A cat needs vitamins in their diet, just as humans do. Before you start administering these vitamins to your cat., you need to be aware of the difference between vitamins. In fact, you should never give your cat any type of vitamins, or vitamin supplements, unless the vet has given you a prescription. Your cat should be able to consume all the vitamins she needs from her cat food, providing you feed her properly. Some of the more prominent vitamins are:
- Vitamin D, which is necessary for the proper growth of the skeletal structure, and helps to maintain mineral levels. Vitamin D also aids in muscle contraction, blood clotting, and nerve conduction.
- Vitamin A is important to a cat's vision, as well as for fetal development, and immune functions.
- Vitamin K is necessary for the activation of blood clotting and certain protein activations. Lack of Vitamin K will cause slow clotting and possibly even hemorrhaging.
- Vitamins B1, B6, and B12 are also important for your cat's health. Lack of B1 can cause neurological impairments, heart rate disorders, and learning defects. Lack of B6 can cause stunted growth, kidney lesions, and seizures. B12 is important for enzyme functions in a cat. Not having enough B12 can cause intestinal disorders, weight loss, diarrhea, and vomiting.
While there are other vitamins your cat also needs for a healthy lifestyle, you should feed her a well-balanced quality cat food that will give her all the necessary vitamins. By selecting the foods that are labeled with the nutritional values for you cat, you cannot go wrong. Manufacturers are required by law to follow strict labeling guidelines and cannot label those foods improperly or claim it contains something that it does not.
