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LIFE STAGE NUTRITION

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

Adult Cat

Maintenance Nutrition for Healthy Adult Cats

Cats are obligate carnivores and, as such, have several unique nutrient requirements that must be considered for their optimal health and longevity. Feeding a complete and balanced adult maintenance cat food can meet an individual cat’s nutritional needs.

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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.
Conversation starter

"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."

Related Tools and Content:

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Although there are many benefits to maintaining a healthy weight in pets, many owners do not understand what a healthy weight is or the benefits for pets.

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A visual aid to the Purina Body Condition Score System for cats.​

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How to Perform a Body Condition Assessment - Cat

Assess a cat's Body Condition Score in just 3 simple steps.​

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Kittens and Adult Cats: The Importance of Staying Lean

Maintaining a lean, healthy body condition in kittens can help prevent obesity and related health conditions in later years.

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Feeding Indoor Cats

Indoor cats can benefit from nutrition tailored to their unique needs.

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To Share With Pet Owner:

Evaluating Your Cat’s Body Condition

Assess your cat's Body Condition in just 3 simple steps.​

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What Do Cats Need to Thrive?

From affection to veterinary health care, learn what your cat needs to thrive.

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Choosing to Feed Wet or Dry Cat Foods

Feeding either wet or dry commercial cat foods, or a combination of both, will provide cats with a complete and balanced diet.

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Additional Resources

Buffington, C. A. T., Holloway, C., & Abood, S. K. (2004). Manual of veterinary dietetics. Saunders. 

Case, L. P., Daristotle, L., Hayek, M., & Raasch, M. F. (2011). Canine and feline nutrition: A resource for companion animal professionals (3rd ed.). Mosby Elsevier. 

Armstrong, P. J., Gross, K. L., Becvarova, I., & Debraekeleer, J. (2010). Introduction to feeding normal cats. In M. S. Hand, C. D. Thatcher, R. L. Remillard, P. Roudebush, & B. J. Novotny (Eds.), Small animal clinical nutrition (5th ed., pp. 361─372). Mark Morris Institute.