Life Stage Nutrition Image

LIFE STAGE NUTRITION

LIFE STAGE NUTRITION

Practical information1,2 about the nutritional needs of cats and dogs at each life stage, including growth, maintenance, reproduction and aging.3

What Do Cats Need to Thrive?

Giving cats what they need for a long, healthy life starts with nutrition. But if you want your cat to thrive, you will want to provide more than just food and water. As long-time feline fanciers know, many cats are quite social and enjoy daily attention from their owners, no matter how self-reliant they may seem.

Here’s an overview of the essentials — with an emphasis on nutrition — so you can help your cat thrive.

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Conversation Starter Speech Bubble English

"Your adult cat has unique nutrient requirements that [his/her] food needs to provide for [cat’s name] to live a long, healthy life. Feeding a high-quality complete and balanced cat food will meet those requirements with no need to supplement."

Key Messages

  • Adult cats have higher dietary protein requirements than dogs and require taurine, arginine, arachidonic acid, preformed vitamin A and niacin (vitamin B3) in their diets.
  • Some nutrients required by cats (i.e., taurine, arachidonic acid and preformed vitamin A) are found naturally only in animal tissues.
  • Feeding adult cats to maintain ideal body condition can help them live long, healthy lives and avoid obesity-related health problems, such as diabetes mellitus and lower urinary tract disease.
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Did You Know

The intestine of mammals is estimated to contain approximately 1010 to 1014 microorganisms.17

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The intestine of mammals is estimated to contain approximately 1010 to 1014 microorganisms.17

  1. Sender, R., Fuchs, S., & Milo, R. (2016). Revised estimates for the number of human and bacteria cells in the body. PLoS Biology, 14(8), e1002533. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.100253 
  2. Swanson, K. S., Dowd, S. E., Suchodolski, J. S., Middelbos, I. S., Vester, B. M., Barry, K. A., Nelson, K. E., Torralba, M., Henrissat, B., Coutinho, P. M., Cann, I. K. O., White, B. A., & Fahey, G. C., Jr. (2011). Phylogenetic and gene-centric metagenomics of the canine intestinal microbiome reveals similarities with humans and mice. The ISME Journal, 5(4), 639─649. doi: 10.1038/ismej.2010.162 
  3. Tun, H. M., Brar, M. S., Khin, N., Jun, L., Hui, R. K., Dowd, S. E., & Leung, F. C. (2012). Gene-centric metagenomics analysis of feline intestinal microbiome using 454 junior pyrosequencing. Journal of Microbiological Methods, 88(3), 369─376. doi: 10.1016/j.mimet.2012.01.001 
  4. Pilla, R., & Suchodolski, J. S. (2021). The gut microbiome of dogs and cats, and the influence of diet. Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice, 51(3), 605─621. doi: 10.1016/j.cvsm.2021.01.002​ 
  5. Barko, P. C., McMichael, M. A., Swanson, K. S., & Williams, D. A. (2018). The gastrointestinal microbiome: A review. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 32(1), 9─25. doi: 10.1111/jvim.14875 
  6. Garcia-Mazcorro, J. F., & Minamoto, Y. (2013). Gastrointestinal microorganisms in cats and dogs: A brief review. Archivos de Medicina Veterinaria, 45(2), 111─124. doi: 10.4067/S0301-732X2013000200002 
  7. Belas, A., Marques, C., & Pomba, C. (2020). The gut microbiome and antimicrobial resistance in companion animals. In A. F. Duarte & L. Lopes da Costa (Eds.), Advances in animal health, medicine and production (pp. 233─245). Springer, Cham. doi: 10.1007/987-3-030-61981-7_12

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