More and more cat parents are looking for better ways to feed their kitties. With cost being an issue for many, making your cat’s food at home is becoming more popular. One of the easiest ways to do this is by purchasing premix vitamin packs and adding it to some meat. But – will this actually help us create healthy, balanced cat meals?
We make DIY cat food recipes on YouTube and were turned on to these vitamin packs a few years ago. It sounded so easy we had to share it with other cat parents. When you have multiple cats in your household, it can get expensive to purchase good, fresh foods – so this option was appealing. We tried two different brands of premix vitamin packs in our DIY recipes. One our babies would not eat – the other they loved.
But the simplicity of just adding a pack of powder to some raw meet almost seemed too easy to us – so we only incorporated these DIY recipes occasionally. Eventually, we discontinued making these meals altogether. And we’re glad we followed our gut feeling. Recently, we heard Dr. Karen Becker, DVM speaking specifically about premix vitamin packs – and she advised against this method of feeding.
Now don’t get me wrong. Personally, I don’t think it’s harmful to feed our cats this way – sometimes. I just now know why my gut feeling was telling me to not feed our cats this way all the time.
It’s time to look a little deeper into the subject of premix vitamin packs.
Dr. Becker points out some very simple common sense regarding regular use of these packs. Each meat has a different nutritional profile, so the same packet of vitamins can’t balance each meal in the same way. Chicken, rabbit, cow and lamb are very different. For example – one protein may have more fat or contain different ratios of omegas. Where the meat is sourced and how it’s raised will also change the nutritional profile.
So – simply adding a pound of any meat to a pack of vitamins isn’t a blanket balance. Sure, doing this will give them some of the extra nutrients they need, but not all of them. Not all the time.
Now, we don’t believe that every single meal needs to be perfectly balanced every time – but we do know that cats require a healthy balance of essential vitamins and nutrients to avoid developing health issues over time. This is why we are big fans of variety in general – different brands and different proteins. And this is why we can’t recommend using premix vitamin packs as your kitty’s only source of vitamin supplements in DIY meals.
Recent Comments