IBD: Fake Food and its Consequences

Obesity, another entirely avoidable malady that causes great suffering in cats and makes them more prone to diabetes and fatty liver disease (just for starters), is the direct consequence of feeding a carnivore food that's only fit for herbivores. In the exquisitely efficient digestive system of a carnivore, carbohydrates aren't burned for energy, but turn to fat. Dry food, so heavy in carbohydrates, is the culprit, plain and simple.

 

Urinary tract disorders are far too common in cats these days, but given the naturally low thirst drive of cats, it's easy to see how dry foods — with their unavoidably low moisture levels (around 10 percent) — create ideal preconditions for a cat's plumbing to break down. We know from veterinary research that a cat eating a predominantly dry diet, even with supplemental water drinking, takes in roughly half the total moisture of a cat eating canned or raw food. And we also know that the healthiest pH balance in a cat's urinary tract comes from eating low-carbohydrate, high- protein food.

 

These examples are only the tip of the iceberg. Skin disorders and "allergies," kidney malfunction, periodontal disease, cancer and pancreatic disorders all have at least some compelling relationship to diet.

Knowing all this is not a reason to despair. You're free to spend a little time like I did at first, stewing over how wildly wrong so many of us have been all these years trusting that dry food was a perfectly fine choice for cats. But in the end, knowing with certainty what we know now is reason to cheer. We can simply look to Mother Nature, who worked this all out long ago, for answers.

 

A mouse is the perfect nutrition package for a cat. A mouse has about three percent carbohydrate. Dry cat food has between 35 and 50 percent carbohydrate. It doesn't take a veterinary degree to work out that the widely accepted practice of feeding cats dry food makes them sick and does not create conditions for them to thrive. Conversely, we can see how something as simple as getting the diet right holds the potential to fix what's wrong — and often with breathtaking speed.

 

Diet is a Very Big Thing to get wrong. But the good news is that it's not at all hard to get right.

 

The movement toward and demand for more and better choices in food for our carnivores is growing fast. A few years ago there were only a handful of companies out there selling biologically appropriate and healthy food for cats, but their numbers are growing. I personally know of at least one established pet supply store in my area — a retail icon — that courageously decided in 2008 to stop selling dry food.

 

Meanwhile, veterinary discussion boards are buzzing with spirited debate on the issue of raw feeding, mainstream veterinarians are becoming more prominent and vocal in their clarion call for common sense approaches to feeding cats, and the glaring problems with the ingredients that make up the bulk of foods sold at pet food supply stores and veterinary offices are getting more national and international media attention.

 

Everything is moving in a very healthy direction, at long last. What good news!

 

I am extraordinarily humbled and honored to be even a small part of the magnificent educational and public outreach work of the Feline Nutrition Education Society. My hat is off to its hardworking founder for turning her own energy and passion on this vital subject into such a worthy and ambitious project that will undoubtedly benefit countless cats and their loving caregivers for years to come.

 

Finally, I'm tickled to report that the orange tabby hero of my own story here, Duke, turned 15 years old this year. Alongside his sassy adopted sister, he is a strapping, healthy beast who thrives on the home-prepared raw diet and is as proud as I am to be associated with Feline Nutrition.

 

 

  1. The particular pioneers who deserve all the credit for opening my eyes, refining my knowledge of cat nutrition, and keeping me honest include Michelle Bernard, Natascha Wille, Lee Ellis, Dr. Lisa Pierson and Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins.