If you read my column regularly (thank you), you know I’m a real/raw food advocate. Most of my columns on nutrition have focused on our canine companions but today I’m going to focus on cats.
Cats are obligate carnivores – meaning they do not properly digest plants. There may be an argument about whether dogs are carnivores or omnivores, but there is no debate that cats are carnivores and require a diet heavy on meat.
The first dry/canned cat foods caused many issues because they did not contain enough taurine, an essential amino acid for cats, either because the ingredients were not meat, or the processing has cooked it.
Dreamstime Cats are carnivores and require a diet heavy on meat. Raw food can be a good choice for them.
In nature, and for hundreds of years before we started feeding them processed foods, cats ate mice and other vermin. On average, they eat four nice, fresh mice a day, and they are sleek, smooth and in peak health.
Like us, when processed foods become the majority of their diets, we see changes in our cats, and not for the better. We accept that the norm has shifted to cats like Garfield, the cartoon character who loves carbs (lasagna). It’s normal for him to be overweight.
We have an epidemic of overweight, diabetic cats, and the big culprit is a poor diet. Dry crunchies are very convenient – just fill the bowl when it’s empty. Now a cat doesn’t get much exercise hunting for food. If they are lucky, they get some canned food, which at least gets them some water.
Water. Yes, dogs eat kibble and hold a gallon of water after less than a minute. Their tongues and mouths facilitate drinking. Cats, however, cannot drink like dogs, nor do they really want to drink. Cats are from the desert, and do not trust standing water. That’s why they want to drink dripping tap water, or toilet water. There are many brands and types of fountains designed to get cats to drink but their tongues can’t scoop up water like a dog’s, so what sticks to their tongues when they dip is what they get. So it is difficult for cats to hydrate when eating dry foods.
We know, as humans, that if we don’t hydrate enough, we will have problems. In cats, this is the main reason they have stone and crystal issues. That’s why most vets encourage canned food, either all canned, or at least some. But canned food is expensive, and that can cause cat owners to not provide enough of them.
So now we come to my favorite solution – raw foods. Raw cat food is about as close to rat food as you can offer a cat. And – here’s the fun part – it can be cheaper than feeding canned food, even cheaper than feeding canned and dry.
The best part is that raw-fed cats get hydrated food, so they have fewer kidney and bladder issues. If given foods such as chicken necks or legs, or other meat bones, they may have fewer dental problems. They tend to shed less, especially if you include Omega 3 supplements. And, because there are no fermenting carbs to deal with, their litter box has less odor and 75 percent less fecal matter . They do, however, pee more, which we all know is a good thing, and there are litter options that don’t involve scooping up clumps caused by urine.
In the next column, I will discuss how cats can eat raw food. As cats, they don’t always do what we want.
Jeff McFarlane
Pets are People Too
Jeff McFarlane is the owner of Thrive Pet Food Market. Contact him with your questions or ideas [email protected] or visit www.thrivepetfoodmarket.com
Read the full biography
