What is cat food made of? A similar question was probably asked by every owner of home four-legged friends. The article is dedicated to answering it. An overview of the most popular cat foods will also be provided.
Appearance story
Ready-made animal feed began to be produced in the 1860s. English electrician James Spratt invented the "dog biscuit", which included beef blood, wheat and vegetables. These were the first crackers for pets, soon many businessmen picked up the idea and began to produce similar products. In the 1890s, know-how also migrated to the United States.
At the beginning of the 20th century, prepared animal feeds became popular, the first canned food for cats was released in the 30s by Gaines Food.
In the 1940s, dry feeds appeared. Since the metal went to meet the needs of the front, canned goods for animals were not released. But the manufacturers did not want to abandon the profitable business, and therefore switched to dry products.
At that time, there were two types of them: granules (sold ready-made) and balls (they had to be kneaded manually).
After the war, people's well-being increased, and they could already afford the purchase of feed for tetrapods. Many companies have added this position to their product manufacturing. These were Mars, Lipton, Quaker Oats, Post, Carnation, etc. Most of the canned goods were fish then.
A new milestone in the history of animal feed was the introduction of new technology in the 50s by Purina. This was the use of extrusion - the process of preparing food by pushing through an extruder. As a result of such processing, the finished product turned out to be expanded, increased in volume, after which it was baked. Manufacturers used the new technology as a marketing move, offering more feed for the same money, but the benefits of such products were questionable. Firstly, crackers were sprayed with flavors, and secondly, a large amount of starch was added to the extrusion mixture - mainly it was corn.
Later, manufacturers contributed to an active educational campaign for pet owners, promoting harmful food for cats from the owners table, thereby seeking to increase sales of their goods.
Nowadays
Over a century and a half, industrial animal feeds have undergone significant changes, but not all owners tend to trust ready-made diets, doubting the quality of the starting products. Therefore, the owners continue to feed cats with "human" food. Is this permissible? And what is better for four-legged pets - ready-made food or natural products? This issue must be carefully understood so as not to risk the health of our smaller brothers. To understand whether ready-made feeds are useful, you need to understand what they are actually made of.
When choosing a product for the nutrition of your pet, it is important to analyze the composition of the first, carefully reading the inscriptions on the package. What is dry cat food made of?
Meat
The main position in the composition are components of animal origin. These include not only the meat itself, but also offal, fish and eggs. This is a source of protein for tetrapods. Best of all, the cat's body absorbs amino acids from poultry, as well as fish, lamb and beef. This does not mean that the animal should not be given other types of meat food. If there is no allergy and the food is well absorbed, it is worth diversifying the menu, offering various types of crackers.
On the food packaging, this ingredient can be written under the word “Meat”. This also includes animal muscle tissue, which may include fat, tendons, blood vessels, and skin. "Meat" is subjected to mechanical deboning, grinding into minced meat. Poultry and fish are usually isolated in the composition; they cannot be called "meat." What else goes to prepared animal feed?
Instead of meat
What else is included in cat food?
- Meat offal. These are the remaining edible parts of mammals, for example, liver, kidneys, scar. There can also be lungs and udders, although they are not edible to humans, animals can eat them.
- Bird. This is the designation of all edible parts of birds, except for feathers, entrails, heads and legs. This also includes bones and skin. They are ground together with pulp, and bones are also a valuable source of calcium. The producer often indicates the type of bird - chicken, turkey.
- Offal of poultry. These include the heads, legs, and intestines, as well as the heart, liver, and stomach.
What is cat food made of? In inexpensive products under the names "Meat" and "Poultry", offal is used at best.
Flour
Flour or hydrolyzed product. What is raised under this name in animal feed? In the process of processing under the influence of high temperature and pressure, moisture, fat, bacteria, microorganisms are removed from the components. Only proteins and minerals remain, they are crushed to powder. The resulting powder is called "flour" or "hydrolyzed" product.
- Meat flour is a powder obtained as a result of processing mammalian tissues, and not just muscle. Thus, meat flour can be produced not only from meat, but also from offal. Mammals may be different, the producer may indicate their species, but not necessarily.
- Meat and bone meal. Almost the same as meat flour, but crushed bones are also present in the composition. The manufacturer indicates the amount of minerals and nutrients, but from whom the flour was obtained, he is not required to indicate.
- Flour from animal offal. It is obtained from meat, bones and offal. The feedstock can be whole mammalian carcasses.
- Poultry offal flour. This component is obtained from whole carcasses of birds or their offal. The raw materials are crushed, processed to remove moisture and fat. The result is a protein-mineral ingredient.
- Flour from poultry. It is obtained by processing an ingredient called Bird. What is cat food made of and what else is present in its composition?
Cereals
This component is often present in feed of economy and premium class. Its presence in high-quality feed is not welcome, since there are not so many vitamins in cereals, and they are quite capable of causing allergies. Corn and wheat are the most dangerous in this regard. In cats, this can be expressed in causeless itching and hair loss.
Legumes
This ingredient in small amounts helps to improve digestion, and it is often used by manufacturers as a source of cheap vegetable protein. Super-premium and holistic feeds may contain peas and lentils. In economy class products, legumes are almost never found.
Vegetables
As a source of fiber, vegetables are included in ready-made cat foods. They contain more nutrients than cereals, but their cost is higher. Therefore, vegetables can be found in feeds of the super-premium and holistic categories. In the economy class goods, vegetables themselves do not exist; products of their processing may be contained.
Fats
As a part of feeds, animal and vegetable fats and oils are used. They give the product an attractive taste and increase its energy value.
Herbal ingredients - corn, rice, barley, peas, potatoes - help fasten the components into pieces, and are also a source of carbohydrates. In addition to them, beet pulp, cellulose, chicory, as well as inulin, fructooligoscharide can be used.
Vitamins and Minerals
The processed raw materials from which cat food is produced are a source of protein and carbohydrates. Vitamins and minerals are not stored after treatment, so they are added artificially. The manufacturer describes them:
- a simple listing - copper, iron, sodium, zinc, calcium;
- an indication of specific substances containing minerals.
Sources of minerals are synthetic additives: the amino acid complex of iron, the polysaccharide complex of zinc. Minerals are believed to be better absorbed from such compounds.
Vitamins are also added in the form of artificial substances: cholecalciferol (vitamin D from animal sources), ergocalciferol (vitamin D from plants), riboflavin (vitamin B 2 ), vitamin A, vitamin E, thiamine mononitrate (source of vitamin B 1 ), vitamin B 6 .
So, artificial chemical analogues of natural components, which disappeared from the feed during processing, are hidden behind complex chemical names. Amino acids (DL-methionine, L-lysine, DL-tryptophan) are also replaced.
Preservatives
Of course, in any feed there are substances that provide long-term storage of the product. Possible preservatives include:
- vitamin C;
- benzoic acid,
- butylated hydroxyl anisole (BHA),
- bottled hydroxyl toluene (BHT),
- calcium ascorbate,
- lemon acid,
- ethoxyquin
- potassium sorbate,
- sodium bisulfate
- tocopherols.
It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to indicate the preservative used.
Thickeners, emulsifiers, flavorings
These substances are needed to make delicious crispy crackers from the powder. As thickeners, carrageenan, agar-agar, guar copper are used.
Well, for an attractive smell, flavorings are put into the feed - extracts of chamomile, ginger, fennel, rosemary, etc.
How to distinguish quality feed?
In the first place in the list of ingredients should be meat. Kidneys, heart, stomach, liver, lungs are preferred as offal. In a small amount, scar, chicken heads are acceptable. Such components are included in the feed of the super-premium and holistic categories.
General names like "Meat", "Bird", "Offal" are not desirable. Under these names can be used various ingredients, and of dubious quality. If the manufacturer avoids specifics, perhaps he wants to hide something from the consumer.
Undesirable extracts instead of the substances themselves in the composition of the feed. For example, instead of meat, an animal protein hydrolyzate may be included. Often the proportion of meat ingredients can be no more than 4%, as it happens in economy-class feeds. For predators, this is very small, but because such products are not useful for pets.
Next, we give a comparison of cat food in composition.
Royal Canin Adult British Shorthair
Belongs to the premium class. The Royal Canin dry food for cats contains an isolate of plant proteins and dehydrated proteins of animal origin (birds), there is also a hydrolyzate of animal proteins and a natural aromatic additive. In addition, rice, wheat and cereal flour act as carbohydrates. As fat - animal, fish oil and soybean oil. As fiber - vegetable. There is a mineral supplement, yeast, fructooligosaccharides.
Royal Kanin feed for cats has a wide range of flavors, contains a large number of vitamins and minerals. However, the price of goods is not low.
Felix (sachets)
What is the cat food of this brand made of? This is economy class food. It contains meat and products of its processing (4% chicken, 4% lamb). However, what meat is in the composition and how much is unknown. In addition, there is an extract of vegetable protein, fish and its processed products, minerals, dyes, sugars, vitamins. The advantages are affordable price and widespread. Disadvantages - the fact that the composition of the cat food "Felix" contains unknown components in obscure quantities.
Whiskas
Economy class product. What do Whiskas cat foods make? Its production uses chicken, fishmeal, turkey, corn, rice, animal fat, vitamins and minerals, preservatives and flavorings.
Disadvantages of feed of this brand:
- “Whiskas” cat food contains many ingredients of dubious quality, indicated by general formulations.
- A large number of plant components.
- It is unclear what flavorings and preservatives are contained.
- A high percentage of potential allergens (corn, caramel).
"Proplan"
Premium food. It contains corn gluten, egg powder, fish and wheat flour, poultry offal flour, liver, animal fat, biotin, minerals and vitamins. Among the disadvantages are a small amount of meat, the presence of soy, wheat flour, gluten and taurine.
Acana grasslands for cats
Feed belongs to the class of holistic. It consists of lamb, lamb liver, lamb, salmon flour, eggs, lentils, herring flour, lamb and duck fat, apples, carrots, cranberries, pumpkin, peas, vitamins and minerals, dandelion, chamomile, mint.
The food is characterized by a high meat content, the presence of preventive additives, duck, fish and lamb fats.
So, having figured out what cat food is made of, we now understand that if you choose this option for your cat’s nutrition, you should purchase high-class products, since they contain components that are beneficial to the health of the animal.