Man first became aware of the cat for its hunting talent. Originally serving the utilitarian role of ridding rats, the cat charmed its way into domestication. Historians believe cats began living side-by-side with humans as early as 4000 B.C. Since then, feline nutrition has come a long way. From mice to brown rice, nutrition has evolved from life-sustaining to life-enhancing. And Royal Canin has been at the forefront every step of the way.

The right diet should do more than provide calories for your cat. It should work synergistically with your cat's digestive, metabolic and immune systems to maximize her health and longevity.

Objective 1: Food as body development and maintenance.
This is what proteins, minerals, trace elements, vitamins and some lipids do.

Objective 2: Food as energy.
This is done by lipids and carbohydrates.

Objective 3: Food as prevention.
This is achieved with specific nutrients incorporated into food rations such as antioxidants and nutraceuticals. Nutrients can contribute to the prevention of renal infections or digestive disorders, for example, and have an anti-aging effect.

Objective 4: Food as medicine.
Certain nutrients added to food support the therapeutic or convalescence process, helping pets recover from a number of ailments.

By law, food manufacturers are required to list ingredients by precooked weight in descending order. Often times, fresh meat or other water-rich ingredients are at the top of the list. You would think that means they represent the main nutritional ingredient, right? Wrong.

For example, lamb is a meat with high water content. So even if lamb is the first ingredient listed (because its precooked weight represents 25% of the diet), it actually only nets out to 4% or 5% lamb protein after all the water is cooked off. If the same food also contains 20% corn, 20% rice, 15% dried fish, 10% poultry fat and 10% vegetable oil, the manufacturer is still allowed to write "Lamb" as the first ingredient even though cereals will be the main ingredients in terms of quantity in the end product.

We concentrate first on the right balance of protein, minerals, vitamins, lipids and carbohydrates, and then select the best ingredient sources for those nutrients. It’s a difference that will make a noticeable difference in your cat.