User:Zhu.nicole/Cat food

Commercial cat food diets

Most store-bought cat food comes in either dry form, also known in the US as kibble, or wet form (canned or in pouches). Some manufacturers sell frozen raw diets and premix products to cater to owners who feed raw.

Dry food diet

Dry (extruded) cat food example

Dry food (8–10% moisture) is generally made by extrusion cooking under high heat and pressure. Approximately 95% of dry pet foods are extruded. During the extrusion cooking process, the meat is first grounded up then it is cooked under very high heat and processed so it becomes a powder. The powder is feed into a massive mixer. Once it's in this massive mixer additional supplements are added and then it's then cooked again under a very high heat to turn it into a dough. The dough is formed so that it can be molded into the form of a kibble. The kibble is placed again in high heat to be baked in order to make it stay in that shape. Once the piece comes out, it doesn't smell anything like meat. Fat may be sprayed on the food after the extrusion cooking process to increase palatability, and other minor ingredients, such as heat-sensitive vitamins, which would be destroyed in the extrusion process, may be added. Dry food is most often packed in multi-wall paper bags, sometimes with a plastic film layer; similar bag styles with film laminates or coextrusions are also used.

Dry foods contain high amounts of carbohydrates in order to maintain their shape and structure. Concerns have been raised that there is some association between the carbohydrate content and risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes in felines.