When many shit pickers hear the word "salt", they immediately picture their own furry children with tears on their faces.

"Cats and dogs cannot eat human food because it contains salt!"

"The reason why the hair on the tear stains is dry is because the cat food contains too much salt!"

"The cat food tastes salty, and the salt content is too high"!

Is salt really the "root of all evil" in the pet world?

Salt is necessary for pets.

For humans, cats, dogs and other mammals, salt is essential, but the demand is different.

Like humans, cats and dogs cannot maintain electrolyte balance in their bodies without salt.

Six major nutrients: protein, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, fiber, trace elements, and salt (such as sodium chloride) are minerals and are ingredients that pets must ingest.

So, don’t be afraid when you see salt in cat food. In fact, many cat foods have salt added, and there are more than one kind, in order to make the nutrients more balanced.

Farmina is no exception. Sometimes the ingredients list may say "water-soluble chloride" or "sodium chloride", but they are actually salt.

In addition to sodium chloride (table salt), Choline chloride is also added to Farmina cat food. Choline chloride is the hydrochloride of choline, which is also a type of salt.

These two ingredients will make cat food taste salty, and sometimes small white crystals will be found on the surface of pet food particles. Don’t worry, this is normal~

"Bringing salt to Farmina" Source@askedcontribution

The role of adding salt to pet food.

Choline chloride and sodium chloride both have important physiological effects on cats and are not the "source of all evil", let alone "salt" discoloration.

1. Maintain physiological activities

Salt plays an important role in maintaining normal physiological activities of cats and is essential;

Choline chloride has three functions for cats Function: 1. Convert to sweet alkali, an important component of lecithin; 2. Promote fat transport in the form of lecithin, playing an important role in improving liver fat metabolism; 3. Participate in nerve conduction. Choline is the precursor of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and an important component of sphingomyelin.

2. Promote appetite

Secondly, the salty taste of salt can improve the taste of food, so that the same food can be more attractive to cats, making them more attractive. Great appetite.

Source: @ Ask Submission

ps: Friends who feed raw meat and bones are not recommended to add salt by themselves, because meat already contains salt, and it is not easy to control the amount of salt added by yourself. Easy to exceed the standard.

3. Promote digestion

The main component of sodium chloride in salt, the chloride ions in it can participate in the production process of gastric acid and promote gastric acid secretion, which can also promote the digestion of cats. The improvement can come.

In short, there is a certain benefit to adding salt to pet food in an appropriate amount. necessary.

Even if no additional salt is added, the raw materials of pet food such as meat also contain salt. If a cat food says that it does not contain any salt at all, it is definitely killing the cat.

Pets should eat salt in moderation.

Although salt is important for pets, their requirements are not high.

The salt contained in natural food can generally meet the cat’s own metabolic needs, and cats rarely need to consume additional salt in the wild.

If a cat consumes too much salt, it may indeed cause harm, such as kidney disease, such as kidney stones, kidney failure, skin disease, severe hair loss, etc.

Experts recommend that cats’ salt intake is 110mg/kg body weight. The salt added to cat food is very limited, and there is no danger of exceeding the standard.

But! Human leftovers cannot be given to cats. The salt, sugar, and fat content in them are too high for cats, which not only increases the burden on the kidneys, but also makes them prone to obesity, diabetes, and endocrine diseases.

When you encounter stray cats, do not feed them ham sausage, braised food, spicy snacks, etc. The salt content of these foods is too high, and too many condiments are very irritating to the cat’s digestive system. .

If you want to feed stray cats, it is recommended to carry cat food with you. It is very convenient to buy some trial packs~

Finally, to answer a question often asked by poop scrapers: Sometimes it is not possible to feed stray cats. Mina's cat food tastes salty, is that normal?

Normal. See above for reasons.

What, you haven’t tried Farmina cat food? I suggest you try one as soon as possible