I've often encountered questions like what is the safest cat food or cat grooming product to use on pet cats. With an enormous number of products being sold out there, it could be quite confusing to know which one is really safe for our cats. Being owned by 4 finicky cats and having years of cat care experience, it is through trial and error that I have learned which products are really safe.
Now it is easy to get swayed by your friend or acquaintance saying "Hey, this is the best cat food. My cat loves it!" or "This is the best shampoo, it works for my cat." What you have to remember is their cat is not exactly like your cat. Certain shampoos, food or other products work specifically for a special breed of cat. You have to take into consideration that cats come in different varieties such as long and short hair kinds, exotic and mixed breeds etc. If you share the same breed or type of cat, chances are the effects of using the similar product may be the same but not in all cases. There is also the age difference, individual metabolism of the cat, temperament, etc that you do have to consider before you really decide if that is safe and good for your pet.
Trying on a new product, let's say like cat food, is basically a trial and error process. In my experience, my cats did not prefer the expensive brands that market themselves as fully nutritional for the cats. I ended up spending so much on a particular brand of cat food that they didn't want to eat. The lesson here is before investing your money on a new brand of cat food, read the label and read a lot of product reviews about it. You may come across some other cat parents who claim their pets experienced vomiting or some adverse medical condition after consuming the product. This may or may not happen to your cat but it does pay to put attention to it. Every cat has their own preferences when it comes to food, so what may work for one cat won't work for the other.
The best thing to do is to check the ingredients on the label and see if the product has the approval of EPA and FDA. Avoid cat food products that are rich in grain and fillers. A cat's metabolism is not built to digest ingredients made out of these and it can cause bad effects on your cat's health in the future. When it comes to grooming and pet products, avoid those that contain harmful ingredients like essential oils such as tea tree and Pennyroyal. These ingredients are not only harmful, they are toxic and can cause severe effects, at worse feline death.
If you must try a new product, buy them in small packages first. Observe your cat for at least one week to see if they do like the food or if the shampoo or Flea powder that you used is causing any good or adverse effects on their health. Most importantly, check with the FDA website for the products that they have approved to be safe for use. It pays to do your homework when it comes to cat care and safety. Ask your vet if the product is safe to use or consume if you are not confident enough with what you have researched so far.
