Ok - folks this is just a brief very brief, did I mention brief overview of HOW to feed your cat. I found this article and it covers the bases pretty well - if you have questions about your specific situation , please drop me an email of get ahold of me on FB.
This information is from catinfo.org - written by L. Pierson DVM
This information is from catinfo.org - written by L. Pierson DVM
Every living creature is “fine” until outward signs of a disease
process are exhibited. That may sound like a very obvious and basic
statement but if you think about it……
Every cat with a
blocked urinary tract was “fine” until they started
to
strain to urinate and either died from a ruptured bladder or had
to be rushed to the hospital for emergency catheterization.
Every cat on the Feline Diabetes Message Board was “fine” until
their owners started to recognize the signs of
diabetes.
Every cat with an
inflamed bladder (cystitis) was “fine” until they
ended up in pain, passing blood in their urine, and missing their
litter box.
Every cat was
"fine" until the feeding of species-inappropriate, hyperallergenic ingredients caught up with him and he started to
show signs of food intolerance/IBD (inflammatory bowel disease).
Every cat was "fine" until that kidney or bladder stone got big
enough to cause clinical signs.
Every cancer patient was “fine” until their tumor grew large enough
or spread far enough so that clinical signs were observed by the
patient.
The point is that diseases 'brew' long before being noticed by the
living being.
This is why the statement “but my cat is healthy/fine on dry food”
means very little to me because I believe in preventative
nutrition - not locking the barn door after the horse is gone.
I don’t want to end up saying “oops……I guess he is not so fine
now!!" when a patient presents to me with a medical problem that
could have been avoided if he would have been feed a
species-appropriate diet to begin with.
Of
course, in order to be on board with the preventative nutrition
argument, a person has to understand the following facts:
1) All urinary tract
systems are much healthier with an appropriate amount of water flowing
through them.
2) Carbohydrates
can
wreak havoc on cats' blood sugar/insulin balance.
3) Cats inherently have a low thirst drive and need
to consume
water *with* their food. (A cat's normal prey is ~70 - 75%
water - not the very low 5-10% found in dry food.)
4) Cats are strict
carnivores which means they are designed to get
their protein from meat/organs – not plants.
Cats are obligate (strict) carnivores and are very
different from dogs in their nutritional needs. What does it mean to be
an ‘obligate carnivore’? It means that your cat was built by Mother
Nature to get her nutritional needs met by the consumption of a large
amount of animal-based proteins (meat/organs)
and derives much less nutritional support from
plant-based proteins (grains/vegetables).
It means that cats lack specific metabolic (enzymatic) pathways and
cannot utilize plant proteins as efficiently as animal proteins.
It is very important to remember that not all
proteins are created equal.
Proteins derived from animal
tissues have a complete amino acid profile. (Amino acids are the
building blocks of proteins. Think of them as pieces of a puzzle.) Plant-based proteins do not contain
the full complement (puzzle pieces) of the critical amino acids required by an obligate
carnivore. The quality and composition of a protein (are all
of the
puzzle pieces present?) is also
referred to as its biological value.
Humans and dogs can take the
pieces of the puzzle in the plant protein and, from those, make the
missing pieces. Cats cannot do this. This is why humans and
dogs can live on a vegetarian diet but cats cannot. (Note that I
do not recommend vegetarian diets for dogs.)
Taurine is one of the most important
nutrients present in meat but it is
missing from plants. Taurine deficiency will cause blindness and heart problems
in cats.
The protein in dry
food, which is often heavily plant-based, is not equal in quality to
the protein in canned food, which is meat-based.
The protein in dry food, therefore, earns a lower biological value
score.
Because plant proteins are
cheaper than meat proteins, pet food companies will have a higher profit
margin when using corn, wheat, soy, rice, etc.
Please note this article s much more complete - and more informed.
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