Food Labeling Terms with More Sizzle Than Substance
Pet food is a multi-billion-dollar industry in the U.S., and companies spend no small amount of money deciding what words to put in large, bold letters on the front of their packages to get you to buy their brands. But many of the come-hither terms have no legal definitions. They mean whatever the manufacturer wants them to mean. Others do have legal definitions, but they do not match the popular definitions, so they can confuse consumers into thinking a food has a special quality that it doesnt. And some pet foods are simply misbranded. Heres a guide for which terms to ignore, or at least rethink, when choosing food for your cat.
When Your Cat Requires a Reduced-Sodium Diet
One in 10 cats develops heart disease, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association. It’s not a small number.
The most common kind of heart...
Hold the Onions
Onions, as well as garlic and chives, can do more than cause a cat gastrointestinal irritation. They can damage red blood cells, which carry...
Five Common Nutrition Mistakes We Make For Our Cats
We all want to feed our cats as nutritiously as possible, but many owners’ earnest efforts are misguided. Even with the best of intentions,...
When Two (Or More) Pets Require Different Diets
One of your cats has heart disease and needs a low-sodium diet. The other is overweight and requires less food than the one with...
Dry Food or Wet for Better Health?
People often want to know whether they should be feeding their cat wet food instead of dry or vice versa. For cats with lower...
How Many Times a Day Should You Feed Your Cat?
Conduct an online search for how often a cat should be fed, and it will yield a surprising array of answers. While most sites...
Cat Nutrition Slipping
More people are feeding their pets homemade diets today than a decade ago even though homemade meal plans for cats are often rife with...
Yes, But Are You Following the Recipe?
Perhaps you would feel more comfortable feeding your cat a diet you cooked up yourself rather than one you bought at the store. But...
Kittens Fed Poor Diets May Be More Likely to Suffer GI Problems As Adult...
Kittens fed sub-optimal diets that do not meet the recommendations of the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (wsava.org) are more likely to be taken...
Decoding the Guaranteed Analysis on Cat Food Labels
Every cat food label contains a Guaranteed Analysis, a series of nutrient values listed as percentages or “milligrams per kilogram” with no instructions explaining...
Why It’s Important to Switch to a New Food Gradually
Our cat has to go on a weight management diet, or a prescribed diet to cut down on the risk for kidney stones, or...
