The Importance of Protein For Your Cat

As much as cat owners love their pets and try to do the very best for them, very few have a good understanding of feline nutrition.  Too many pet owners buy a bag of kibble at the pet supply store without looking at the ingredients or quality and occasionally their pets suffer.   If you look at the ingredients in most commercial cat foods, the first ingredient you will find listed will be some sort of corn product or other grain.

Before we take a good look at nutrition and protein in particular, we need to understand the background of feline nutrition.  The cat’s ancestors were hunters and their primary form of nourishment came from animals they killed.  These carnivores would eat the meat of wild animals and their bodies adapted to accommodate this diet.

Really in the past fifty years or so, the pet industry has transformed pet nutrition from a primarily meat based diet to a diet that incorporates primarily grains with little real meat.  A pet owner must understand that grains did not ever constitute a part of the cat’s wild ancestor’s diet.

Meat contains a great deal of protein.  This essential building block for the body is composed of amino acid chains which the body breaks down and the reincorporates into its own muscles and cells.  Commercial kibble often contains only a small amount of meat and this meat is usually made of of low quality protein.  Often, pet food companies will take the scraps and spoiled meat from butcher shops and convert this into pet food.

The body itself makes amino acids but cannot make all of them.  A cat is incapable of making a number of different amino acids and therefore these amino acids must be acquired through diet.  If a cat does not receive these amino acids or does not consume enough of them, then his health will suffer.

The signs of deteriorating nutrition can be difficult to recognize for a pet owner and taking your pet to the veterinarian will not necessarily yield a proper result.  Lack of proper nutrients could end up causing a number of unfortunate health conditions and nutrition may not be seen as a cause by a veterinarian who is looking elsewhere.

The best weapon a pet owner can use to protect their pet’s health is knowledge.  Make it your business to read as much as possible concerning pet nutrition and talk to your veterinarian about the best way to keep your pet healthy and fit.