Carbohydrates in Cat Foods

Carbohydrates are present in almost all commercially available cat foods. While we often focus on the protein and fat content of a cat food, carbohydrates have an impact on the quality of your cat's diet. Carbohydrates are responsible for many health problems, if not fed correctly. This article will focus primarily on the non-fiber carbohydrates. There is a separate article that discusses fiber in greater detail.

The function of carbohydrates in pet food

The value of carbohydrates in cat foods is often debated among nutritionists. Despite the debate, most commercial dry foods contain between 30% and 70% carbohydrates. If we examine the diets of the wild felines that most closely resemble our domestic pets, we recognize that the wild felines do eat some carbohydrates through the consumption of the intestinal contents of their prey. However, the carbohydrate intake would be less than 5%. This then raises the question as to why we feed our domestic pets so much carbohydrate, when it appears to be an unnatural food source.

Cats have the ability to consume large quantities of protein and then convert that protein into energy in addition to muscle. They also have the ability to convert many carbohydrate sources into the same kind of energy. This ability to utilize both carbohydrates and proteins as an energy source explains how we are able to feed our pets a carbohydrates in the diet, particularly when we feed processed carbohydrates that are easily digested. While cats are similar to dogs in their ability to utilize some carbohydrates, cats need a much higher level of protein and fat to remain healthy. So, essentially we are meeting the cat's protein requirement with meat, and then meeting their energy and fiber requirements with carbohydrates instead of the protein they would often use in the wild.