5 ways to improve your cat’s dry food
Even the best quality dry food can use a boost of fresh food additives.
When you add fresh, whole foods to the kibble, your cat will enjoy the variety and get a nutritional boost.
A diet of fresh, unprocessed meats, organs, bones, and vegetable matter is closest to the evolutionary diet of our pets’ wild feline ancestors. A mostly fresh food diet, whether raw or lightly cooked, yields outstanding results, with beautiful coats, clear eyes, sweet breath, great teeth, calm dispositions, and cats who are rarely sick.
Kibble – the 50% rule
Dry pet food is convenient and easy to use, but you could boost nutrition by adding some variety and fresh foods. As carnivores, cats are healthier eating more meat and fat and fewer carbs. We recommend replacing 40 – 50% of a cat’s kibble with fresh, whole foods.
Try some of our favorite ways to improve a kibble-based diet.
1. ADD BROTH
Add homemade chicken stock, bone broth or beef broth. Heat the broth until warm, and add gradually to the kibble until your desired consistency is achieved. In addition to palatability, moistened kibble improves digestibility.
2. Add raw or lightly cooked meat, ORGANS or eggs
Adding extra high-quality meat or egg protein reduces the overall carbohydrate content, and is especially good for cats who have become overweight from a high-carbohydrate diet. Eggs can be raw or lightly scrambled.
3. Add goat’s milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, or canned fish
Cats love and thrive on extra protein. Cultured dairy proteins and canned mackerel, sardines, or salmon are good choices.
4. Add vegetables – raw or lightly steamed
Adding a few select vegetables to a cat’s diet is a great way to give them more selection, while sneaking in additional healthy vitamins, minerals, and fiber as well.
Raw veggies should be finely grated, ground in a blenderrr juiced so the cellulose is broken down.
This is good especially for cats who have become overweight from a high-carbohydrate diet.
Keep in mind that a cat’s diet should never consist of purely veggies
5. Add oils for essential fatty acids
Fish oil is great for essential fatty acids to strengthen the immune system, improve inflammatory conditions such as allergies and arthritis, and beautify skin and coat.