Cat [kat] –noun
1. a small domesticated carnivore, Felis domestica or F. catus, bred in a number of varieties.
2. any of several carnivores of the family Felidae, as the lion, tiger, leopard or jaguar, etc.
car⋅ni⋅vore
[kahr-nuh-vawr,-vohr]
–noun
1. an animal that eats flesh.
2. a flesh-eating mammal of the order Carnivora, comprising the dogs, cats, bears, seals, and weasels.
3. an insectivorous plant.
Cats are defined as a small domesticated carnivore. Carnivores eat flesh and are a member of the order Carnivora. Since the beginning of time cats have eaten small prey that they caught. They originated in the desert and got most of their water from their food which typically would have been mice, voles, rabbits, small birds, crickets, and rats. Egyptians used cats as a means to exterminate the rats and mice that got into their grains. Cats throughout the years were kept at farms to help with the mice and rat overpopulation. Farmers found cats valuable because they were the only animal that wouldn’t eat the grain, instead choosing to catch their own prey.
Fast-forward a few thousand years and we are feeding our cats dry and wet food. The cats today are descendants of the cats that were so valued for their hunting skills. So why are we feeding them such unnatural foods now?
Dry food consists of unnatural ingredients. Even the meat in it is unnatural because it is reduced to an 8% moisture content. Most veterinarians recommend feeding dry food so naturally we as consumers listen to them, after all they should know right? Wrong. They get a kickback from the products they sell. Many people argue that veterinarians sell products like Science Diet dry food because they need our business. Dry food causes numerous illness’ therefore we have to take our cats to the vet again and again and get another prescribed food.
Lets say you have just gotten a kitten named Felix. You, being a responsible pet owner, took Felix to the vet within a week of getting him. The vet told you to feed Science Diet Indoor Kitten Chow and that dry food is best. So, thinking that the vet must be right you buy a small bag and go home. A year later Felix is now ready for adult cat food so you get Science Diet Indoor Adult dry food from a store like Petsmart. Felix is eating a lot of food so you fill up his bowl all the time. Before you know it, Felix is obese. You ask your vet what to do and you are told to feed SD Indoor Adult Light cat food and believing that this is the right thing to do you go and buy some. Unknown to you the consumer all light cat foods are filled with even more carbs causing cats to get even fatter. However thinking that of course your vet is right you keep feeding the recommended amounts until….Felix starts getting hairballs. Back you go to the pet store to purchase SD Indoor Adult Light Hairball dry food. Are you starting to think this is ridiculous? It is, however hundreds of cat owners are doing this everyday. We believe that a vet of all people should know about how to feed cats. However, the vast majority of them don’t.
Raise your hand if you think dry food is best for your cat. If you raised your hand you are wrong. The pet food industry is more out their for money than the health of your cat. One common myth is that dry food will clean a cats teeth. Many of us have cleaned up after a cat loses its dinner. You probably noticed that almost all the pieces of dry food are still whole. Why is that? Cats swallow kibble whole, what they do chew is broken only at the top of their tooth; it has about the same benefits for teeth as people eating stale Cheeto’s. Sounds great right?
Another thing people say is that their cat loves dry food. Well, the pet food industry strikes again. They cheat by coating the kibble with animal digest or animal fat to make it taste and smell good to cats. However on the inside of the kibble typically is grains. Remember near the top of this how cats ate the mice in the grain sheds? It was a great system because the cats did not eat the grains. So here comes the ultimate question: Why do they put grains into your carnivores food? Answer: because its cheap and they can get away with it. Cats can survive off of it because they put a tiny bit of meat in and add extra vitamins, minerals, and taurine to it. But, is Felix going to thrive on dry food? The simple answer is no, he is not. Down the road Felix is going to probably either get diabetes or CRF. That could have been avoided or delayed if you had fed Felix properly. Instead of living a long time he ended up dying from CRF when he was 12.
You decide to try learn about feline nutrition before getting another cat. What you will discover is nearly the opposite of what your vet is telling you. Cats should be feed only wet food and SD is well, crap. Knowing this you go buy a bag of a food such as Innova EVO for those days that you are going to not be there and need to leave out food. You also get a few large cases of Wellness CORE and EVO wet foods so you can start out right. Your new cat, Fluffy, is fed only grain free, low carb foods. Instead of Fluffy becoming obese she stays nice and slim. There are much less hairballs because with high quality foods and especially wet food there is little shedding. Another big plus is the litter box. Fluffy’s stools are small especially compared to Felix’s. You learn that the reason behind that is cats can only digest meat, after all they are carnivores. The corn, soy, and other plant products in the Science Diet that you fed Felix all just went out the other end. Since Fluffy is fed primarily meat there is much less waste.
However you still have one of the small problems that you had with Felix. Fluffy’s teeth are yellow with plaque. Dry food doesn’t clean a cats teeth but wet food is really no better. Therefore there is a large tarter buildup on Fluffy’s teeth so you have to take her into the vet for a dental cleaning. A couple hundred dollars later Fluffy has clean teeth again but the damage is still going to be there. Since her teeth were not properly taking care of they will fall out/rot farther down the road.
Unlike Felix, Fluffy doesn’t get CRF until she is 20. She stays healthy for the majority of her life except for all the dental cleanings and a few upper respitory infections. Then there was the time she ate that string and had to go into emergency surgery however that doesn’t relate to nutrition.
After Fluffy’s passing you research more before getting a new kitten. You decide to adopt from an animal shelter and get an older cat that probably would be put to sleep other wise. You learn about feeding raw and the dental and other health benefits. After you adopt your new cat a 7 year old black cat that you name Blackie you go out and ask butchers for the leftover meats especially organs like kidneys and livers. You go to the grocery store and get organic meat. Blackie is easy to switch and soon starts to show health differences after you have quit feeding any commerical pet food. You choose to follow the Frankenprey style of raw which means you feed 80% meat, 10% small bones, 5% liver, and 5% kidney.
Your typical grocery list for your cat is as much variety of meat you can get; the typical week you feed chicken, beef, turkey, lamb, rabbit, and pork (after freezing pork for 3 weeks prior to feeding). You choose to feed chicken breasts because it has small ribs. However knowing that lighter meats like chicken breast have little taurine you also feed lots of hearts.
You are lucky and are able to get meats like rabbit and lamb, venison and buffalo. Blackie’s favorite food is lamb heart so you feed about one whole heart a week. You are able to get organic livers and kidneys as well as free range organic chicken. Blackie is really healthy and has clean, white teeth. When you took Blackie to the vet for a checkup the vet commented on Blackie’s clean teeth and overall better health than any other animal that he has gotten into his clinic. You just say that it is because of his diet. You know that many vets are against raw feeding because they don’t know any better and you want Blackie to get fair treatment.
All to soon Blackie is in his 20’s. You still feed raw, and he is the most energetic senior cat that your vet has ever seen. His blood tests came up perfect when he was 22 and your vet said that he had never seen such good blood work on a senior cat. The vet goes so far as saying that it should be framed as an example of how blood work should be. Then you say that you feed him raw…and you get yelled at. The vet said your killing your cat, Blackie is going to die. Just a few minutes ago he was praising the blood work and now that he knows what Blackie is eating he says your killing your cat. Why? He doesn’t know the truth; the truth about pet food.
You decide to switch vets because a new holistic vet has just opened on the other end of town. They promote feeding raw. They also discourage giving all the vaccines that your other vet said to do.
Blackie passed over when he was 30 from old age.
It is now 2025. All vets promote wet and raw food. Eukanaba, Science Diet, and Iams are only selling prescription wet food diets. Dry food has been banned. Petsmart and Petco only sell brands without by-products, corn, soy, wheat, and all other questionable ingredients. They also sell raw for the people that make it themselves as well as premade raw. Wet food isn’t allowed to have carrageenan in it. Nearly all the animal shelters are no kill, instead of giving out Science Diet when you adopt a cat they give out a months worth of premade raw.
The plague of obesity, diabetes, and kidney failure has slowed down drastically. Very few cats need to have dental cleanings. No longer are vets promoting yearly vaccinations if your cat is only indoors.
Wouldn’t that be awesome? Cats allowed to be the carnivores that they are. Of course we being the consumers need to help it happen. The horse industry demanded this several years ago and they got better products. Now it is the pet food industries turn. We can make this happen!
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Benefits of raw feeding:
1) Softer coat
2) Much more energy
3) Clean teeth
4) No more “cat breath”
5) More muscles and less fat
6) You use much less. The average 10 pound cat needs only 2-4 ounces of raw per day
7) Raw fed cats tend to live longer with fewer health problems
8) Raw can turn around the effects of diabetes and obesity. Many cats that have diabetes and were switched to raw no longer need medication.
9) It is the only natural food
10) You get control over the ingredients.
11) Your cat gets to eat food that is natural for him/her.
12) Much less of the food is wasted which really helps with the cost of cat litter and when you are cleaning the litter box there is little smell.
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Helpful Websites:
www.fnes.org
http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library
http://catinfo.org/
http://www.rawfedcats.org/
http://rawfed.com/myths/cats.html
http://www.rawlearning.com/rawfaq.html
http://www.catnutrition.org/index.php
http://yourdiabeticcat.com/
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Recommended reading list:
Your Cat: Simple New Secrets to a Longer, Stronger Life.
By Elizabeth M. Hodgkins, DVM, Esq.
Raising Cats Naturally: How to Care for Your Cat the Way Nature Intended
By Michelle T. Bernard
Not Fit for a Dog! The Truth About Manufactured Dog and Cat Food
By Michael W. Fox, B. Vet Med., Ph.D., D.Sc., M.R.C.V.S., Elizabeth Hodgkins, D.V.M., and Marion E. Smart, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Natural Nutrition for Cats, The Path to Purr-fect Health
By Kymythy R. Schultze, C.N., C.N.C.
*I wrote this so sorry if it isn't proper English. Not all us country hicks can talk properly :)
