to be effective especially depending on lifestyle and the cat’s personality.
6. Common Mistakes to Avoid
Care should be taken when feeding fresh food because this may result into some of the following detriments of the health of the cat; One mistake as to its preparation is unbalanced nutrients. For instance, cats are known to need taurine, a nutrient that belongs to the group of amino acid and are sourced from meat. Deficiencies, as a rule, have the potential for the development of severe health complications.
Yet another injustice is taking too much of carbohydrates. Cats are strict meat lovers and consuming only animal tissues, commercially, cat foods are made of animal derived proteins. These foods include onions and garlic since they are likely to increase the production of hydrogen sulfide gas, which is associated with decreased oxygen supply. Also, store food properly to avoid growth of bacteria and subsequent contamination of food substances.
7. How Much Fresh Foods Should You Feed
The quantity of fresh food, a cat should consume daily, depends on age, the weight and activity of the pet. It is important that a cat should consume between 25 to 35 calories for every pound body weight of the cat per day. Portion sizes should depend on the body requirements, and this can be achieved by ensuring that the portion sizes are small so that a person can make several trips to complete their serving size.
This point very explicitly renders overfeeding as detrimental for being associated with obesity while underfeeding is also not good since it leads to malnutrition. Consult your veterinarian to determine the precise amount that should be offered to your dog at a given time. Ideally, cats should eat at a fixed time of the day and the duration should be twice in a day.
8. Public of the best commercial fresh cat food brands.
DIM SUMMA There are many brands that deal with fresh cat foods which are healthy and well balanced. Quite an interesting selection of the brands includes JustFoodForCats, Smalls, and Nom Nom. These companies ensure that they use natural products in preparing the foods and this does not include the use if synthetic substances or preservatives.
Most contemporary brands have diets and meals specifically adapted for special needs of your cat. Companies whose products can be bought on subscription mean that you do not need to go out to prepare the meal as they literally come with it already cooked and ready for you to heat. Therefore, it is always important to consult the list of ingredients and the reviews so as to determine whether a certain brand supports your cat nutritionally.
9. Signs Your Cat Is Thriving on Fresh Food
When you have transitioned to taking fresh foods, you will have to wait for some signs that will signify that you have improved health. Signs of an overall better health include the shiny coat, being more active and having the right weight. Better digestion and thus less of the hairballs and smaller and firmer stools are one of the benefits. Food could also have an effect on the mood of the cat or reduce instances of anxiety in a cat.
Senior cats should have a bland diet as so often they don’t eat their food well while still, vigorous eating indicates that the diet is good for the cat. Such check-ups help recommend the right foods that the cat should be taking depending on their age, breeds among other factors.
10. Conclusion
Fresh cat food contains many benefits to the health of the pet making it adoptable by any exerted cat owner. It plays a key role in digestion, hydration of tissues and cells and benefits the overall health on an organism. However, it may take time and money more than the one used in the preparation of dry food but it has some benefits that accrue to it.
If you opt for homemade fresh foods, equal balance must be ensured though ready made fresh foods can also be bought from local shops. If not for anything, proper feeding practices should be observed to ensure that your cat gets to live a longer, healthier and happier life.
