The most popular holistic cat food brands
Despite the popularity of holistic diets, their interpretation is quite abstract, not only among buyers, but also among manufacturers, which is why in this category you can find not only high-quality grain-free diets, but also low-grade foods made from cereals, proteins of plant or unknown origin, and flour . Fortunately, there are several popular and trustworthy brands:
Now Fresh.
Well-known Canadian food, characterized by a well-balanced composition with a sufficient amount of easily digestible proteins and at the same time without grains, dyes and other harmful components.
Alleva.
The manufacturer comes from Italy, whose creations are distinguished by their high meat content.
Farmina.
A large Italian food manufacturer, especially loved by cats and their owners thanks to the grain-free and low-grain diets of the N&D series, many of which are recommended for sensitive digestion, allergies, but are also suitable for absolutely healthy animals.
AATU.
A British brand that is often recommended by breeders and veterinarians. It contains not only a high percentage of meat components, but also many healthy vegetables, fruits and berries, including cranberries, which are effective as a preventive measure for ICD.
Primordial.
An Italian brand specializing exclusively in grain-free holistic products, making it a true guru in this field.
Price
Most owners choose average quality food for their cats. Compared to them, holistic is really expensive, and not available in every store. Holistics occupy a fairly large price category.
On the Internet you can buy 1 kg of food in this category for about 1000 rubles, although most diets are more expensive. Imported holistic food can cost more than three thousand rubles.
This cost is compensated by the rich composition and high calorie content of the feed . Good holistic food costs less, because it becomes easier for the cat to eat a small portion.
How to choose the best holistic food for cats
No matter how advertised the food may be, it is first of all important to make sure that it meets the basic requirements for holistic nutrition, and, in principle, healthy nutrition for your beloved cat. The best diet should contain at least 50 percent meat, supplemented with moderate amounts of quality fiber such as peas, chickpeas or sweet potatoes, probiotics, and a few percent of herbs, berries, fruits or vegetables. At the same time, cereals, citrus fruits and sour tropical fruits are undesirable in the diet.
However, a beautiful composition is not the only factor. To choose a good food specifically for your cat, you should take into account its characteristics. If your pet is prone to allergies or digestive disorders, it is better to make sure that the diet is free of corn, citrus fruits and other potential allergens. If your cat is overweight, has liver problems, or is neutered, a high-quality, low-fat meat food would be the best choice. If you are prone to urolithiasis, diabetes and other serious diseases, it makes sense to take a closer look at specialized diets.
Compound
To appreciate the advantages and benefits of holistic food, it is important to break down its basic composition.
The basis of the diet, as mentioned above, should be meat. Suitable protein sources for domestic cats include:
- fresh and dehydrated meat (chicken, chicken, turkey, lamb, beef);
- fish fillet.
The meat and fish content of the best holistic cat foods can exceed 70%, and the amount of healthy protein often approaches 30%.
Important: with this volume, even with minimal food consumption, the pet will receive the required amount of easily digestible protein, and this in turn will minimize digestive problems. In addition, protein is a key component of animal muscles.
Therefore, when consuming high-quality animal protein as part of holistic food, the animal is always in a cheerful mood, the pet is active, energetic and properly developed.
The second largest component of this class of feed is natural fruits, vegetables, and berries. This is the main source of vitamins for a cat. The best holistic cat foods may contain ingredients such as carrots and dried apples. Animals need vitamins in the same way as humans. Thanks to natural additives, the animal’s coat improves, the pet has strong healthy teeth, sharp eyesight, and strong bones. With a diet rich in vitamins, the animal’s immunity is strengthened.
A distinctive feature of holistic food is also the absence of all kinds of “improvers” that are easy to find in economy-class bags. There are no artificial additives or enhancers that improve the taste, color or aroma of the finished food. As veterinary practice shows, if an animal has been consuming flavor enhancers in its diet for some time, then in order to completely switch to a higher quality diet, the cat will need time to get rid of the formed habit.
Naturally, holistic practitioners also need substances that will help maintain the freshness of food while it sits on the store shelf. But premium brands use safe ingredients for their products, again of natural origin. For example, a mixture of tocopherols, rosemary oil, vitamin C supplements and more.
Note: The best holistic cat foods will not contain synthetic ingredients, even if they are included in the list of safe additives.
The absence of preservatives in the composition is the key to good digestibility of the food, which leads to healthy digestion and the absence of allergies. The latter has been the scourge of many pets in recent years. Allergy sufferers are especially recommended to switch to holistic food.
What holistic food should not contain:
- corn gluten;
- wheat gluten.
The naturalness of the composition is also reflected in the shelf life. Economy class food is edible for one and a half to two years or more, while holistic food, as a rule, has a maximum shelf life of one to one and a half years.
An indisputable advantage of such food is the absence of contraindications to its use.
Roskachestvo effect
In 2022, Roskachestvo sent proposals to the Russian Ministry of Agriculture to establish mandatory requirements for food and other products. In particular, a proposal to include in the draft technical regulation “On the safety of feed and feed additives” being developed, requirements for the reliability of labeling for the content of individual components and requirements for their range in pet food.
It was proposed to include the relevant provisions in a separate section of the draft regulation “Requirements for pet food”, in which it was planned to establish permissible deviations from the declared values of complete nutrition indicators, indicators of nutritional value and safety of food for cats and dogs.
Subsequently, in 2022, the Russian side supported the proposal to exclude feed for non-productive animals from the draft regulations and the advisability of developing a separate technical regulation of the EEC “On the safety of feed for non-productive animals.”
We remind you that the project is currently under development: the Veterinary Department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation, in response to a request from Roskachestvo, reports that the draft regulations, finalized by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Kazakhstan (project developer), have not yet been submitted to the Russian Ministry of Agriculture for consideration.
On February 19, 2022, the Russian side offered itself as a responsible developer, which was supported by all member states of the Eurasian Economic Union, except the Republic of Kazakhstan.
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Tips for choosing
In order for a food to be classified as a new generation super-premium product, the Holistic inscription on the packaging alone is not enough. Some unscrupulous manufacturers make similar inscriptions, while the composition of the product does not correspond to the declared inscription.
When purchasing, you should pay attention to the composition features
- If the food is of American or Canadian origin, then AAFCO, that is, the American Association for Governmental Food Control, must appear on the packaging. This body ensures that the product complies with existing animal nutrition standards.
- The composition should not include useless and cheap ingredients: sow flour, by-products, vegetable protein (potato and corn starch, soy), cellulose, wheat and cereals (with the exception of rice), synthetic preservatives, including those recognized as safe.
- First of all, the list of composition should include protein with a mandatory indication of the source of its receipt. It is optimal if the food includes 2 types of protein.
- After the composition, the ratio of the following components must be indicated: protein (for dry food - no less than 30%, for wet food - no less than 8%), fat (for dry food - no more than 8%, no more than 4;), fiber (no more than 10% for dry food and no more than 3% for wet food).
The packaging must contain the name of the manufacturer's brand, trademark, weight of the product (in kg and g), date of manufacture and expiration date, composition (ingredients containing the most are written first, then in descending order), daily allowance for pet and feeding recommendations
It is important that the packaging contains a mark on the quality certificate and, if available, information about the distributor
Whether to purchase dry or wet food is a matter of choice for the owner. Dry is not so demanding in storage conditions, while wet is recommended to be kept in the refrigerator.
The fact is that your pet's teeth are cleaned by eating solid food. The best option is to combine and change food from dry to wet. For kittens and animals with weak digestion, it is better to choose a hypoallergenic product. You need to judge this property not by its advertising slogan, but by its composition - it must be grain-free.
Age recommendations
Holistic foods are available in different forms and are intended for animals of different ages or with special health conditions. The package of dry holistic foods contains several types of meat, allowing you to create a complete diet for your pet. Wet canned food and stews require strict adherence to storage conditions, but the amount of useful components is usually an order of magnitude higher than in dry granules.
Holistic for kittens promotes the activation of growth processes and the proper development of organs and tissues, and also corresponds to increased motor activity. Food for aging animals helps take care of the condition of the coat, bones, joints and teeth of an older domestic cat. The composition of the diet for a castrated or sterilized pet takes into account all the physiological characteristics of the animal and minimizes the risk of sexual diseases or hormonal imbalances.
Among other things, manufacturers produce special holistic formulas for feeding four-legged pets with sensitive digestion and disruptions in the process of digesting food.
Holistics for kittens
Kittens are characterized by great physical activity and rapid growth, so the body of such an animal must be provided with the most complete and highly nutritious diet. The best proven diets are Almo Nature Nolistic Kitten Chicken and Rice and Golden Eagle Nolistic Health Kitten Formula, as well as Gina Elite Kitten and Applelaws grain-free dry food.
Holistics for an adult cat
Among owners of adult cats, universal, fully balanced diets are especially popular, which include grain-free food GO! Sensitivity+Shine Dusk Cat Recipe Limited Ingredient Diet, Grain Free, grain food Almo Nature Nolistic Adult Cat Turkey and Rice and dry food Golden Eagle Nolistis Healthy Adult Cat.
Holistics for older cats
As a rule, in older cats and cats, pathology worsens or a number of diseases appear, and motor activity also significantly decreases, so holistic specialists must fully meet all the needs of such an animal.
For older and inactive cats, it is recommended to use Pronature Nolistic dry food with white fish or Pronature Nolistic Senior with fish and rice.
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https://magizoo.ru/stati/koshki/osobennosti-holistik-kormov-dlya-koshek/
https://simple-fauna.ru/pets/cats/cat-food/xolistik-korma-dlya-koshek/#cont_2
Reviews from veterinarians
Thanks to their profession, veterinarians are well versed in the pros and cons of different foods. This makes them good advisers in choosing food for your pet.
Alexander, veterinarian, writes
I always recommend Pronature food to my clients with kittens. It contains everything a growing animal needs. In addition, they quickly and easily get used to this food, even if they were previously fed natural food. The small size of the granule is ideal for kittens. It is really very healthy and does not contain harmful dyes or preservatives. A good choice by a caring owner.
Distinctive features
Special nutrition is recognized by a special Holistic label. The main differences between food and other food classes are high quality, natural and balanced composition, useful for small breeds, sterilized ones, and kittens. Of course, the individual characteristics of the pet’s body themselves manifest themselves, and you are already deciding whether to purchase food of a similar class, or choose others.
Real holistic food is made from healthy ingredients, and some manufacturers claim that sometimes even a person can eat the food, and he won’t get anything from it at all! But still, cats will like this food more than you, so we advise you not to experiment.
By the way, sometimes there is no special labeling, and its presence is not a 100% guarantee of the safety and naturalness of the food.
Therefore, pay attention to a number of other signs:
feed from American and Canadian companies is designated with a special AAFCO brand (a mark of the American Association for State Food Control); always pay attention to the composition, since it cannot contain cheap additives and components; protein comes first, and ideally holistic foods contain at least 2 types of proteins.
