Cat Feeding

A cat is naturally a carnivore, and its protein needs are higher than a dog's. Cats are better at converting protein into energy, and they need high-quality animal protein for maintaining nitrogen balance, muscle mass, and ensuring the intake of essential amino acids. Protein is also consumed for maintaining the coat. Among the amino acids found in animal proteins, cats particularly need taurine and arginine. In addition, their diet should contain enough fat, minerals, vitamins, and essential fatty acids, such as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. In nature, cats prefer to eat small rodents, including their bones and internal organs. Cats do not need any carbohydrates, but a small amount of fiber, preferably animal-derived, can improve a cat's digestion, while excessive vegetable fiber can distort the gut microbiome.

Ideally, a cat should eat several small meals a day, just as it would hunt many times a day in the wild. Fasting is not suitable for cats at all. In addition to high-quality cat food, cats should always have clean and fresh water available, as cats are naturally poor drinkers, and in the wild, most of their fluid intake comes from food.
A cat's daily nutritional needs depend on many factors, such as age, activity level, and life stage. Changes in a cat's diet should always be made gradually so that its body has time to adapt. It is good to accustom a kitten to a varied diet during its sensitive period by the age of 12-14 weeks, as an older cat's first reaction is often to refuse new food. Especially the mouthfeel is precise for a cat when it comes to new and different food textures, and its sensitive sense of smell warns it of anything unusual. Cats also have a tremendous innate need to exhibit species-specific hunting behavior. For indoor cats, this need is rarely met, and therefore it is good to put effort into enriching their environment. Arranging feeding to resemble the cat's natural foraging behavior as much as possible through play supports natural hunting behavior and thus also the cat's well-being.

Even a cat's teeth reveal it to be a carnivore, as their sharp, pointed teeth are designed for cutting and tearing meat. Since teeth are a cat's most important tool, daily care for their dental health is crucial. Tartar formation is a common problem in cats too. Tartar forms when plaque on the surface of the teeth hardens due to the effects of saliva. The cat's diet and saliva composition affect tartar formation. Formed tartar and plaque can lead to gingivitis, spread to the tooth-supporting tissues, and even cause tooth loss. A bacterial infection in the mouth can also weaken a cat's overall condition. For a cat's oral and overall well-being, it is important to provide food that requires proper chewing, such as meat, bones, and sufficiently crunchy dry food. DIBO dry cat foods have a hard and large enough kibble texture that cats have to chew their food properly. DIBO dry foods also contain abrasive long-fiber fiber, which has been shown to help prevent tartar formation.

Pet cats no longer move as much as they used to. In addition, spaying and neutering cats, as well as some commonly used medications, increase a cat's appetite and tendency to become overweight. A senior cat's energy needs also decrease, and a diet rich in carbohydrates causes cats to gain weight.
Overweight can have many consequences for a cat, such as:

• predisposes the cat to musculoskeletal diseases.
• predisposes the cat to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and heart and circulatory system diseases.
• causes digestive disorders in the cat.
• reduces the cat's immune responses.
• increases skin diseases, as an obese cat cannot
• keep its fur sufficiently clean.
• shortens the cat's lifespan.