The ads for indoor formula cat food are all over the media today. These ads say that your cat will be healthier, thinner, and will keep their litter cleaner if you chose their indoor formula cat food. Every major brand, as well as many store brands, is now available in an indoor formula. Is the hype true? Are these cat foods really better for the indoor cat? Let’s look at the claims and the facts.
First, let’s look at how the indoor formulas actually differ from the regular formulas. The differences vary some from brand to brand, but in general, the major difference is that indoor formulas have fewer calories per cup than regular formulas. Usually regular dry cat foods have between 400 and 500 calories per cup, and indoor formulas have between 300 and 400. This is accomplished by removing meat in favor of high fiber vegetable components. This lowers the amount of protein and fat per cup of the indoor formulas. Some indoor formulas also have also added more of the nutrients that your cat would get outside if they were eating grass.
In the wild, felines live primarily on the animals they catch. Their diet is mostly meat, supplemented by the small amount of vegetable matter in the prey’s stomach and occasional nibbles of grass. It makes sense that cat food with more protein would be the best for your cat. Most experts agree that the more natural meat based protein in your cat food the better it will be for your pet. Therefore a cat food that substitutes fiber for protein would not be the best choice. If your cat has a weight problem, a better solution would be limiting access to food and using high quality meat based canned food to make sure that all of their nutritional needs are being met on a lower calorie diet. It is also a good idea to make sure that you cat has plenty of opportunities to exercise. Engage your cat in active play each day.
As far as adding extra nutrients found in grass, all cat foods sold in the United States are required to contain the vitamins and minerals that have been found necessary to cats. Of course, there may be other nutrients that are needed that we don’t know about. If you are worried that your cat doesn’t eat grass and might be missing something in its diet, there are kits you can buy to grow “cat friendly” grass for your pet to nibble on inside.
In my personal experience, indoor cat food was on sale one week, and I decided to give it a try. I bought a large bag of the size that would usually last for two weeks with our three cats. I was so surprised to find that I was out of cat food after one week! Obviously my cats were making up for the reduced calories by eating more food. Matter of fact, they were eating more calories than they did with their regular food. My guess is that they were not finding the food satisfying.
In conclusion, indoor cat food is not a better food for your indoor cat. If you are worried that you indoor cat is overweight or not getting all of the nutrients that it needs, there are better solutions than choosing indoor formula cat foods.
