Essential Nutrients for Dogs and Cats

 

Ellie Shelburne (about.com)

There are five essential nutrients that one can find on the back of a label for dog and cat food, and these are very important for the well-being of your pet. The first essential nutrient is water, one that's important for all of us. While canned foods do have a sizable amount of water in them, it's very important that both cats and dogs have a fresh source of water all of the time.

The second essential nutrient is protein. Protein sources are meat or beans or soy. Dogs are not obligate carnivores, so they don't have to eat meat protein to survive; dogs can be vegetarians very successfully. Cats, however, require very specific fats and proteins, and really, it's very hard to make a cat a vegetarian and it's very important to feed them the meat proteins.

The third essential nutrient are carbohydrates. Corn and wheat serve a purpose in food and can be very helpful. However, each animal is different and your veterinarian can help advise you.

The fourth essential nutrients are fats. Fats are actually a very important part of the diet. Cats have a specific fat they need called linoleic acid to survive. Another aspect of it is if you can add the omega-3 fatty acids in a reasonable amount in their foods, they can act as an anti-inflammatory and reduce inflammation in joints, and kidneys, and some of the prescription diets use those very well to reduce even cancer.

Vitamins and Minerals for Dogs and Cats

The final essential nutrient that you need to look for are really two: vitamins and minerals. Minerals are things like calcium and phosphorous; vitamins are things like vitamin A (another essential ingredient to a cat's diet - they can't make the vitamin A themselves, so they have to have it directly). I highly recommend that people choose a high-quality pet food that has had feeding trials. It's very important to find your veterinarian and talk to them about finding the right balance of all those nutrients.