Cat Nutrition Made Simple – Part 2

What you want to do is follow three simple guidelines, listed below:

• Named meat as the first ingredient, with meat content of 60% or higher
• Low carbs (i.e. no grains, rice, potatoes or other vegetables)
• No added sugar

Not too complicated, right?

Now, let’s take a look at some examples. These are brands that are available in stores, some more famous than others. I didn’t include names on purpose, but you can use google to find out which one is which.

Let’s go through them one by one:

• Brand A: meat is the first ingredient but it doesn’t give details on what meat it is, or provide % of meat content. High in vegetables and grains. It is the most expensive of all foods in this example, at £14.70/kg
• Brand B: low and unnamed meat content, includes grains and added sugars. One of the cheapest brands available, at £4.70/kg
• Brand C: Named meat but 35% only, with pea protein as second ingredient which isn’t useful for cats. Very expensive for what it is, at £11.75/kg
• Brand D: 70% named meat content. Note that this food has 10% protein – the same as brand C, and they are in a similar price bracket. The difference is that Brand D takes protein from meat rather than peas, and is much better value for money at £10.12/kg
• Brand E: one of the cheaper foods on this list at £5.99/kg, with a detailed ingredient list and 65% meat content – what’s not to like?
• Brand F: a bit more expensive than brand E at £7.08/kg, but still over 2x cheaper than brand A (!) It has a detailed ingredient list and high named meat content, it’s a good “middle shelf” food

So, which of those would be your choice?

I would include brands D, E and F on rotation. It’s a good idea to feed your cat a variety of foods, so in case of shortages or changes to ingredient list, you have a few different options that your cat will like.