15.10.2021

Tailor-made cat food—purrfection guaranteed for your feline!

Some cats don’t understand that the universe doesn’t revolve around them. Nothing is too good for them, and you may find yourself going to extraordinary lengths to avoid the reproving glances and cold shoulders. They may shun dry cat food and only accept wet, favour exotic flavours, such as ostrich or salmon, or demand cat jelly or cat gravy to enhance their meals.

Other cats have nutritional issues such as food sensitivities, which usually means they need high-protein food, a grain-free diet, or hypoallergenic nutrition.

In either case, you may find yourself in need of a customised diet to satisfy your feline’s needs. Untamed has all the information you need on tailor-made cat food!

What should tailor-made cat food help with?

Oh purrrlease, just get on with making my food!

Source: Pixabay

Tailor-made cat food should help with several nutritional and health issues that cats can suffer from.

The most common are:

1. Weight control
2. Food allergies
3. Dietary intolerances
4. Fussiness or unwillingness to eat commercial food

Custom cat food for weight control

Comfy sofas plus indoor cats can often equal kitties built for comfort rather than speed.

If you add cheaper commercial cat food into the mix, you may find your furry mate putting on the pounds with alarming ease.

Many cheaper brands of cat food are loaded with cereals and carbohydrates—carbs can be a good source of quick-release energy but get stored as fat if not burnt up shortly after consumption.

The easiest and safest way to help your cat manage their weight is to feed them high-quality food in which the calories are delivered without the danger of turning into fat. Tailor-made diets are excellent for achieving this.

Fighting food allergies with tailored cat food

Many cats suffer from allergic reactions to certain types of food.           

The allergies come in the shape of:

• Skin irritations and excessive coat shedding
• Gastrointestinal problems, such as vomiting or diarrhoea

Many food allergies in cats are related to the protein source in their food, so a tailor-made diet can ensure the offending protein is eliminated.

Dietary intolerances prevented with custom cat food

Food intolerance in cats is different from an allergy but can be as difficult to deal with.

While an allergic reaction occurs when the organism mistakes specific proteins for harmful invaders and mounts an immune response, intolerances are the result of your feline being unable to metabolise certain enzymes in food.

The most common intolerances in cats are:

• Lactose intolerance
• Intolerance to corn or other cereal gluten
• Inability to process artificial flavourings, colourants, or preservatives

Intolerances also cause vomiting, diarrhoea, and itchy skin, often making it difficult to tell whether your cat is suffering from an intolerance or an allergy. Despite similar symptoms, allergies tend to be more dangerous and should be dealt with immediately. You should monitor your cat’s behaviour and if the symptoms worsen, visit the vet as soon as possible.

Fussiness or unwillingness to eat commercial food

We all know that some cats can be too fussy for their own good.

They can happily eat whatever you put on their plate for weeks, only to steadfastly turn their nose up at it from one day to the next.

Fussiness can be frustrating, but it can also have serious medical implications. If your cat begins to lose weight as a result of not eating, there is a risk that liver damage may ensue.

If cats don’t get enough calories from food, they quickly begin to mobilise fat reserves in the body, flooding the liver with fat, which may compromise the organ and lead to knock-on complications with the kidneys, pancreas, and cardiovascular system.

Are there any other reasons you should look at a tailored cat food diet?

Besides health issues related to your feline’s diet, there are personal reasons for checking out tailor-made cat food.

Cats are highly intuitive creatures and can quickly become experts in manipulating their parents into the behavioural patterns they want, such as:

• Spoiling them with treats or extra food
• Feeding them scraps while cooking or when they beg
• Allowing them to scavenge around the house

As benign as it may seem, such behaviour can cause numerous problems, including:

• Cats eating something they shouldn’t
• Kittens not getting enough of the nutrients they need
• Senior cats eating things they can no longer digest

The idea of tailor-made cat food is like manna from heaven for cat parents who want to spoil their kitties.

Serving a meal specially prepared for your cat is a treat impossible to replicate unless you resort to home cooking for your feline—without the hassle and expense of the DIY route.

As long as you don’t anthropomorphise the meals—believing that your cat loves and needs the same things you do—a tailor-made diet is a purrfect way to show your love and pampaw your feline.

“Once and paw all, I AM NOT SPOILT!”

Source: Amir Ghoorchiani

What should a tailor-made diet consist of?

If you are considering a tailor-made diet for your cat, you want to make sure that it is the healthiest option possible.

Whether the diet is designed to address a nutritional issue or is a way of showing your love for your feline, the best thing you can do for them is offer food that meets their dietary requirements.

To be healthy and happy, cats need:

1. High-quality protein
2. Animal fat
3. Essential vitamins and minerals

High-quality protein in tailor-made cat food

Cats are obligate carnivores, so their food should be based on animal proteins.

Proteins are made up of amino acids, which are the building blocks of:

• Muscle
• Skin
• Hair

As meat-eaters, cats can best extract the necessary amino acids, like taurine, from meat. Feeding them a meat-based diet means they’ll:

• Eat less (most likely)
• Be able to build muscle more easily
• Have healthier skin and glossier coat

Some meat sources are better than others, so you can check the biological value (BV) of different types of animal protein. The BV indicates what percentage of the amino acids in a protein source a cat can metabolise.

The BVs of the most common proteins are as follows:

Only the best protein is good enough 

Image (c) Untamed

Animal fat in tailored cat food

Along with protein, fat delivers a portion of the energy your cat needs for:

• Hunting and playing
• Healing
• Reproducing

It is also the primary source of the fatty acids your cat needs to help chemical reactions occur in the body.

Since fat is a powerful taste enhancer, cats are hardwired to love its taste and smell. You should be careful about the quantities because if your furry friend consumes too much, they will get fat.

Essential vitamins and minerals in custom cat food

Cats need the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals in their diet to stay healthy.

Most are present in meat—particularly liver—so your kitty should receive enough if the tailor-made diet contains the right amount of animal protein.

You should make sure your feline doesn’t get too much vitamin A—excessive amounts have been linked to bone malformations in cats.

What about carbs in tailor-made cat food?

Some tailor-made diets use high levels of carbohydrates in their recipes, claiming health benefits from the high fibre content of the food.

In the wild, cats seldom eat carbohydrates, and their bodies are not set up to handle them well.

Carbs come in three levels of complexity, namely:

1. Sugar
2. Starch
3. Fibre

Sugar

Sugar is a simple carbohydrate that has no nutritional function for a cat.

Some manufacturers include simple carbs in their recipes to:

• Bulk the product up
• Offer an instant energy source

Sugar is easily converted into fat if left unburnt, which often results in obesity and can increase the risk of diabetes.

Starch

Complex carbohydrate chains are known as starch and can help to bind cat food and make it more palatable. Mouth-feel, or the texture of the food in a cat’s mouth, can have a significant impact on how much a feline likes a particular product.

Fibre

Fibre is a complex carbohydrate.

Some manufacturers claim that fibre can have a positive impact on the feline digestive health, but the bottom line is that cats seldom eat any kind of carbohydrate in the wild.

If carbs are present in a tailor-made diet, they should make up no more than 3% of the dry volume.

If a cat food contains significantly higher amounts of carbs, you should check the ingredients list to find out whether they may be serving as an energy source instead of protein.

This is a common tactic used by some manufacturers to reduce the cost of their products.

How can you tell whether a tailor-made product is good?

Some easy research can be the make-or-break in your choice of the proper tailor-made diet for your cat.

Suppliers of cat food should adhere to the ethical, nutritional, and manufacturing standards set out by pet food industry bodies such as:

• European Pet Food Industry Federation (FEDIAF)
• Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO)

Among other requirements, these bodies insist that manufacturers:

1. List their ingredients
2. Display a guaranteed analysis of their products on their packaging

The ingredients list

By law, ingredients have to be listed in order of their volume in the food.

You should choose the products with a defined meat source as the first ingredient on the list.

If it’s followed by a long list of grains and cereals, you should be cautious. Manufacturers sometimes split ingredients according to the way they are processed to make sure each component appears to be used in smaller amounts than the meat source.

For example, if you see “ground yellow corn,” followed by “corn gluten meal,” this may imply that the total amount of corn in the food is larger than the meat source.

The best ingredients lists—the ones that point to good cat food—are:

• Precise—with clearly identifiable meat sources, not “meat and animal derivatives”
• Short—the fewer ingredients, the better
• Identical from week to week—if the ingredients change regularly, this may suggest that the manufacturer is buying to a budget and changing recipes to cut costs

The guaranteed analysis

The guaranteed analysis tells you how much of each food group is in the product and should include:

It should also list the amount of moisture in the food, as well as the ash percentage—how much of the food content is undigestible material. Note that these will differ greatly for wet and dry formulas.

If the tailor-made diet you choose features animal protein as the first of a small number of ingredients and has a protein content of 30% or more, it is likely to be a good product for your feline.

Your cat may also appreciate a meal prepared by a fellow feline!

Source: Chef Cat ChangAn

Are there any ingredients that tailor-made foods shouldn’t include?

Many of the foods we like to spoil ourselves with are no-nos for felines.

Your tailor-made cat food should not contain the following ingredients:

• Dairy products, such as milk or cheese
• Onions, garlic, or chives
• Cocoa products, including chocolate or cocoa powder
• Alcohol
• Caffeine
• Yeast
• Grapes or raisins
• Citrus fruits

Including any of these in a cat’s diet can lead to:

• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea
• Kidney problems
• Lethargy
• Liver damage
• Heart arrhythmia

How to switch to a tailor-made diet

Pawsome food will have them begging for more

Source: Marko Blazevic

If you have been feeding your cat food with low amounts of animal protein and want to switch to a healthier diet, the key requirement is patience.

Over the course of a week or more, you should introduce your cat to the new food by successively mixing more of it into the regular meals.

A rapid change in nutrition from a low-quality to high-quality diet can cause digestive problems, so a slow transition will give your kitty a chance to adjust.

Is Untamed cat food tailor-made?

Untamed is among the pioneers of tailor-made cat food.

All our products offer high-quality nutrition designed to keep your cat as healthy and happy as possible.

Our meal plans feature:

• High protein levels—Our meals are packed with twice the amount of animal protein than the industry standard! With Untamed, your cat will get all the essential nutrients
• Whole meats only—We only use human-grade meat in our feline delicacies, with no meat derivatives or unnecessary fillers. Our tasty and nutritious food is free of all known allergens and super easy to digest
• Vet-formulated recipes—All Untamed recipes were carefully designed to meet your cat’s biological needs
• Sustainable production—We work hard to erase our carbon pawprint and use 100% recyclable packaging and ethically sourced ingredients
• Fussy eater approved—If your cat suffers from the “picky eater” syndrome, pop open a tin of Untamed food, and see them meow in anticipation

Each cat is unique, so we plan your feline’s meals according to:

• Life stage
• Tastes
• Sensitivities 
• Allergies

We’ve come up with a short online questionnaire to help us get to know your pet better. Once you try Untamed tailor-made diets, you and your cat won’t look back!

Get your kitty’s tailor-made diet plan from Untamed!

A tail of two kitties 

Image (c) Untamed

Feeding felines the best food can contribute to their quality of life immensely.

Once you switch to your tailor-made Untamed meal plan, you will notice the difference that high animal protein levels can make:

You can sign up for your Untamed trial as follows:

1. Visit our Try Now page
2. Tell us more about your kitty
3. Select a meal plan and place your order

You’ll get the tailor-made cat food pack in no time, so your feline companion can choose their favourite dishes! We’ll replenish your stock around the same time every month, no additional shipping fees.

You can change, pause, or cancel your order at any time or give us feedback to make sure your cat food subscription box stays up to date and tasty.

The tailor-made road to your kitty’s health and happiness starts with Untamed!