More than 3.2m households in the UK got a pet during the pandemic. For three-quarters of these new pet owners, a new animal has been a boost to their mental health in difficult times. But there is more to having a pet than having a furry companion to cuddle on the sofa, as the 5% of new owners who had returned their pet by March 2021 found out. Just like millions of Brits, I have also been toying with the idea of getting a pet – a cat, to be specific. It turns out, there are many things I hadn’t considered, not least of all how important it is to feed your cat food that is specifically tailored to their stage of life.
Clare Hemmings, a qualified former veterinary nurse and scientific communications manager at Royal Canin – who has owned 19 cats over the years, and is fascinated by the power of nutrition – says: “If you change their diet, you could make a difference to the overall health and wellbeing of the animal.” Royal Canin has developed a nutrition range tailored to meet the needs of healthy cats of all sizes, breeds, lifestyles and tastes. These are further grouped by stage of life, an important factor that owners must take into consideration when choosing their cat’s food, says Hemmings.
