Mary Allen
Our house cats are still completely predators inside. However, there are many reasons to keep a cat indoors. However, the food for indoor cats differs from that of outdoor cats.
Housing Versus Outdoor Access
Cats want to be busy. This is just as possible in the home as it is outdoors!
Our fur noses cannot hunt mice or ambush birds in the house. There are also seldom arguments with the neighbors’ hangover. Intelligence toys and playing with people together, a high scratching and climbing tree, and many hiding spots (e.g. cat houses) can also offer cat challenges, play, and fun in an apartment position.
Nevertheless, a pure house cat moves much less than a fur nose with free access or even a stray cat. She doesn’t have to defend her territory and as long as she doesn’t jump on the treadmill, she can’t cover the kilometers in the apartment that cats run every day.
She spends more time resting and cleaning. Indoor cats have much lower calorie needs than cats that can move around outdoors. They hunt less but eat more. A species-appropriate diet with the right food for indoor cats that are tailored to their special needs is therefore essential.
What is the Right Food for Indoor Cats?
If you want your cat to eat fewer calories, you might think of the famous “eat-half-diet” first. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop there. After all, your indoor cat needs fewer calories, but just as many vitamins and nutrients as its conspecifics with free access!
And even if your house tiger has a few grams too much on its ribs, diet can be dangerous: cats are very sensitive when it comes to radical weight loss. Too rapid fat loss can lead to “hepatic lipidosis” – a fatty liver.
Benefits of Special Food for Indoor Cats
A better solution is food that is tailored to your indoor cat’s needs. Such reduced-calorie feed offers enough nutrients to keep your fur nose healthy all around.
Most food for indoor cats also offers an additional benefit: additives such as the amino acid L-carnitine can have a positive effect on maintaining weight. A balanced calcium/phosphorus ratio in cat food is important for the balance of minerals in the cat’s body and can also reduce the risk of urinary and kidney stones. High-quality proteins fill you up and ensure that muscle mass is maintained, even in less active animals. Food for the indoor cat also often has a tooth-cleaning effect or helps with the natural shedding of cat hair that has been swallowed.
Important Components of Species-appropriate Forage
What actually defines high-quality pet food? One reads again and again that a high proportion of meat in cat food is a quality feature. Just as often is the statement that our fur noses cannot digest carbohydrates from plant-based food. But is it really like that?
Carbohydrates in Cat Food
Cats are strict carnivores. This means that, unlike dogs, they absolutely need animal components in their diet. But does that also mean that they cannot utilize carbohydrates, for example?
The opposite is the case. Cats can make good use of the energy contained in corn and wheat, for example. In moderation, carbohydrates in dry food are a very good source of energy for them. This applies to both “normal” and special food for indoor cats.
This can probably be attributed to the following circumstance: In the wild, cats not only eat the muscle or fillet meat of their prey but the entire prey animal. This means that bones, blood, organs as well as the intestinal contents with the fibers and carbohydrates they contain are absorbed and used.
Does Good Feed Necessarily Need a High Proportion of Meat?
The idea that dogs and cats need meat above all is probably related to the fact that they are often equated with smaller editions of wolves and tigers. However, our domestic cats are no small copies of their larger relatives.
But how much meat does a cat need in its food? First of all, cats do not need meat, but rather the proteins it contains.
Proteins are vital building materials in the body. They are necessary for building muscles, a stable immune system, and a healthy coat. Proteins, in turn, consist of amino acids and can either be of animal or vegetable origin.
It All Comes Down to the Right Mix
Whether it is high-quality and balanced food is not only determined by the amount of meat it contains but above all by the composition of the food and the quality of its components.
For a balanced diet, it is crucial that the required essential amino acids, the individual building blocks of proteins, are contained in the right combination. The right amino acid profile for cat food can also be achieved through a mix of different animal and vegetable protein sources.
The meat content alone is therefore not the decisive criterion. In a portion of good cat food, it is more important that it contains enough high-quality protein. That means: feed that uses vegetable protein sources is not worse per se.