Nutrition and the Cat

The only truly balanced and complete diet for the cat is the one provided by nature millions of years before packaged commercial foods became available. The natural diet is freshly killed prey because cats evolved as PURE CARNIVORES, and this means their nutritional requirements are much more specialized and fragile than those of dogs or humans, who are not pure carnivores. But since today's house cat is mostly unable to hunt and is instead dependent upon us to provide food, it is important that we understand the impact of substituting the NATURAL diet of fresh raw meat with packages and cans of processed, refined, highly cooked commercial cat food.

I don't believe it is possible for cats to be truly healthy when living on commercial foods for a long period of time. This belief came about after contrasting the condition of house cats with feral cats who have access to adequate prey. These feral cats are simply magnificent, with strong teeth and gums, thick shiny fur, clear eyes, and well-developed muscles. (I am not talking about feral cats in diseased, starved colonies where there is not adequate food of any kind.) There are other variables present as well, but certainly diet is of prime importance.

So while I don't believe our commercially-fed house cats CAN he as healthy as cats eating the diet Mother Nature designed for them, there are ways we can improve their nutrition to minimize health problems.

1. Realizing that cats need most of all RAW MEAT as the main part of their diet, supplement with RAW MEAT. I suggest ground raw turkey, frozen and then thawed to kill some important parasites. Offer an ice cream scoop-sized portion at least twice a week in place of the cat's normal meal. Some cats refuse raw meat at first, as it is the nature of the cat to distrust strange food. Just persist! Let the cat miss a meal or two and get really hungry. Once they start eating raw meat, they love it and feel much better afterward because they are getting what their body really needs without any added preservatives or chemicals.

2. Feed a variety of commercial brands. No commercial food is perfect, as it is impossible to duplicate the natural diet in processed cooked form. There have been numerous cases of serious illness in cats on commercial foods (blindness, cardiomyopathy, kidney failure), and the cats involved were eating one food exclusively. Feed one brand for a few weeks, then switch to another brand.

3. Feed canned food (the more expensive the better) as the mainstay of your cat's diet. Canned food contains more animal-derived ingredients (dry foods rely heavily on vegetable-derived ingredients) and provides a great deal more moisture. Never feed the soft-moist packets. (Have you ever wondered why the stuff won't spoil, even if unrefrigerated?) Dry food can be fed, also, but should not be the sole diet for the reasons given above: low meat content, low moisture. Dry food does NOT clean the teeth. The teeth of cats do not have grinding surfaces for chewing, as our teeth do. Cats' teeth are sharp and pointed, designed for catching prey and pulling meat from the bones. They chew very little. And anyway, you wouldn't expect chewing on crackers to clean your teeth. Even the pet food companies do not put the claim that dry food cleans the teeth on their packages.

4. Feed supplements in addition to commercial food, realizing that many of the nutrients and all of the enzymes have been cooked out at high temperatures. Raw meat and other raw foods have enzymes that self-digest the food. This is what cleans the teeth of cats on their natural diet. When enzyme-deficient food is eaten, the pancreas must then produce enzymes to compensate. Studies in rats have shown that the pancreas becomes swollen and less efficient on a cooked diet, because it is "overworked." With time, the pancreas fails to function properly, becomes "burned out," and the cat becomes finicky, wants to eat but doesn't, loses weight, gets diarrhea, and will die without nutritional help. I can advise you on proper supplements.

5. A healthy cat receiving all nutrients it needs will eat to fill its needs, and then will eat no more. If your cat is too thin or overweight, do not be too quick to switch to a special diet which supposedly will correct the weight Many of these diets are simply high-fiber, which can decrease the absorption of essential nutrients even further. I believe a cat overeats because something is missing in the diet, probably meats or enzyme& Do not simply attempt to cut or add calories. Go through the steps above and make sure the diet is as close to the natural diet as possible. I have many cats lose (or gain) weight simply by adding the raw meat supplements.

Some people choose to prepare their cat's food at home, avoiding commercial foods entirely. This is wonderful, but does require some knowledge as to mineral supplementation. Remember that eaten prey consists not only of raw meat, but the minerals from the bones as well I can also advise you on this route and suggest appropriate books and other reading materials.

A cat without proper nutrition as intended by Nature (not pet food companies) is' like a plant in poor soil. It cannot resist disease or parasites and becomes progressively weakened. Drugs are powerless when you do not get at the source, just as it is no use spraying your plants time after time but neglecting to enrich the soil.