The diet of a cat influences their gut health.

To create a rich and diverse gut microbiome environment in cats, each microorganism requires growth through specific nutrients. The cat's diet is a great way to promote overall health and provide nutrients that can enhance gut health. Simply changing the diet can greatly help improve imbalanced microbiomes. Good nutritional status helps build a healthy microbiome, strengthen the immune system, and positively contribute to preventing common illnesses.

A pet's dietary habits are entirely up to the owner. It's important to establish a balanced diet through nutrient analysis and functional foods to maintain a healthy microbiome for pets.

Microbiome
Symptoms
Antibiotics
Diet

Proper Diet for Cats

Diet is a key way to manage gut microbes. Click on the list below to access diet-related information and consider dietary management.

Some commercially available foods contain high levels of carbohydrates, which can promote the growth of specific gut microbial populations that favor carbohydrates. If certain microbes proliferate excessively, they can outcompete other essential microbes and reduce diversity. Additionally, some carbohydrate-favoring microbial populations are associated with excessive inflammation, which can lead to health issues in cats.

A balanced diet should contain over 40% protein based on dry matter.

Use the calculator below to find out the hidden carbohydrates in our cat food.

Fusobacteria in the gut of carnivorous animals like cats are microbes commonly found in healthy cats without any disease. Fusobacteria in the cat's gut produce beneficial metabolites through protein digestion. Please add sufficient protein to your cat's diet.

If a cat consistently consumes certain proteins, the body may perceive them as foreign substances and trigger allergies. By periodically changing the protein sources, you can reduce the likelihood of your pet developing food sensitivities or allergies. When changing the diet, do so gradually over a week. Abrupt dietary changes may cause digestive upset in cats.

To establish a healthy microbiome, provide probiotics or fermented foods for your pets.

Plain yogurt or fermented soybean natto are rich in live microbes. While consuming fermented foods can enhance nutrient absorption and maintain microbial balance in dogs, it may not sufficiently increase microbial diversity to improve imbalanced gut environments.

Probiotics aid in the proliferation of beneficial bacteria that may not be adequately supplemented through diet alone and help suppress harmful bacteria. Due to the high acidity of the digestive tract in pets, most conventional probiotics perish before reaching the intestines. When selecting probiotics, it's advisable to choose strains, such as Saccharomyces Boulardii, that can survive robustly until reaching the intestines and carefully verify the strains used.

To ensure regular and vigorous bowel movements, provide your cat with healthy dietary fibers such as whole grains. Processed foods may contain other nutrients, so it's essential to carefully check the nutritional content. Natural sources of fiber that can be included in the diet are whole grains, vegetables, and fruits, which contain both soluble and insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber is fermented by beneficial gut bacteria into fatty acids, helping prevent excessive growth of harmful bacteria and promoting a healthy microbiome. Insoluble fiber helps maintain moisture and contributes to the digestive process for healthy bowel movements.

Cat food typically contains healthy fibers such as beet pulp, apples, pumpkin, carrots, sweet potatoes, chia seeds, lentils, and barley. These healthy fibers can help improve a cat's digestive health by addressing issues like diarrhea or constipation. However, excessive intake of fiber can worsen symptoms. If your cat shows symptoms, consider switching to different types of fiber or reducing the amount provided.

Prebiotics such as fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), inulin, and chicory root serve as food for live beneficial bacteria, allowing them to thrive and create a more favorable gut environment than simply consuming probiotics alone. It's advisable to consume them together.

In addition, fiber plays a role in helping cats expel hairballs. While a healthy cat can digest and eliminate a normal amount of fur, if beneficial microbes that increase intestinal motility are lacking, the microbiome can become imbalanced, leading to decreased motility. While vomiting up hairballs is a common behavior in cats, it shouldn't be overlooked. Ensure your cat consumes healthy fiber to support healthy intestinal activity.

Antioxidants are substances that remove reactive oxygen species in the body, protecting against oxidative stress and free radicals. Free radicals can damage DNA, cell membranes, and stored lipids in blood vessels, leading to aging and diseases. It's beneficial to consume antioxidants to maintain appropriate levels of free radicals.

Due to their lower antioxidant capacity, supplementation with antioxidants can be particularly helpful in managing the health of aging cats or those with chronic inflammatory conditions. Polyphenols are compounds found abundantly in food that exhibit antioxidant properties by scavenging reactive oxygen species. Check the ingredients in your cat's food carefully and provide supplements rich in antioxidants such as vitamin E and vitamin C. Pets have better vitamin C synthesis in their bodies than humans, which helps strengthen the immune system and protect them from infections and diseases.