If you have a cat, you must be one of the happiest people in the world. You get to love, cuddle, and feed a precious, purring creature. Picking the right cat food for your little friend may sound easy because you may think it simply requires a trip to the aisle where the pet food is shelved at the nearest supermarket. But once you get there, you notice an 8-foot tall stack of cat food, each packet differing from the other in various aspects.
In such a scenario, what would you choose? What attributes would you consider when you compare one brand to another? If you are likely to ask yourself such questions, then congratulations. You are a good cat parent. And for such people, here are some key aspects and questions to consider when choosing the right food brand for your cat.
What Stage of Life is Your Pet At?
The most crucial aspect to consider when buying pet food would be to consider the age of your cat. If the pet is a kitten, its nutritional requirements would be very different from that of an adult cat at its prime. As animals get older, their nutritional requirements change. So at each stage, evaluating the food being provided to your cat is essential and changing it as the need arises.
What Kind of Lifestyle Does Your Pet Lead?
The next aspect to consider would be how active your pet is. Animals that lie in their beds always would require a very different type of nutrition from a highly active animals. Hence, answering these questions is crucial, as a mix-up would either undernourished an active cat or overfeed a cat that leads a sedentary life.
How Much Does Your Cat Weigh?
After considering the stage of the cat’s life and the nature of its lifestyle, the next quantity to factor in when determining the amount of food to be served to the pet is the pet’s weight. According to research conducted over the years in this regard, most cats are found to be overweight. So, factoring in the weight of the whole body of an obese pet does it no good in this regard. Instead, find your cat’s ideal weight and feed it accordingly. That would help your cat by helping it shed some weight.
What Quality of Ingredients Go Into the Food?
This aspect is essential as many pet food brands use dismal ingredients that would adversely impact the cats’ health. This can be avoided by conducting a deep check on the ingredients that go into the cat food and sticking to trustworthy brands that have the backing of food inspection agencies and certifications.
How Much Does the Food Cost Per Day?
Rather than looking at the cost of the bag, determine the cost of the food per day. You could calculate this by weighing the number of grams of food per serving and multiplying that by the number of servings per day. Then divide that figure by the price per gram of the food. Run these calculations for all the food bags you shortlist to determine their actual value in terms of cost.
Final Thoughts
Finding the ideal food brand for your pet cat may be a tedious task, but once found can be used for a very long time. Apart from the factors listed in this article, it is essential to consider cats with biological issues like allergies or diseases requiring special care and nutrition. Some cats may have diabetes or urinary infections, so some diets must be avoided. Although this factor doesn’t have anything to do with narrowing down to the right cat food, this factor must not be neglected in any case, as doing so may affect your pets shortly or in the longer run.
