Scientific cat raising less detours
Today's topic
Learn to look at cat food recipes
In the face of uneven cat food brands, how do you choose reliable and suitable high-quality food for your own cats? Is it to see brand awareness? Or internet word of mouth? Or is it directly recommended by the big V?
It is better to ask others than to seek oneself, today we will teach everyone to understand the cat food formula table, and from then on, the choice of grain will not overturn.
When we get cat food, the first thing is to see whether it is a "three noes" product, look at the brand information, entrust the production party information, implement the standard, the production batch number and other basic information. Try to choose the brand of the large factory OEM, because whether it is production technology, production technology, production environment or quality control, the large factory can undoubtedly provide more perfect service and guarantee, and those who blindly take the emotional route of the workshop grain must be carefully selected.
Then look at the ingredient list, we can roughly judge whether the formula is of high quality from the following aspects:
(1) Meat content and type, meat powder content
(2) Grain, plant protein, etc. content
(3) Trace element content
(4) Food attractants, preservatives and other additives
About the content and type of meat, the content of meat powder:
We all know that cats are carnivores like lions and tigers, so meat must be the most important ingredient in their diet.
The original nutritional structure of cats that survive in the wild is roughly like this:
Protein: 55%
Fat: 38%
Carbohydrates: 9%
Fiber: 1%
Moisture: 64%
From this, we can roughly judge that the nutritional structure of domestic pet cats is:
Animal protein: about 45%.
Fat: about 20%.
Carbs: about 10%.
Dietary fiber: less than 5%
Moisture: not less than 50%
Therefore, in the ingredient list of cat food, the ingredients in the first few places must be meat to meet the needs of about 45% of animal protein content, taking this ingredient list as an example ↓↓
This ingredient list belongs to the standard format, we can see that its total meat content is about 86%, mainly chicken, containing a small amount of duck and fish, there is a clear indication of the type and content of meat, chicken palatability is good, and cats with gastrointestinal sensitivity are also more friendly.
Ingredients in the ingredient list content greater than 1% must be arranged in descending order, the first place of this cat food is 27% of the frozen chicken, the last 3 digits are 50% of the total content of meat powder, placed in the puffed grain market, it is a relatively good recipe, about the source of meat powder, we can check the raw material traceability table of the brand side. The cassava flour and sweet potato flour in the back mainly provide the starch substances necessary for puffed grains for the formation of puffed grains.
In addition, we can also query the brand's raw material traceability table to see the source of raw materials and supplier information, roughly judge the quality of raw materials, the same, if the raw materials are from the industry's head of the large supplier, then the quality is more secure.
Grain, plant protein and other content:
Common grain and plant protein components in cat food are rice, corn, wheat, oats, brown rice, beans, flax, xx protein powder, etc., grain ingredients mainly provide carbs, starch, plant protein and other energy, a small amount of cooked starch cats can be digested, but can not convert synthetic protein and other energy, so if the content of grain in cat food is too much, cats eat for a long time, it is very tolerant of nutritional imbalance, obesity and other situations.
In addition, we often say that the higher the protein in cat food, the better, but it should be noted that this refers to high-quality animal protein, and a large number of plant proteins to fill the number of grains can be classified as low-end in the low-end, we can compare the following two formulas, is a typical representative of high-end and inferior low-end ↓↓
The white one belongs to the high-end grain formula, the first few are meat, there is a type and content, no grain plant protein; and red this is the typical negative representative, the first place in the ingredient list is the grain, not even indicated what the grain is, followed by meat powder, corn protein powder, and flavor, not only high carbs, crude protein is also mostly from plants, long-term to cats to eat this grain, there will be a lot of health risks.
About trace element content
Cat food to achieve nutritional balance, in addition to high-quality meat protein, low-carbon water, low fiber, appropriate fat and other conditions, but also need to add some additional trace elements.
Such as taurine, can strengthen the heart muscle, improve vision, strengthen immunity, etc.; as well as multivitamins, but also to maintain normal body functions of the necessary elements; plus a reasonable calcium-phosphorus ratio, can strengthen bone development, avoid stones and some urinary tract problems; lecithin, nourish hair follicles, have a hair beautifying effect; probiotic prebiotic combination, is conducive to cat gastrointestinal and digestive ...
As long as you choose a cat food with a balanced nutritional ratio, you don't need to supplement the cat with vitamins, probiotics, lecithin and other supplements.
About additives such as food attractants and preservatives
Food attractants can enhance the taste of cat food, so that cats are more "love to eat", good cat food to add a small amount of natural "food attractants" can improve the palatability of cat food, there will be no adverse effects; what we need to put an end to is that some inferior brands rely on "food attractants" to create the illusion that cats "love to eat".
Classification of food attractants:
Types of adverse food attractants, including: pyrophosphate, sodium glutamate, meat flavor, flavoring agents, flavor additives, flavor enhancers, animal hydrolyzed proteins, flavor hormones, etc.;
Relatively safe are: brewer's yeast extract, animal oils and fats (except fish oil);
Naturally, animal liver can provide the nutrition that cats need and improve the palatability of cat food.
Preservative classification:
Safety preservatives: α-tocopherol, ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate, citric acid, etc.;
Preservatives at risk of pathogenicity: butyl hydroxyanisole (BHA), dibutylhydroxytoluene (BHT);
Adverse preservatives: propyl gallate (PG, also known as propyl dilate), tert-Butylhydroquinone (TBHQ).
To summarize, a few basic basis for choosing cat food
(1) The brand qualification is complete, produced by large factories and advanced technology
(2) The higher the meat content, the better, the crude protein is about 45%, and the raw material traceability is clear
(3) Does not contain plant proteins such as grains and legumes
(4) The proportion of trace elements is balanced
(5) The relatively high-quality edible and preservative ingredients used