What is Natural Cat Food?

Making sure that your cat gets everything they need from their diet is essential to maintaining their overall health. A great way to do this is to feed natural cat food. This kind of diet involves only natural ingredients, simply cooked, and with no artificial additives. Of all the diets you can feed to your cat, natural cat food is the closest to what their wild ancestors would have eaten. In this blog, we’ll discuss what exactly natural cat food is, the different forms it comes in, and how it can benefit your feline friend.

What Is A Cat’s Natural Diet?

Cats are obligate carnivores, which means they need plenty of meat-based protein – even more so than dogs! Cats rely on nutrients only found in animal products. These include specific essential fatty acids, minerals and vitamins, particularly calcium, vitamin A and niacin.

In the wild, cats would obtain these nutrients by hunting prey such as small rodents. This resulted in a diet that contained lots of protein, moderate amounts of fat and very low amounts of carbohydrates. Cats will also eat the stomach and contents of their prey, therefore consuming small amounts of vegetable matter.

What Is Natural Cat Food?

Natural cat food is the closest thing to what a cat would eat in the wild – but designed specifically for the nutritional needs of a modern day domestic cat.

Unlike some other types of pet food, natural cat food doesn’t contain any artificial preservatives, colours or flavours, and no synthetic chemical processes are used. You’ll find wholesome, easily recognisable ingredients in natural cat food recipes, including fresh meat and fish.

Natural cat food from brands like James Wellbeloved is also complete and balanced, ensuring that your feline friend is getting all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients they need to live a happy, healthy life.

What Are The Benefits Of Natural Cat Food

Eating well is essential to ensuring your cat remains healthy. Natural cat food can help you provide everything your cat needs to nourish their body, without worrying about any harmful additives. Some of the potential benefits of a healthy natural cat food diet might include:

More energy
A shinier coat and better skin
Help with maintaining a healthy weight
Improved digestion
Allergen control

Naturally Hypoallergenic

One of the major benefits of natural cat food is the ability to try an elimination diet if you suspect your cat may have a food allergy. Elimination diets allow you to work out which ingredient your cat is reacting to so that you can avoid it in the future.

James Wellbeloved natural cat food, for instance, contains only a few simple ingredients, so it’s very easy to rule out specific ingredients as the potential allergens. The single-source protein options in James Wellbeloved cat food makes it even easier to avoid certain proteins that don’t suit your cat.

*James Wellbeloved Adult Cat Dry Food With Turkey*

Naturally hypoallergenic, James Wellbeloved natural cat food also excludes ingredients which surveys suggest are more likely to cause food intolerances. These include wheat, dairy, beef, pork, eggs, and soya.

What Types of Natural Cat Food are There?

Natural cat food is the umbrella term for a variety of different types of diet. All of them crucially contain natural ingredients, but the form they come in varies. This means that you can choose the best form of natural cat food for your unique feline friend – because they are all different! Here are some of the different types of natural cat food available.

Wet Natural Cat Food

Perfect for fussy eaters, wet diets are typically strong in flavour and have tantalising textures your cat will love. From smooth patés from Lily’s Kitchen, to delicious tuna fillet in jelly from Applaws, there’s something for every taste.

*Applaws Cat Food Fish Deluxe Multipack Select*

Lily’s Kitchen Patés are a type of natural cat food with a soft, smooth texture that makes them irresistibly lickable. There is even a range of organic patés for cats, made with 100% certified organic ingredients.

Meanwhile, Applaws offer a range of delicious complementary wet diets using only a handful of natural ingredients, and nothing else. For example, the Applaws Chicken Breast in Broth contains just three ingredients: Chicken Breast (75%), Chicken Broth (24%) and Rice (1%). This hydrating broth is the perfect wet mixer to add to a complete dry diet.

Raw Cat Food

A type of wet food, the main way that raw cat food differs from other natural cat foods is that all of its ingredients are uncooked. Just as your cat’s ancestors would have enjoyed their meals of small hunted rodents in the past, raw cat food allows your feline friend to enjoy all the flavours and nutrients of their food just as nature intended. A complete and balanced raw cat food will also contain any extra vitamins and minerals your cat needs to maintain optimal health, without anything artificial.

You should always ensure that you’re feeding your cat a complete and balanced diet. While it’s possible to prepare raw cat food at home with your own ingredients, this is unlikely to provide your cat with the right balance of everything they need to be healthy. If you do choose to feed raw, it’s better to choose a brand marked ‘complete and balanced’. This means it is specially formulated with everything your cat needs.

If you choose to feed raw cat food, you should also be aware of the precautions you should take. Since raw cat food is indeed made from raw meat, it’s important to have good hygiene practices when handling and preparing it. Always wash your hands with soap and hot water immediately after preparing raw cat food, and clean all the surfaces it may have touched. You should also freeze raw cat food until it’s needed, and store and defrost it away from human food.

Dry Natural Cat Food

If you are keen to offer your furry friend all the benefits of natural cat food, but want the convenience of dry food, you’ll be pleased to know that you can indeed do just that! There are plenty of quality brands that provide kibble varieties of natural cat food.

Dry cat food has the benefit of being easy to store and convenient to feed. Since it’s dry, it has a much longer shelf life and will stay fresh for longer in your cupboard. There’s no need to refrigerate or freeze kibble and it’s ready to feed straight out of the bag.

Dry food is generally easier on the purse strings too, but just because dry natural cat food is more affordable doesn’t mean it’s any less nutritious! James Wellbeloved for example, offer a range of meat and veg based kibble, bursting with natural goodness. Let your cat discover the mouth-watering flavours on offer, from turkey to fish, all packed with vitamins, minerals and nutrients straight from nature.

Freeze Dried Cat Food

This type of natural cat food is still relatively new to the market. Freeze dried cat food is an innovative way of making raw food more convenient, by removing all the moisture from the ingredients so that it can be stored in the cupboard, without affecting the nutrient content inside.

Ingredients are first blended and formed into bite-sized nuggets. Then they are frozen quickly at very low temperatures before being placed in a vacuum that gently draws out the moisture – but nothing else. This way the food retains all its nutrients. It also has a deliciously intense flavour. For more on freeze-dried pet food, read our blog ‘What is Freeze Dried Dog Food?’

Discover freeze dried dog food at Nature’s Variety.

Wrapping Up

Natural cat food is an excellent way to provide your feline friend with everything they need to live a long and healthy life. Steering well clear of harmful chemicals and artificial ingredients, natural cat food contains all the goodness nature has to offer, and nothing else. Whether your cat prefers a smooth and tasty wet diet or crunchy kibble, there’s a natural cat food diet to suit every preference.

Explore our range of natural cat food here.

This blog was checked by Karin Volker, MRCVS

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