Little off topic, but good nutrition is a fitting subject for a wellness blog. I came across this article, sent along to me by my cat sitter. The gist of the article is this; cats are true carnivores. The dry foods fed to cats (including my own) are too high in carbohydrates, do not have adequate moisture content, and are too low in protein for an animal that is primarily a meat eater. What’s more, cats were not meant to eat corn, gluten, or other grains. The biology of it makes perfect (no pun intended) sense to me.
In the wild, cats are predators, hunters. Their natural diet and hence the physiological processes of their bodies are geared toward digesting meat. In fact, without the proper enzymes, a diet high in plant/vegetable products can be a strain on their system. Think lactose intolerant. Cats, like humans, are in many ways closer to a functioning as if they were still in the wild: their hunting instinct, instinct to hide if in pain, etc.
Dogs are a different story. Dogs tend to lean more toward an omnivorous lifestyle. Think of a wild canine, say a coyote. Sure coyotes are hunters, but they also have a seasonal pattern to their diet, supplementing it with berries in the summer, fruits from harvests. They have to chase them out of the watermelon fields down south.
So where does this get us? Based on what I know and what I’ve learned, I’ve decided to transition my own cat, Sophie, to a canned food diet that is more in tune with her physiology. The brand I’ve chosen for her is Nature’s Variety. I chose this brand because of its formula. The canned food is 95% meat and 5% vegetable matter. I will supplement this with the company’s freeze-dried raw foods. This part may seem a bit over the top to some, but there are advocates of feeding raw foods to cats to simulate what they would be getting in the wild. The nutrition benefits definitely are there. My concern with switching foods was to never run out. I looked into making my own food for her, but dismissed it because of time and cost.
As soon as I get a hold of some, I’ll begin the s-l-o-w transition to canned food. I’m sure she’ll adore it and feeding time will truly be like feeding time in the zoo.
