Feline Nutrition

Can cats eat eggs?

Yes, a small amount of egg is fine for most cats to eat. Eggs are a good source of protein and provide many essential nutrients including vitamins A, B6, B12, D and E, riboflavin, folate, niacin, iron, zinc, calcium, omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants.

As with any ‘treat’, limit the amount and frequency you feed as this adds excess calories to the cat’s diet. An average 4.5 kg (9.9 lb) cat on a maintenance diet should consume 246 calories per day, and one egg is approximately 74 calories (310 kilojoules), which is just under 1/3rd of the cat’s total daily calorie allowance. While eggs contain many beneficial nutrients, they are not balanced and complete, cats are obligate carnivores and must ingest meat to survive.

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What do cats eat?

Cats are obligate carnivores which means they must have meat in their diet in order to survive. Their primary ancestors lived on a diet of small rodents and birds. Cats require a high protein diet with a variety of different nutrients such as taurine, arginine, calcium, niacin (vitamin B3), pyridoxine (vitamin B6) and thiamine (vitamin B1), to name a few. Many of these nutrients are found in animals only, making a vegetarian diet impossible for cats.

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What is vitamin A?

Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that has multiple functions within the body. It helps in the formation and maintenance of healthy teeth, skeletal and soft tissue, mucous membranes, and skin. Approximately 80% of vitamin A is stored in the liver and is released in small amounts as it is needed. Vitamin A toxicity (hypervitaminosis) occurs when too much vitamin A is ingested, leading to toxicity.

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What is taurine?

Also known as 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid, taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid which was first isolated in the bile of an ox in 1827 by Austrian scientists Friedrich Tiedemann and Leopold Gmelin. Most mammals can synthesise taurine from other sulphur amino acids such as methionine and cysteine; however, while cats can manufacture some taurine, it is not in adequate amounts to meet their needs. This is due in part due to the low activity of two enzymes essential for taurine synthesis; cysteine dioxygenase and cysteine sulfinic acid decarboxylase.

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Being able to read pet food labels really helps when choosing which food to buy for your cat. It is not a difficult task if you know what you are looking at. This article hopes to simplify what these labels mean, giving you, the carer more power and knowledge to choose the best possible food for your pet. Bear in mind that rules and regulations will vary from country to country, but many will follow the regulations of AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials).

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What is a food intolerance?

Food intolerance is an adverse reaction to food, one of its ingredients or additives. It differs from a food allergy in that there is no immune system involvement. Food allergies typically cause nonseasonal itching, especially around the head and face, swollen and inflamed areas on the face and ears, hair loss due to itching, vomiting, and diarrhea.

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What are food allergies?

The role of the immune system is to keep infectious microorganisms, such as certain bacteria, viruses, and fungi, out of the body, and to destroy any infectious microorganisms that do invade the body. Allergies are the result of an inappropriate response to a substance which would usually be considered harmless (such as a type of food, pollen etc). In an allergic animal, the immune system overreacts to the substance and mounts an immune response against it.

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