All of us would like to feed our kitty the best food possible, but finding a nutritious healthy food for your cat is not as easy as it seems. Looking at the beautifully designed bags filled with kibble, along with the enticing text using words such as “wholesome” “nutritious” and “Veterinary Recommended” it can be easy to be put at ease, especially after reading that the very first ingredient is meat!
Unfortunately there are a number of ingredients in cat food that not only do not belong there, they can be detrimental to your cat.
While the pet food conglomerates want you to believe that grains are “wholesome” for your cat or dog, they are implicated with a long range of health problems. Not to mention grains have no part of the diet that our magnificent felines have evolved on for the past few millions of years.
One of the worst ingredients in pet food is corn. It irritates the bowel, it is highly allergy producing and it has a high glycemic index.
What that means is that after the cat eats a meal that contains corn, her blood sugar level rises. Cats have different metabolic pathways than humans do, and do not have the necessary enzymes to handle the onslaught of sugar in their blood stream. While humans get their energy from sugar,cats get their energy from animal protein.
Commercial kibble containing corn has 30-60% carbohydrates. A cat in the wild, eating what nature intended for them to eat, will eat food containing 3-5% carbohydrates.
After a meal of corn containing kibble, the cat will have a spike in blood sugar. Cats do not release insulin after eating carbs, cats release insulin after eating protein, thus are inefficient lowering the blood sugar.
Constant spikes in blood sugar levels are taxing on vital organs such as liver and kidneys and taxing on the endocrine system. The end result is not infrequently insulin dependent feline diabetes.
Corn is also implicated in feline obesity. Cats do not register full from carbohydrates like we do. They register full from eating protein. In order to get their protein needs satisfied, the cat has to eat more food, thus becoming obese after ingesting foods rich in corn.
Finding a grain free food for your pet should be on the top of your list. Today there are grain free canned foods and even grain free kibble.
Getting your cat or dog, onto a food that does not contain corn is of utmost importance.
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