Quote:
Originally Posted by sfocata
Isn't that the same logical fallacy as the other person posted? Are we basically keeping surrogate wild cats in our houses, or are we accepting that a domestic cat is distinct in both needs and nature?
Not saying you're wrong about branded kitten food (I'd love to know the real difference in ingredients myself) but it just seems an odd reason to discount it. Your kittens don't really need that blanket or basket, so better shove 'em out in the garden like proper wild cats  |
Interesting question
And yes, of course our domestic cats are different from wild cats and we should of course not try to replicate the hardships that follow from being a wild cat. They can have all the cat beds they like, we groom them, take them for walks in their harnesses, etc..
However, when it comes to the cats digestive system and nutritional needs, this has not changed and is still the same as the wild cats. True, the wild cat will have a harder time getting their food and might starve - we don't want to replicate that! But, we need to remember what they are designed to eat; birds, mice, any small animal they can get hold of really. Biologically, cats have a very, very limited ability to extract nutrition from anything that's not meat/organs/bone.
Sadly, the commercial cat foods we see today contain a huge amount of cereals, vegetables, grains - have a look at the ingredient list of a dry cat food and you'll see - I had a look at a random Hills pack and Brewers rice was the main ingredient - for a cat that's a carnivore?! This just does not make sense to me.
Kitten food (wet) is generally of a higher quality than adult wet food. But as Spid said, if the adult wet food was of a high quality in the first place, there would be no need for kitten food. As it is, the best choice assuming you want to feed commercial cat food, is a high quality wet food such as HiLife, Bozita, Porta21 - any food with more than 60% meat and no fillers. If that is fed, there's no need for any kitten food because the food will be providing enough nutrition as it is.