Feeding your cat dry cat food is an easy way to offer free feeding.Considering the length of time Cats have been on the earth dry cat food is a reasonably new introduction too their diets. The majority of a cats diet before becoming domesticated came from small prey such as rodents, and birds etc. Now to current times most of our cuddly furry friends eat out of clean ceramic dish full of either cat food dry, or a canned food. So with this in mind what advantages have come from feeding our cats cat food dry? The first thing is the free feeding advantage. Most families today work and/or go to school leaving their cats at home alone all day. By placing a scoop of dry cat food in their dish in the morning it allows you cat(s) to graze all day long without the trouble off the food going bad or drying up as wet food will. This point is especially true for older cats that tend to eat several smaller meals a day rather then two larger meals in morning and night. Now while dry food may allow for easier free feeding there is a downside, and that is dehydration. Cats often have a tendency to not drink water. Even though their bowl is right beside their food dish. An advantage to wet food is the moisture that is already in the foods makeup. This means you must be extra cautious that your cat is getting enough water each day, even if your cat eats a combination diet of wet and dry cat food. Cheap Vs. Expensive Dry cat foodThe thought that less expensive cat food is a more economical way to go is indeed false. Research shows that cats eat as much as they need to get the nutrients they require. So this leads us to another point Read the ingredients on the Label!Many low cost grocery store dry cat food brands use carbohydrates as fillers check for some of these items:
These are all corn fillers, and cats are Carnivores they don?t require vegetables. They receive all the nutrients they require from meat! So back to our discussion? a cat will eat until they have their required amount of nutrients. Because of the fillers in low cost dry food, your cat will need to eat 40%-50% more of it to get the same of out a smaller serving of high grade dry cat food. What dry cat food to buy?So obviously it?s no secret that the cost savings for Grocery store brands such as Whiskas, Fancy Feast, or 9 lives are not much of a cost savings compared to premium brands like Eukanuba, Iams, and Hill?s Science Diet. So what type of food should you be buying for your cat?The first thing to look for when making your purchase of Dry cat food is it must be Certified by AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials). This is a general guide to ensure the product is of top quality. While there is some research showing that a brand can place this logo on any product they even if only one of their products meets this standard you can rest assured that most companies taking the time for one product are up-holding standards across the line. The next thing to look at is the ingredients. Are the main ingredients meat? Are there any artificial flavouring added? What about carbohydrate fillers as mentioned above? (look for corn or maize) If your considering a dry food certified by AAFCO with a good health content of ingredients you should feel good about your choice. Here are some top picks from manufacturers to try suited to different cats.
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