CHAPTER 1
The Cat Connection: Diet and Health
What's the first thing you think of when you think "cat food"? I'm sure the first thing you thought of was canned "wet" food or dry kibble.
The dry kibble that the world generally perceives as cat food is by far the worst thing to feed cats. It is extremely important to understand that cats have a minimal amount of taste buds, even fewer taste buds than dogs possess. Therefore, it is really their sense of smell that motivates a cat to eat.
Processed Cat Food
Processed food is less fresh than food that is specially prepared at home and eaten shortly after cooking. Any food product that goes into a can or a bag to be sold off the shelf in a store must be preserved, and the wholesomeness of such a product must be called into question. If it is chemically preserved, you have to wonder about how safe those chemicals are for your animal to ingest. For these reasons it is much better to cook at home and make fresh food. Homemade cat food can be prepared ahead and frozen or kept fresh refrigerated for the week to come.
Preservatives can build up in the body over time and pollute the digestive system, thereby interfering with the normal functions of organs that maintain good health and cleanse the body, such as the liver and kidneys. This buildup happens much faster in smaller animals than in humans. Other probably hazards include liver damage, fetal abnormalities, and thyroid dysfunction.
Questionable Ingredients
Who really knows what's in processed food? You never have to wonder if you make your cat's meals yourself, since you can eliminate unwanted and harmful ingredients from your cat's diet. When reading the labels on brand-name cat food containers, it's not always easy to identify the ingredients mentioned. What is a meat byproduct or a chicken byproduct? What about animal digest? These are ingredients that would not sound so healthy called by their correct names. Pet food companies are not obliged to list all the ingredients that go into their products, and oftentimes the ingredients listed on the labels go by names that the ordinary consumer cannot recognize.
The pet food industry is not regulated by the government in the same way that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates food designated for human consumption. The industry has a self-regulatory board, the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), which defines the nutritional, testing, and labeling requirements for processed pet food. As recent media attention has demonstrated, when standards are not as rigid and companies not as accountable, casualties will eventually occur. Numerous reports of pet deaths have occurred due to contaminated ingredients found in commercial pet foods. As tragic as these deaths are, they highlight how questionable the production process of commercial pet food really is. If you cannot identify what the ingredients are and how they got to their current state, how can you knowingly offer them to your beloved companion animal?
The pet food industry is a big, highly competitive, and hugely profitable business; therefore, cat food companies keep their recipes and preparation processes closely guarded secrets. Because we don't know exactly what pet food companies do to process their cat food, we can only trust that they don't overcook it, robbing it of essential nutrients. When foods are too overcooked, which might be done to sterilize their contents, for example, they lose much of their nutritional value. The minerals are processed out of them so they must then be artificially supplemented. Many of the ingredients on pet food labels are synthetic nutrients added back into the processed food.
Processed cat foods now are also marketed toward age categories, such as kittens or seniors, and for the management of specific ailments. No matter what is on the label, however, proper nutrition is a highly individualized balance of requirements dictated by genetics, age, and health status. Of course, cat food manufacturers do conduct feeding and digestibility research trials, but the bottom line is that one kind of cat food is not going to be good for all cats.
In recent years, the general public and the medical establishment have begun to accept and readily advocate nutrition as one of the most powerful tools we have available to create optimal health for ourselves. It is the cornerstone of preventive care and healing. Adages have honored this truth for centuries ("An apple a day keeps the doctor away"). Today, many cat lovers are beginning to apply the same holistic approach to pet nutrition. Why not? It's such a simple solution.
While it may be commonly recognized that there are everyday benefits to feeding your cat processed food, such as speed and convenience, and the more mythical benefits of "scientifically formulated" recipes for complete nutrition, these are far outweighed by the detriments that the processing of cat food offers your pet's health in the long term.
Feeding Practices
Interestingly, I have come to observe a bizarre phenomenon accelerating at a rapid rate: obsessive compulsive behavior in cats. Specifically, overeating and an apparent addiction to dry cat food.
I have noticed that many cats appear to be addicted to dry cat food, as though they can't get enough of it. In every case the people of the household leave dry cat food out all day, essentially for their cat to "graze." This is the most unnatural thing owners could do for their feline companions.
Cats are not grazing animals, like cattle or horses. They are hunters, and as such there must always be a feed schedule for them to follow. Grazing throughout the day will almost certainly cause health and weight issues for cats who are fed this way. While it may seem convenient for you, it is definitely not ideal for your puss.
So many ailments in cats today can be directly attributed to poor nutrition or incorrect feeding, both responsibilities of the cat owner. Such ailments include diabetes mellitus, obesity, urinary tract infections, inflammatory bowel disease, and thyroid disorders.
Leslie Taylor, DVM, of Canal Clinic in Potomac, Maryland, states that over 59 percent of her cat patients may develop diabetes due to food and nutrition issues. In these cases she recommends her feline patients be put on the Atkins diet, where protein is the primary source of nutrients being ingested.
Dr. Taylor also suggests that if cats are on a more suitable diet, such as the Atkins diet, their diabetes can in fact be reversed, and the need for insulin will be erased. Interestingly,...
