Can Maine Coons Eat Normal Cat Food?

Can Maine Coons Eat Normal Cat Food?

When looking for the best food to feed your Maine Coon, it can be difficult to decipher which foods are appropriate.

There is a lot of conflicting information out there, and many people don’t know what they should do.

There are many unique aspects to owning a Maine Coon, not least of which is the size of the animal.

If you own another breed as well as a Maine Coon then it’s quite natural to wonder if you might need to buy two different types of food for each animal.

So, can a Maine Coon eat normal cat food?

A Maine Coon can eat normal cat foods that other breeds would consume. Maine Coons do not need a special diet but it’s recommended that the diet be rich in protein. Animal proteins in fish, chicken, and duck are preferred to more grain-based foods.

That’s the issue really.

While a Maine Coon doesn’t need a special diet per see, it does need a high protein diet.

If you have another cat, it’s best to make the other breed consume protein-rich foods rather than the Maine Coon going without.

High protein diets are critical to a Maine Coon’s health and growth.

Do Maine Coons Need A Special Diet?

So other than being protein rich, a Maine Coon doesn’t require a special diet.

Protein content can be found on the nutritional information of any cat food, whether it’s dry or wet.

Typically animal proteins like chicken, turkey, mackerel, etc are all protein rich.

Variety seems to work with most animals, as no one likes to eat the same flavors every day.

So rotating the diet, and noting which food style your Maine Coon seems to like best would be good advice.

Mix it up a bit, wet and dry, along with chicken, turkey, and fish based dishes.

While wet food is easier to consume, certainly for young kittens and senior cats, dry food has a crunchy texture and can be good for removing the build up of tartar on the teeth.

The Right Type Of Food For Your Maine Coon

Choosing the right diet should be what your Maine Coon finds preferable to eat, perhaps a little sculpted by the knowledge that a growing Maine Coon needs a high amount of proteins.

If they prefer chicken to fish, then fine.

Raw fish with bones are generally not a good idea, but tuna flakes can be a nice additional treat.

As long as you remain congruent with what your Maine Coon is actually eating then you can be fine tuned to when it looks ill, or what it actually prefers.

Often high protein diets can be diluted with more grain based additions. Tuna and rice are a good example of this.

Grain based foods are foods for your cat heavy with wheat, barley, oats, or rice.

Although you should need your Maine Coon some grains as they are rich in carbohydrates, they have been linked to obesity in large amounts.

As ever, a varied diet helps your Maine Coon.

A rough rule of thumb is to look at the back, at the list of ingredients. If the first listed ingredient is meat, then you are probably looking at a food rich in protein, and good for your Maine Coon.

What Your Maine Coon Needs To Eat

Maine Coon cats need a balanced diet, so their food needs to include;

• Protein

• Carbohydrates

• Fats and fatty acids

• Amino acids (taurine and arginine)

• Vitamins and minerals (Vitamins A, B, E, and Niacin)

In general, you don’t need to worry about good brands of cat food that aren’t specifically branded for certain breeds.

All good quality brands of cat food will contain the minimum requirements needed for a Maine Coon.

So you don’t need to worry about general cat food being poisonous to your Maine Coon or not containing an essential protein, mineral, or vitamin.

The brands designed for Maine Coons will contain all the minerals, vitamins, and proteins in proportions deemed necessary for a Maine Coon.

Protein Ingredients In General Cat Food

All cat foods will have taurine in sufficient quantities for any breed of cat. Taurine is essential and needs to be consumed in food for all breeds.

Pet food in most countries has to meet certain standards, which means you shouldn’t worry about feeding your Maine Coon general food.

Specifically for a Maine Coon, protein is by far the most important ingredient as a proportion of the food.

The Maine Coon is a large breed of cat and can still be growing 3 years after birth. As such, protein is needed to help with that growth.

Protein in cat food more readily comes from meat based foods such as chicken, fish, and beef. The grain based foods like rice have much less protein.

The foods designed for Maine Coon kittens will approximate to 36% protein, 21% fats, and 0.29% taurine.

The foods designed for Maine Coon adults are often in the region of 30% protein.

A lot of general cat foods can have the protein mix at around 8%.

This is too low for a Maine Coon, so if you feed a Maine Coon general cat food, look at the protein content, and give the cat more chicken and animal proteins as treats to compensate.

Dry food can often be high in carbohydrates as they are cheaper than proteins so the cheap unbranded stuff is more of a risk for Maine Coons.

A Maine Coon will need plenty of meat based protein foods.