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Compared with humans, your favorite feline needs a high-fat, high-protein diet with certain animal nutrients.
Cats usually eat many small meals throughout the day, so they easily adopt a free-choice feeding schedule to maintain their normal body weight. Dry foods, such as IAMS™ ProActive Health™ Adult Original with Chicken, are best suited for free-choice feeding because they stay fresh longer.
Cats need nutrients from animal-based protein sources. Providing the vitamins, minerals, protein, and other components found in a complete and balanced pet food can lead to a long and healthy life for your cat. It is important to avoid supplementing your cat's diet, as doing so may lead to a variety of health problems. When selecting a pet food, look for ones that offer the following nutrients:
Pregnant or Lactating Cats
A cat's energy intake should be increased gradually by up to 50% over her maintenance intake through pregnancy. You can use kitten food to provide nutritional support during the last few weeks of gestation.
After birth, the mother cat's energy needs increase by 50% to 75% over normal in the first week to twice normal the second week and to three times during the third week. The third and fourth weeks are the most demanding because kittens are still consuming milk and have not begun to eat dry or canned food. Once kittens begin weaning, the mother cat should be tapered back to normal food portions to avoid unnecessary weight gain.
Avoiding Obesity
Food and energy requirements may vary for your adult cat. In general, indoor cats have less opportunity or need to exercise than outdoor cats. As a result, indoor cats are more prone to obesity, and regular exercise should be encouraged. You may want to control your cat's portions and choose a cat food made to help maintain weight.
Preventing Hairballs
Cats spend a considerable amount of time grooming. In the process, hair can be swallowed and build up in the stomach. If the hairball doesn’t pass into the intestines, a cat may try to cough it up. A special diet can help decrease the likelihood of hairballs, but you may decrease its effectiveness if you combine it with other foods.
Ethoxyquin is a synthetic antioxidant (artificially manufactured from other elements) that is approved for various uses. It is approved and regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) for use as a preservative in animal feeds. Pet food manufacturers have been using ethoxyquin to prevent rancidity and maintain the nutritional quality of their products for more than 35 years.
Ethoxyquin remains stable at the high temperatures required to process pet foods during extrusion. It is important in protecting fats and oils from degrading, losing available calories, and becoming rancid.
Despite the fact that all studies conducted to date prove that ethoxyquin is safe for use in all animal foods when used at approved levels, rumors continue to circulate to the contrary.
Individuals who seek to discredit the use of ethoxyquin will often cite certain studies that showed toxic effects in animals fed ethoxyquin. What these individuals fail to point out is that the animals in these studies were given excessive amounts of ethoxyquin—20 to more than 50 times the maximum limit—before negative effects were exhibited.
