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With all of the different kitten food options and ingredients available, it’s important to learn what your kitten needs and what is less essential. You may have heard of flaxseed meal, an ingredient included in some wet cat foods. Is flaxseed meal, a source of omega-3 fatty acids, a necessity for your kitten?
Learn more about this ingredient and how it can affect your kitten’s health for the better.
Flaxseed meal is the ground seed of the flax plant. The oil in flax is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids like alpha-linoleic acid, which is the parent compound of other omega-3 fatty acids.
In kitten and cat food, flaxseed meal is used to provide omega-3 fatty acids to give a balance of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in the diet. IAMS research shows that balancing the amount of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids helps maintain a healthy skin and coat.
Including omega-3 fatty acids like alpha-linoleic acid in a kitten’s diet can help:
Alpha-linolenic acid may be an essential omega-3 fatty acid; however, it may take several generations for the signs of deficiency to become evident in a cat. When choosing a wet food, consider one that contains flaxseed meal to help maintain your kitten’s health during this time of rapid growth and development. IAMS™ Perfect Portions™ Healthy Kitten Pate with Chicken is formulated with omega-3 sources, including flaxseed meal, to provide guaranteed levels of omega-3 fatty acids.
Corn is found in many cat foods — but not all corn is created equal. Learn more about this ingredient, its forms and its role as a source of energy for your cat.
Corn is included in cat food formulas in various forms, such as ground corn, corn meal, corn grits, corn gluten meal and corn bran. When reviewing the ingredients list on cat food packaging, you may see one or more of the following corn ingredients:
Corn Ingredient | What It Is |
Ground corn or corn meal | Finely ground and chopped whole corn |
Corn grits | The portion of ground corn containing little or none of the bran (fiber) or germ (the small protein portion at the end of the kernel) |
Corn bran | The outer coating of the corn kernel; largely fiber |
Corn gluten meal | A dried protein source that remains after the corn’s bran has been separated and removed and a large portion of the carbohydrate and germ have been removed |
Corn is included in the formulas for all IAMS cat foods, including IAMS™ ProActive Health™ Healthy Adult and ProActive Health™ Healthy Kitten. It is more appropriate to associate the corn used in our products with “corn bread” rather than “corn on the cob.” The difference is similar to cooked corn versus raw corn. We use only the highest-quality corn in our products. The corn is finely ground to a meal, which breaks up the outside covering of each kernel, and then it is cooked, which increases its digestibility.
Corn grits and corn meal are used in our foods as high-quality sources of carbohydrates, which are an important source of energy. Corn generally also results in lower glycemic and insulin response than rice. This can be especially beneficial for senior and overweight cats.
