How much should I feed my cat? Does the food I’m
providing meet my cat’s nutritional needs? As our knowledge of the relationship
between diet and health continues to advance and as the range of foods
available for cats continues to expand, it’s more important than ever to base
feeding choices on good information.
PROTEINS AND AMINO ACIDS
As carnivorous animals, cats derive most of their protein
from meat, fish, and other animal products. Some animal-based protein is easier
to digest than plant-based protein and is better suited to the cat’s digestive
system. Dietary protein contains 10 specific amino acids that neither cats nor
dogs can make on their own. Known as essential amino acids, they provide the building
blocks for many important biologically active compounds and proteins. In
addition, they provide the carbon chains needed to make glucose for energy.
High-quality proteins have a good balance of all of the essential amino acids.
Deficiencies of single essential amino acids can lead to serious health
problems. Arginine, for example, is critical to the removal of ammonia from the
body through urine. Without sufficient arginine in the diet, cats may suffer
from a toxic buildup of ammonia in the bloodstream. Although not the case for
dogs, the amino acid taurine is a dietary essential for cats. Taurine
deficiency in cats causes a host of metabolic and clinical problems, including
feline central retinal degeneration and blindness, deafness, cardiomyopathy and
heart failure, inadequate immune response, poor neonatal growth, reproductive
failure, and congenital defects. Found abundantly in many fish, birds, and
small rodents, taurine is either absent or present only in trace amounts in
plants. Strict vegetarian diets are not appropriate for cats unless
supplemented with nutrients essential for cats that are not found in plants.
FATS AND FATTY ACIDS
Dietary fats, mainly derived from animal fats and the seed
oils of various plants, provide the most concentrated source of energy in the
diet. Fats contain more than twice as much energy as protein and carbohydrates
per gram. Dietary fats supply essential fatty acids that cannot be synthesized
in the body and serve as carriers for important fat-soluble vitamins. Fatty
acids play an important role in cell structure and function. Additionally, food
fats tend to enhance the taste and texture of a cat’s food. The maximum amount
of fat in the cat’s diet can be reasonably high without any known adverse
effects. In many cat foods, 50% or more of the energy comes from fat. Studies
indicate that cat foods containing even higher amounts of fat are safe. At a
minimum, cat foods should have a fat content of about 9% of dry matter.
Essential fatty acids are necessary to keep your cat’s skin and coat healthy.
Deficiencies in the so-called omega-3 family of essential fatty acids can lead
to a host abnormalities of the nervous system, ranging from vision problems to
impaired learning ability. Another family of essential fatty acids, known as
omega-6, has been shown to have important physiological effects in the body.
Tissues that perform such functions as storage (fat), metabolism (liver),
mechanical work (muscle), and excretion (kidney) tend to have cell membranes in
which omega-6 fatty acids predominate.
