Feline Nutrition Trends
Due to the specific dietary needs of cats, finding nutritious products that optimize feline health can be challenging for consumers and retailers.
Creating appetizing, yet wholesome, recipes that will meet the distinctive nutritional needs of cats can be difficult for manufacturers, and finding these products can be a complicated task for consumers. While domestic cats might be considered part of the family, their nutritional requirements still reflect the physiological demands of their wild ancestors.
While other animals can lead healthy lives by relying on a vegetarian diet that satisfies their dietary needs, cats’ bodies cannot remain healthy without incorporating rich protein sources in their meals.
“Our feline friends require over 36 percent protein to prevent muscle wasting, and over 50 percent protein to promote an ideal body mass,” explains Gina Zaro, marketing director for Englewood, Colo.-based Dr. Elsey’s Cat Products.
Products manufactured with synthetic proteins exist, but these are not as nutritious for cats, whose bodies require natural sources to function properly. Additionally, the healthiest cats receive their natural proteins from animal sources—not artificial additives.
“Cats are obligate carnivores—cats are not small dogs—they metabolize their food differently than their dog friends and human companions,” says Zaro. “Dogs can survive on a diet without animal-based protein and cats simply cannot.”
Due to a need for certain amino acids that are derived from animal-protein sources, cat bodies require protein that is found in meat. When manufacturers choose to forego quality meat-based sources for these amino acids in their product lines, they could potentially put their four-legged customers at risk.
“Meat contains the complete array of essential amino acids cats’ need, plant proteins do not,” says Heather Hickey, vice president of sales for Ziwi USA Inc., located in Overland Park, Kan. “Carb-heavy fillers don’t provide much nutritional benefit to cats, and may promote obesity and other diet-related health issues.”
The differences regarding how cat bodies consume meals, gain beneficial nutrients and metabolize food, when compared with other animals, are extremely important to consider when stocking products that claim to offer comprehensive nutrition. Because of their body structure, when cats consume food, their systems attempt to work efficiently to fortify the animals with nutrients that are processed through amino acids.
“Their gastrointestinal tract is shorter relative to their body size, compared to most monogastric species, which gives them less time to extract nutrients from the food they eat,” says Josh Patterson, trade marketing director at Nulo, based in Austin, Texas. “Since their diets in the wild were primarily meat-based, cats evolved with enzymatic activity tailored to a meat-based diet.”
One of the most important considerations when thinking about feline nutrition is the production of taurine, an amino acid that promotes healthy function of physiological processes in cats. Though taurine is an essential component of feline health—as it aids in processes such as cardiovascular function and eyesight—some cats don’t produce enough due to their evolution from skilled hunters to human companions.
“Through domestication, we’ve brought cats indoors and taken away their freedom to hunt and select their own food sources, forcing them to eat starch-based diets with little to no meat, but still expecting them to thrive,” explains Patterson.
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