Good nutrition is as important to your cat’s health as it is to your own. A good quality diet will mean that your cat has: a glossy coat, is active and full of energy, normal faeces (no diarrhoea) and keep in good health.

Choose what to feed your cat based on these four things:

• Your cat's age/life stage - make sure you choose a food that's nutritionally geared to your cat's age (kitten, adult, or senior).
• Your cat's body condition - cats who are overweight or underweight need different nutrition than those who are not. Choose a food that fits your cat's needs, whether it's weight control, maintenance, or another formula.
• Your cat's health history - if your cat has medical conditions such as diabetes, allergies, cancer, or digestive difficulties, you'll need to choose a food that is appropriate for that condition.
• Your budget - simply put, feed your cat the best food you can afford. Generally, the more you spend, the better-quality, healthier food you'll feed your pet.

Like your food it's important to read the label on your cat food for these important details:

• The food should be complete and balanced for maintenance.
• Check the ingredient panel. Cats are carnivores and need animal protein and animal fat for a healthy digestive tract.. Some type of animal protein should be the main (and so first) ingredient on the ingredient list: egg, chicken, chicken by-product meal, fish, lamb, poultry, poultry by-product, beef, and meat meal are all good protein sources.
• Poorly digestible proteins are cereal, soy, wheat and corn – these are often main ingredients in poor quality dry foods and should be avoided.

Feed a mixture of wet and dry foods
Dry food is beneficial for healthy teeth (but avoid poor quality cereal-based dry food). A premium-quality dry cat food has the best ingredients and is high digestible so is good value for money.
Wet foods (sachets/canned) add variety so that cats continue to enjoy different food textures. This may be important for treating illness later in the cat’s life.
Your vet can recommend good foods for your cat. We recommend premium foods like Iams.

Knowing how much to feed
In the wild, cats eat several small prey meals like mice daily. Many pet cats still eat like this – they like to graze. Owners often feed one or two wet (canned or sachet) meals a day, and leave fresh premium dry food out for snacking.
However, some cats do not seem to be able to regulate food intake, and measuring out portions is important. Use the feed instructions as a guide, and then adjust the amount based on your cat’s weight gain or loss. If time permits, most cats do enjoy having this divided into several small meals over the day.

Special diets
It is important to take into account any special medical condition your cat may have, like food allergies, kidney disease or lower urinary tract disease that require a special diet recommended by your veterinarian.

Senior foods
Many older cats start to slow down and are less active. However, after the age of 11, cats actually need more calories and have reduced protein digestion. This suggests the optimal nutritional regime for our older cats, especially if underweight, is a more energy-dense, highly digestible diet.

Premium lifestyle foods marketed for ‘senior’ or ‘mature’ cats contain the correct balance of nutrients for this stage of life.

some old cats become more fussy about what they eat, especially if they have health problems, and may need to be offered energy-dense foods on a regular basis to keep them well. For these oldies, try to make meals small and appetising. Cats don’t like cold food – so offer fresh meals from small cans or sachets, or take the food out of the fridge for a while before it is offered.