Cats Need Wet Food
| ESSENTIAL PROCESS, INC. Noreen Ziegler, DVM, CNC |
Cats Need Wet Food
by Beth Taylor and Steve Brown
The natural diet of cats is meat. Cats are meat eaters, designed to thrive on
a wide variety of small prey animals, eaten fresh and whole. Their natural diet
is high in water and protein, with a moderate amount of fat, and a very low
percentage of carbohydrate.
Dry cat food is high in grain. A diet of dry food is high in carbohydrate,
between 35 and 50 percent. "Diet" and "Lite" foods have even more.
Dry food contains almost no water. Dry cat food is convenient to feed, and
relatively inexpensive, but it's the opposite of the natural diet of cats. Cats
have no dietary need for any carbohydrate.
Cats need to get water from their food. Cats are descended from feline
desert dwellers. They couldn't stroll over to the watering hole for a drink, and
cat tongues are not very well designed for drinking water.
Cats are adapted to obtain most of their water from their prey, which contains
more than 75 percent water. Cats who eat dry food consume only half the
water they need, compared to those that eat wet food, and live in a state of
chronic dehydration.
The common health problems of cats are related to diet.
There is increasing evidence, published in peer-reviewed veterinary journals,
that many of the health problems seen in cats are the result of diets
inappropriate for a feline. Dry, grain-based foods fed to a meat eater, over
time, result in both chronic and life-threatening diseases, like these:
Obesity: Since cats are designed for a high-protein, moderate-fat, low-
carbohydrate diet, it is not surprising that obesity is often seen in cats. Diet
cat foods have even more carbohydrate than regular ones, and less fat, so
they depart even further from the natural diet of cats, making it harder for
them to lose weight.
Diabetes: The high level of carbohydrate in dry cat food contributes directly
to the development of diabetes in cats. Blood sugar levels rise when cats eat
dry food. When this is an ongoing event, insulin-producing cells
"downregulate," which leads to diabetes.
Kidney disease: Kidney disease is the most common cause of death for cats.
The kidneys require an abundant supply of water to do their job. Without
water to process the byproducts of the digestion process, the kidneys are
overloaded, become damaged over time and unable to do their job.
Bladder Problems: Cystitis, bladder irritation and bladder/kidney stone
formation are also strongly connected to dehydration. If the body is well
hydrated, these problems are minimized.
Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome and Disease: These problems are often
characterized by vomiting and diarrhea and are very common in cats. Cats
who eat a species-appropriate diet rarely suffer from these issues.
Dental disease: Dry food has a high sugar (carbohydrate) content, which has
been shown to cause dental decay.
For cats to derive any supposed abrasive benefit from dry foods to be seen,
they would have to actually chew their dry food. Since dry food shatters in
their mouths and they then swallow the pieces, there's no abrasive action
from chewing something hard.
Cats who eat dry food often have very severe dental problems. Many factors
contribute to dental health, but it is clear that a high-carbohydrate diet is not
beneficial!
The Solution: An Appropriate Diet for the Species
It's simple: Cats need to eat a diet that is high in protein and water, with a
moderate amount of fat, and almost no carbohydrate.
Most of the health problems we've discussed here are either radically
improved or eliminated by eating a diet that meets the needs of a carnivore --
one which closely resembles the nutritional balance provided by a mouse. For
example, many veterinarians now treat diabetes in cats with a meat-based
canned diet.
We'd like to go a step further, and prevent these diseases.
Feed your cat a meat-based diet!
We suggest you buy canned food that is designed to be complete, or
complete frozen diets that have very little vegetable content. No grain sources
should be listed in the ingredient panel. There are grain-free canned cat
foods that have some vegetables in them, but vegetables should not be a
major component (read our article on how to compute these percentages).
"All meat" diets are just that, and they will not meet your cat's nutritional needs
alone.
Make the switch successful!
It sounds simple to just switch your cat's food. After all, meat tastes better
than dry food, but your cat may disagree. Dry foods are designed to be tasty,
and many cats are addicted to them. Often, cats are not open to the idea of
variety, especially if they have only been fed one food (as we have been
advised by pet food companies for decades). Creativity and patience may be
needed to switch your cat.
Cats will starve themselves, and they are not good candidates for the tough
love approach. Some very serious conditions can occur if cats do not eat for
an extended period, especially if they are overweight. A slow switch will
prevent problems.
Here are some ideas to help you along:
Additions and Considerations
Add sardines for good fats, or use fish oil. A meal of sardines once a week or
one small sardine a day adds omega-3 fatty acids in their best form-- whole
food. Because cats can't use plant sources of omega-3s at all, animal sources
are necessary. If sardines aren't appealing to you, use a fresh, high-quality
omega-3 fish oil supplemented with vitamin E.
Digestive enzymes and a glandular supplement are good additions to replace
the parts of prey animals we normally don't feed cats: The stomach contents
and smaller glands.
We think that the optimum diet for cats is a raw meat-based diet. However, if
you feed your cat a canned diet that approximates the balance of his or her
natural diet, their diet will be fully hydrated, and you will be much closer to
providing your cat with optimum nutrition.
If you choose to feed a meat-based canned diet, find a way to simulate
components lost in cooking or processing.
One way to add live food is with "cat grass," very popular with cats. It's often
available in the produce section at the grocery store, or you can grow your
own from a kit. This addition often takes the burden off the house plants!
Dry "green stuff" is another choice ("Barley Cat" is one product). It takes a
very small quantity of a dry product to do the job. Too much can make urine
PH too alkaline, and cause some of the problems you're trying to avoid! Tiny
pinches of dry green stuff go a long way.
For cats, good diet can make the difference between "Old Age" at 12 and 23.
Cats who eat dry food are often old and feel quite ill at 9 or 10. Healthy cats
can live a very long time, and that's what we hope for your feline carnivore!
by Beth Taylor and Steve Brown
The natural diet of cats is meat. Cats are meat eaters, designed to thrive on
a wide variety of small prey animals, eaten fresh and whole. Their natural diet
is high in water and protein, with a moderate amount of fat, and a very low
percentage of carbohydrate.
Dry cat food is high in grain. A diet of dry food is high in carbohydrate,
between 35 and 50 percent. "Diet" and "Lite" foods have even more.
Dry food contains almost no water. Dry cat food is convenient to feed, and
relatively inexpensive, but it's the opposite of the natural diet of cats. Cats
have no dietary need for any carbohydrate.
Cats need to get water from their food. Cats are descended from feline
desert dwellers. They couldn't stroll over to the watering hole for a drink, and
cat tongues are not very well designed for drinking water.
Cats are adapted to obtain most of their water from their prey, which contains
more than 75 percent water. Cats who eat dry food consume only half the
water they need, compared to those that eat wet food, and live in a state of
chronic dehydration.
The common health problems of cats are related to diet.
There is increasing evidence, published in peer-reviewed veterinary journals,
that many of the health problems seen in cats are the result of diets
inappropriate for a feline. Dry, grain-based foods fed to a meat eater, over
time, result in both chronic and life-threatening diseases, like these:
Obesity: Since cats are designed for a high-protein, moderate-fat, low-
carbohydrate diet, it is not surprising that obesity is often seen in cats. Diet
cat foods have even more carbohydrate than regular ones, and less fat, so
they depart even further from the natural diet of cats, making it harder for
them to lose weight.
Diabetes: The high level of carbohydrate in dry cat food contributes directly
to the development of diabetes in cats. Blood sugar levels rise when cats eat
dry food. When this is an ongoing event, insulin-producing cells
"downregulate," which leads to diabetes.
Kidney disease: Kidney disease is the most common cause of death for cats.
The kidneys require an abundant supply of water to do their job. Without
water to process the byproducts of the digestion process, the kidneys are
overloaded, become damaged over time and unable to do their job.
Bladder Problems: Cystitis, bladder irritation and bladder/kidney stone
formation are also strongly connected to dehydration. If the body is well
hydrated, these problems are minimized.
Inflammatory Bowel Syndrome and Disease: These problems are often
characterized by vomiting and diarrhea and are very common in cats. Cats
who eat a species-appropriate diet rarely suffer from these issues.
Dental disease: Dry food has a high sugar (carbohydrate) content, which has
been shown to cause dental decay.
For cats to derive any supposed abrasive benefit from dry foods to be seen,
they would have to actually chew their dry food. Since dry food shatters in
their mouths and they then swallow the pieces, there's no abrasive action
from chewing something hard.
Cats who eat dry food often have very severe dental problems. Many factors
contribute to dental health, but it is clear that a high-carbohydrate diet is not
beneficial!
The Solution: An Appropriate Diet for the Species
It's simple: Cats need to eat a diet that is high in protein and water, with a
moderate amount of fat, and almost no carbohydrate.
Most of the health problems we've discussed here are either radically
improved or eliminated by eating a diet that meets the needs of a carnivore --
one which closely resembles the nutritional balance provided by a mouse. For
example, many veterinarians now treat diabetes in cats with a meat-based
canned diet.
We'd like to go a step further, and prevent these diseases.
Feed your cat a meat-based diet!
We suggest you buy canned food that is designed to be complete, or
complete frozen diets that have very little vegetable content. No grain sources
should be listed in the ingredient panel. There are grain-free canned cat
foods that have some vegetables in them, but vegetables should not be a
major component (read our article on how to compute these percentages).
"All meat" diets are just that, and they will not meet your cat's nutritional needs
alone.
Make the switch successful!
It sounds simple to just switch your cat's food. After all, meat tastes better
than dry food, but your cat may disagree. Dry foods are designed to be tasty,
and many cats are addicted to them. Often, cats are not open to the idea of
variety, especially if they have only been fed one food (as we have been
advised by pet food companies for decades). Creativity and patience may be
needed to switch your cat.
Cats will starve themselves, and they are not good candidates for the tough
love approach. Some very serious conditions can occur if cats do not eat for
an extended period, especially if they are overweight. A slow switch will
prevent problems.
Here are some ideas to help you along:
- Establish regular feeding times and put food away in between meals.
For many reasons, it's best for their bodies not to have food available
all the time. If you have dogs, you know what to do with leftovers! Feed
multiple cats separately. - Consider dry food to be a snack only, not left out all the time. Leave out
just a few pieces as a treat. Consider this the equivalent of "kitty junk
food." - Offer bits of other kinds of fresh food that you are eating. They may be
refused, but one day, they won't. Your goal is to get your cat to
consider things as food other than dry, crunchy items. - Cat whiskers are very sensitive. If food is served in a bowl that
interferes with whiskers, it could be enough to keep the cat from
considering the food. A flat dish works well. - Cats generally prefer their food between room temperature and body
temperature. The dry food cats are used to eating is designed to be
very smelly. Warming the food releases the flavors and fragrances.
Cats choose food by smell, and wet food is a lot less fragrant than a
commercial food they have been eating. This is often the reason that
the second half of a can of food is refused: The first time it was room
temperature! - Trickery has been known to work with cats. Put the food on your plate,
or hide it in a location cats know to be forbidden. When in doubt,
creativity helps!
Additions and Considerations
Add sardines for good fats, or use fish oil. A meal of sardines once a week or
one small sardine a day adds omega-3 fatty acids in their best form-- whole
food. Because cats can't use plant sources of omega-3s at all, animal sources
are necessary. If sardines aren't appealing to you, use a fresh, high-quality
omega-3 fish oil supplemented with vitamin E.
Digestive enzymes and a glandular supplement are good additions to replace
the parts of prey animals we normally don't feed cats: The stomach contents
and smaller glands.
We think that the optimum diet for cats is a raw meat-based diet. However, if
you feed your cat a canned diet that approximates the balance of his or her
natural diet, their diet will be fully hydrated, and you will be much closer to
providing your cat with optimum nutrition.
If you choose to feed a meat-based canned diet, find a way to simulate
components lost in cooking or processing.
One way to add live food is with "cat grass," very popular with cats. It's often
available in the produce section at the grocery store, or you can grow your
own from a kit. This addition often takes the burden off the house plants!
Dry "green stuff" is another choice ("Barley Cat" is one product). It takes a
very small quantity of a dry product to do the job. Too much can make urine
PH too alkaline, and cause some of the problems you're trying to avoid! Tiny
pinches of dry green stuff go a long way.
For cats, good diet can make the difference between "Old Age" at 12 and 23.
Cats who eat dry food are often old and feel quite ill at 9 or 10. Healthy cats
can live a very long time, and that's what we hope for your feline carnivore!
 |
 |