This article discusses the basic nutritional needs of your cat. Many nutrients have been studied individually in a clinical setting — in fact, they're examined more individually than in the food they came from. This is unfortunate because it's important to remember that the essential building blocks of health aren't isolated in nature. Whole foods contain a complex blend of synergistic compounds that work together to support optimal well-being. While that may sound complicated, it really isn't — if you simply use species-appropriate real food as the foundation for health.

 

 

One of the great things about feeding our cats a well-prepared diet of real food is that it's chock-full of all the nutrients we know are important to feline health. Plus, we're also including natural nutrients that have yet to be isolated, synthesized, and added to the cans and bags of processed pet food. It's more complicated for pet-food manufacturers who formulate products with isolated ingredients to make an appropriate substance that mimics real food in supporting a lifetime of great health.

 

Take the taurine disaster, for example. Taurine is an amino acid that pet-food manufacturers didn't consider essential until cats began to suffer and die from eating processed products deficient in it, Now it's an isolated chemical added to most cat foods, but if you're considering feeding your cat real food, I have great news: The first food group we'll discuss is a fantastic source of natural taurine!

 

Protein. Dietary protein supplies essential amino acids and is needed for the manufacture of antibodies, enzymes, hormones, and tissues and for proper pH balance. It provides energy for cats and is essential for growth and development. Complete proteins contain ample amounts of essential amino acids and are found in foods such as meat, fish, eggs, and poultry. Incomplete proteins do not provide all essential amino acids and are found in many foods, including legumes, grains, and vegetables. These plant proteins don't supply the essential amino acids that a cat needs (such as taurine), which come from animal protein.

 

Cats need animal sources of this nutrient, as the amino acids from vegetable sources aren't well utilized. How much each animal may need can vary slightly due to a variety of factors, including physiological state, age, activity, and the digestibility of the protein source being fed. Overall, cats have a very high requirement for protein.

 

Fat. This concentrated source of energy also provides essential fatty acids and aids in nutrient utilization and transportation. It's involved in cell integrity and metabolic regulation as well. Saturated fat is found primarily in animal sources, while polyunsaturated fat comes mostly from plants.

 

Fats (and oils) are composed of fatty acids, sometimes referred to as "vitamin F." The following are the fatty acids most involved in feline health: omega-3 fatty acids, which include alpha-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid; and omega-6 fatty acids, including linoleic acid, gamma-linolenic acid, arachidonic acid, and conjugated linoleic acid.

 

Linoleic and arachidonic acids have long been considered to be essential fatty acids for cats. More recently, DHA has been added due to its important contribution to feline vision, reproductive health, and the immune system. EPA may also be of benefit.

 

Essential fatty acids are just what they sound like — essential for the cat's health — and they must be obtained from food sources. Unlike some animals, felines don't efficiently convert plant sources of EFAs to the needed derivatives. For example, cats must eat meat to obtain arachidonic acid. Also, they don't convert LA to GLA (as some animals do), and studies show that GLA can benefit the health of feline skin and coat. We can theorize that in nature, the cat would eat another animal whose body had already made the conversion, thereby offering some of this useful fatty acid. The cat would also consume omega-3s and CLA when eating its natural herbivorous prey.

 

To sum up, LA; AA; DHA (which is mostly found in nature with other useful omega-3s); and to a lesser extent, EPA and GLA, can be considered important fatty acids for good feline health. CLA may become recognized as a bigger player in feline nutrition in the future because it's found in the meat and fat of a cat's natural diet, but it has only recently been "discovered" by nutritional science.

 

Minerals. These are essential to the cat and are involved in almost all physiological reactions. They contribute to enzyme formation, pH balance, nutrient utilization, and oxygen transportation and are stored in bone and muscle tissue. Biological availability may vary widely depending on the source of the nutrient. Elemental minerals are generally taken from the earth or water; chelated minerals are those that are bound with other organic substances, often making them easier for the body to absorb.

 

Minerals include calcium, chloride, chromium, cobalt, copper, fluorine, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, silicon, sodium, sulfur, and zinc. There are others that cats require at trace concentrations. Minerals, like vitamins, work synergistically, with a cooperative action between them.

 

Vitamins. These nutrients are essential for metabolism regulation and normal growth and function. Usually found in food, some are synthesized within the animal's body. They're classified as either fat or water soluble.

 

Fat-soluble vitamins include A, D, E, and K. The water-soluble group includes C and the B complex. Generally, fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the body, while water-soluble ones pass through more quickly. Once again, the carnivorous cat utilizes animal sources of nutrients more readily than plant sources. For example, felines can't convert beta-carotene from plants into vitamin A (as some animals do), so they need preformed vitamin A from an animal source. This type needs no conversion.

 

Water. Because cats are designed to fulfill most of their water requirements by eating fresh raw food, they naturally have a low thirst drive. This can lead to health issues when they eat dry food products and treats. One of the problems is that even though they become dehydrated eating the kibble, their natural "programming" may not encourage them to drink more, and their urine can become too concentrated. Even though a healthy cat doesn't drink much, you should always have clean drinking water available. And please make sure it's good quality, which means that just turning on the faucet may be out, especially if your community puts fluoride in the water supply. If you have a well, get it tested annually for contaminants.