Now what do we feed our cats? Here is a subject that has so many pros and cons I could fill up 10 to 15 pages and still not come to a convincing conclusion. It boils down to commercial processed food versus natural foods plus the question do we feed our pets vitamins and supplements, too.
What really is natural pet food? The first thing that comes to mind is raw, unadulterated food. Actually mice and birds with maybe a squirrel or two thrown in are natural foods for a cat. Eating any one of these critters would provide your cat with all the proper nutrition it would need to live a long and healthful life.
According to the Pet Food Committee of the AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials) "natural" as it relates to pet food is a food or ingredient derived solely from a plant, an animal or a mined source. It can either be in it's natural state (raw) or processed by several means including cooking. The food per se remains "natural" as long as it has not been subjected to a chemical synthetic process and does not contain any additives that are chemically synthetic. Prophylene Glycol and BHA are two examples of chemically synthesized ingredients. Now don't you feel smarter?
Commercial pet food manufacturers have set recommendations given to them by AAFCO that set the standards for providing vitamins and minerals for our pets in their food. These standards do not provide the optimum level of vitamins and minerals needed. They only provide enough needed to prevent our pets from having a vitamin and mineral deficiency.
In an ideal world all commercially prepared pet food would provide our pets with a completely healthy and balanced diet. Not even the very best canned or dry food made for cats is perfect. There is not a 100% balanced and complete food to be found anywhere, no matter what the label says. Pet food for the most part is processed by heat and as we know heat destroys vitamins and enzymes. Even frozen and freeze-dried pet foods are not the "100% perfect food" to feed your pet.
The ASPCA believes "if your pet is eating a healthful balanced diet of high quality food, then vitamin supplementation is not necessary."
I believe that statement is true for the most part, however here in the world of humans, we try to eat right and still find it necessary to take vitamins and supplements to offset the processed foods we eat.
So what is the answer, when it comes to caring for our cats. One
thing I know for certain is that it is very important as a cat parent that you refrain from adding supplements to your cat's diet without first consulting your vet. The workings of a cat's internal system is very different than that of a dogs and many supplements and/or people medications can cause serious problems for a cat. It is very possible to "over dose" your pet with vitamins and other supplements. Our motto is "when in doubt" call your vet before you try any thing new.
The purpose of this chapter is not to reform any of you, but to inform and enlighten you to the options open regarding feeding your cat. First of all I will tell you the story of our 3 cats and what they eat. At our house we are very open-minded, we are aware of good nutrition for ourselves and we follow a healthy diet (with no extremes). We work every day and are in very good health. The same is true for our cats (no they don't work, but are in very good health.) If our physician and our vet had to depend on us for support, they both would have become street people.
Miss Tiger, our 9 year old eats a variety of canned cat food (no one particular brand), she also eats different varieties of dry cat food (small amounts) plus lightly cooked chicken and lean pork, which has to have some garlic on it or she won't eat it. She does not like beef raw or cooked. Once in awhile she has some milk and cheddar cheese (which I grate). Tiger has maintained her same weight for the last 6 years. Her teeth are perfect, no tartar build up. She gets special treats that help reduce hairball problems, a cat vitamin twice a week (ground up and added to her food) and goes to the vet once a year for her shots and a checkup for parasites (never had any). Miss Tiger is an indoor/outdoor cat.
Boots, our 14 year old eats the same diet that Miss Tiger does with one exception, he eats raw beef. He, too is one mean lean machine. His weight never varies, his teeth are perfect and he is extremely healthy. I will add he is a Tuxedo cat (black and white) with the softest fur I have ever felt and for whatever reason remains flea free. I have read that some Tuxedo cats are that way and he is one of them. He too, is an indoor/outdoor cat.
Smokey, our 8 year old, is a complex individual. Smokey was born that way; we acquired him when he was approximately 2 days old. As soon as he was old enough to eat kitten food, he wouldn't. He would consider some cooked chicken, but cat food NEVER. Smokey was born with many physical problems, which is most likely why his mother abandoned him and a litter mate that we could not save. He could not use his back legs and we truly thought he would have to have a small 2-wheel cart attached to his back legs to help him become mobile. Our vet couldn't give us any advice regarding the fact he would not eat cat food other than don't feed him for a few days and then he will eat what you put down, not so. Found out later that this could have killed him, as cats cannot go with out food for any great length of time. Needless to say, we no longer have that vet. Smokey would rather starve and he did for a few days as we did try the vet's advice (unwillingly). What was wrong with his back legs remained a mystery.
A fellow cat lover friend brought me a book on natural cat care. I am sorry I don't know the name or author of the book, as I just copied a few pages out of it. However, there was a recipe for a Vita-Mineral mix which I mixed with baby food (sweet potatoes and corn plus baby food lamb) and a little water and put it in a kitten bottle and started feeding this to Smokey twice a day. Smokey drank this along with eating some cooked chicken and raw beef. Slowly, but surely he started using his back legs wobbly at first, but with gradual improvement. Today, Smokey is a beautiful cat, very healthy and can jump up on the couch or bed (can't jump much higher, but that's okay with me. What does he eat? He is a raw beef cat, but will also eat cheddar cheese (only if it is grated) and he gets a bottle every evening. I have varied the formula and I now feed him a cat vitamin (it gets ground in a small coffee grinder) that contains all the vitamins and minerals a cat needs and I mix in the baby sweet potatoes and corn plus some canned kitten food and water. As with the other two, Smokey is an indoor/outdoor cat and is one of the best mousers around. He brings us presents several times a week, as we live in Florida and have citrus trees and fruit rats (I prefer to think of them as large mice).
For those of you that might be interested in the recipe or have a need for something that is really great for your cat here is the formula. It is rather like building a mouse (your cat's best food source.)
Cat Formula
Vitamin - Mineral Mix
1 ½ cups of brewer's yeast
¼ kelp powder (We could only find tablets, we ground them)
1 cup lecithin granules
2 cups of wheat bran
2 cups of bone meal, calcium lactate or calcium gluconate
Mix together and store in an air tight covered container (glass or plastic). Be sure to keep it in the refrigerator. Add a teaspoon of the Vita Mix to your cat's food twice a day. This is extremely healthy and it will do wonders for your cat.
Whether you are looking to supplement a commercial diet or just boost your cat's nutrition a bit you need to remember that vitamins and minerals work together supporting the absorption and assimilation of each other. This means the vitamins and supplements work in tandem with each other and too much of one and not enough of another can create problems. Before you embark on changing your cat's diet or adding anything to it consult your vet or your pet practitioner. The vitamin I am using now for all three cats is a Hartz cat vitamin that contains everything a cat needs (it's like a multi vitamin for cats.) It can be found in most grocery stores and pet stores, the price is very reasonable.
Now back to my discussion about processed cat food. Every day, we (you and me) feed our cats either dry or canned food. We buy the best (we think) for them. We read labels, watch the ads on TV and talk to our vet. We do our best to find that 100% complete and balanced food to feed our pets.
Here's where it get complicated, just think about this, how do "they" know it is 100% complete and balanced. There is nothing in this world, especially in the world of nutrition that is 100% complete.
Take dry food for instance. You see a label that says "complete and balanced" on your cat food. Dry food is so convenient and easy to serve and our cats seem to love it. Consider this question "why does it not grow stale?" Could the preservatives be the answer? What are they? Dry food is relatively inexpensive. Why? Could it be because it is generally made of corn or other grains? Grains are high in carbohydrates and low in valuable nutrition. Have you ever seen any meat in the packages? Did you know that dry dog food was invented 60 -70 years ago as a spin off of our cereal industry?
Buying the least expensive food for your cat will in truth cost you more in the long run. The less expensive foods have more grain and fillers and more than likely they have "by products" which you don't even want to know about. With the better grade of cat food your pet more than likely will eat less. It will be more filling and satisfying. It will have more of the nutrients that your pet needs and you will have a healthier pet. Keep in mind that cats cannot readily digest carbohydrates; too many carbs can cause diabetes in cats. Cats are carnivores (meat eaters) dogs are omnivores (meat and plant eaters). Your pet is part of your family and a healthy pet is a happy one.
First of all nutrition is not a completed science, it is a science based on other sciences, such as chemistry, physics and biology. Have you ever heard of a scientist exclaiming to the world that everything in his or her field is 100% true? I haven't. To claim that a pet food is 100% this or that is saying that it is perfection. Do you believe that nutritionists have gained all that knowledge? I don't.
Feeding your pet (cat or dog) requires common sense. You use common sense in feeding your family. Think about the pet food manufacturing companies, they are in business to sell pet food and believe it or not to make money.
Granted there are some companies that do their best to produce a food that meets the high standards of the AAFCO and other organizations. Just about anyone can create and produce a commercial pet food, however nutrition is a serious business and we need to be aware of what our pets are eating
The question here is what do you do about it? Like I said in the beginning there is much to be said about feeding your pet (cat or dog) and like you, I don't have all the answers. What I am going to do here is make a list of things to watch out for when buying processed foods and give you an idea of some "people food" that is really healthy for your cat. This is by no means the "pet food bible." It is just my thoughts and observations from many years of many animals. Did I mention that we have 6 children that might give you an idea of the number of pets that have passed through our lives? Not only have we lived with cats and dogs throw in a few baby squirrels, horses, some birds, a few fish and a few resident snakes. Right now I have visiting possums, a raccoon, and a tortoise or two.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
1. Refrain from buying commercial pet products that contain "animal by products" this is very scary, you have no idea what kind of by products and if they were healthy. Organ meats are acceptable.
2. Do not buy foods that have artificial coloring or preservatives like propylene glycol, sodium nitrite, BHA or BHT.
3. Realize those pet foods, even the ones that are well rated usually are cooked, cooking usually destroys most of the beneficial enzymes, vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
4. Just a gentle reminder that cats are carnivores and will enjoy some fresh meat in their diets. Which means cats require a very high protein and low fat diet. Vegetables just really don't cut it with cats, however there are a few that enjoy a nibble or two of corn and some other vegetables.
5. Do not treat your cat as a small dog. Cats need protein; they need taurine, which is important for their eyesight, cardiovascular system and their reproductive system.
6. Cats have strange eating habits, ours like to snack many times a day, others respond to a morning and evening feeding. Cats will adjust to your schedule if you just give them a chance
Our cats are a prime example of good health, we do mix processed foods along with raw and in the case of Miss Tiger her food is lightly cooked as she does not like raw meat as the boys do. Miss Tiger and Boots get a cat multi vitamin twice a week, while Smokey gets one every day in his bottle as his diet is basically devoid of food that cats should eat. Meat and cheese though great in a cat's diet do not provide all the nutrients a cat needs to be healthy.
Should you be a person that feels you need to be cooking for your cat, there are many great recipes on the Internet for making gourmet cat meals. These are all healthy foods that will make your pet happy and make you feel good, too. Home cooked meals are fine for your cat, but in truth you will not be providing all the necessary nutrients that will keep your cat healthy. A cat's body is unique and requires nutrients in certain proportions that we as average pet parents cannot provide. So give your cat home cooked treats once in a while, but follow your vet's advice regarding your cat's diet most of the time.
Use your common sense in feeding your pets, doing things in moderation never hurt anyone, besides variety is the spice of life. You enjoy new tastes and new adventures and just maybe your pets will too.
Bon Appetite!!!
If you are thinking of getting a cat or would like more informative information about raising a cat, I have a great book on cat care called "So! You Want to Get a Cat" available on Amazon.com. Also, if this article has been of benefit, please visit my web site and blog at http://www.cats-and-dogs-on-the-web.com
