These days it’s quite easy to forget that your cat has certain nutritional requirements, just like yourself. As you are shopping in your local grocery store, you stop by the pet department and grab a couple of cans of the stuff that is on sale for the week. Or it could just be the brand you have bought for years now. What is surprising to most is that a lot of these foods are not supporting your cats nutritional requirements. I am going to discuss the most important things to know about cat nutritional requirements before buying that next can of cat food.

The first thing you should know is that your cat is, by nature, a carnivore. They eat meat. What is the most important element cats are getting from eating meat? Protein. Domesticated cats rarely get the nutritional requirements from canned foods found at your local grocery store. Turns out, that same stuff that you just bought at the grocery store doesn’t actually have any real protein in it. Just like humans, protein is essential in developing and maintaining muscle mass.

There are a lot of trick words that are used in the ingredients label to fool you into thinking there is meat in the product. It is a common problem that is occurring in the pet food industry that is now requiring cat owners to become more knowledgeable about the food they are feeding their cat.

An aspect that is important to note is the amount of grain that is present in certain canned foods. As I mentioned above, cats are carnivores. So large amounts of grain are present in canned food because...? Your guess is as good as mine. In reality, grains are hard for a cat to digest. I understand that grains have a purpose in dry cat food, but in wet not so much. Well, not a legit purpose anyways. 100% grain free isn’t necessarily the way to go. However, acquiring a type of food that limits the amounts of grain present in canned food is.

So you’ve been reading all this and been thinking “so what, I feed my cat dry food.” Well, that’s fine and dandy; everyone has their own opinions and choices. However, I do stress that you have fresh water present at all times for the kitty. Not surprisingly, dry food has very low moisture content. Cats have a better time absorbing and digesting their food when the moisture content is high. This is why canned food is so appealing. Cats do not have a very high thirst drive, but eating strictly dry food will make them thirsty. If there is one thing that you will take from this article, it is “water.”

I could go on and on about cat nutritional requirements, but I don’t want to pump you full of information, no matter how valuable it is. Again, more quality protein, less grains, and water available at all times are 3 key aspects that cat owners should be focused on. These 3 key points are really just the beginning in making sure you feed your cat(s) quality cat food that meet their nutritional requirements.