Meow. And welcome. I'm very glad that you found your way here.
So, right up front? This is a purely informational website about cat nutrition. There is nothing for sale here. You will see a couple of ads here and there, but only for businesses I have personally dealt with and endorse. This site isn't about finding a way to get you to buy something. It's about arming you with information on giving your cat the best possible shot at health by understanding the ABCs of their nutritional needs.
I don't presume to know more about feline biochemistry than someone who has graduated from veterinary school. I don't treat scores of animals every day or perform all manner of delicate surgeries and lifesaving procedures. My only credential is that I used diet alone to liberate a sick cat from a very miserable disease that plagued him for six difficult years.
In 1994, when my beautiful young cat, Duke, was just a wee kitten fresh from the animal shelter, he started showing signs of serious digestive illness. Runny stools. Later, diarrhea. Over the next several years, his condition dramatically worsened, until he was suffering from full-blown all-diarrhea-all-the-time. Lots of tests, a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease and then on to the usual gamut of scores of special prescription diets and various other approaches. None of which made a whiff of difference for him. He was weary of the suffering and I was heartbroken over what he was going through.
So, right up front? This is a purely informational website about cat nutrition. There is nothing for sale here. You will see a couple of ads here and there, but only for businesses I have personally dealt with and endorse. This site isn't about finding a way to get you to buy something. It's about arming you with information on giving your cat the best possible shot at health by understanding the ABCs of their nutritional needs.
I don't presume to know more about feline biochemistry than someone who has graduated from veterinary school. I don't treat scores of animals every day or perform all manner of delicate surgeries and lifesaving procedures. My only credential is that I used diet alone to liberate a sick cat from a very miserable disease that plagued him for six difficult years.
In 1994, when my beautiful young cat, Duke, was just a wee kitten fresh from the animal shelter, he started showing signs of serious digestive illness. Runny stools. Later, diarrhea. Over the next several years, his condition dramatically worsened, until he was suffering from full-blown all-diarrhea-all-the-time. Lots of tests, a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease and then on to the usual gamut of scores of special prescription diets and various other approaches. None of which made a whiff of difference for him. He was weary of the suffering and I was heartbroken over what he was going through.
To make a long story short, Duke got completely well again, quite literally overnight, because I finally came to understand that if I paid attention to what I fed him, many seemingly intractable and allegedly "incurable" problems could disappear. It was a hard lesson to learn, although I'm happy to report that Duke not only survived it all, but went on to thrive.
The impact that a proper diet can have on a cat is probably most conspicuous and immediate for a cat suffering from digestive problems, but I've learned along the way that all kinds of serious health disorders can be reversed or dramatically improved if we feed these magnificent creatures properly. What is involved, quite simply, is sticking as close to Mother Nature as you can manage. Good common sense.
My experience with Duke opened my eyes in a big way to how many well-meaning, overworked, and overwhelmed vets are often overlooking the most obvious answer when it comes to dealing with feline illness, especially--but certainly not exclusively--digestive problems. By design or default, many busy vets are permitting the pet food industry to act as their proxy when it comes to nutritional decision-making for their clients.
The results, sadly, are disastrous for far too many cats. Buoyed by Duke's miraculous turnaround, in early 2003, with the assistance and endorsement of Lisa Pierson, DVM, I assembled an open letter veterinary professionals that laid out what I had learned and snail-mailed it out all US veterinary schools. I included a list of recommended reading and resources. Throwing all humility overboard, I even put together a sample client handout that vets might consider using. Finally, I included more detailed discussion of my personal experience helping Duke to help distraught caregivers whose cats suffered from the same problem but could be easily helped using a home-prepared diet.
This site is my way of getting the word out to a broader audience online. I'm hopeful that some of my lay insights into treating one terrible malady and the many lessons I've learned along the way about feline nutrition might be instructive to the veterinary community and to lay people like me who were desperate for answers.
If you're a vet, I respectfully ask that you take a few minutes to read my open letter and consider it. If you're a lay person, please feel free to pass this letter along to your own vet.
So? Welcome to catnutrition.org. I really am glad that you found your way here and hope you find something here that's helpful to a cat in your life.
So surf around. Take your time. Be leisurely about it. Read what this site has to offer, and see if there's something you find useful. This is not the only website out there with (hopefully) useful information on how to successfully feed a cat. It's just the one that I've managed to come up with. I highly recommend, too, Dr. Lisa Pierson's own website on cats.
This site and all the work involved in maintaining and updating is dedicated lovingly to a cat named Duke, whose handsome picture graces the top of every page on this website and who was my first and most influential teacher on cat nutrition. Duke moved on to his next adventure in February 2010 and his furry spirit hovers near me whenever I work on this site, or answer a question about cat nutrition, or round a corner in my house and spy a bird or a squirrel out the window that would have captured his attention. He is a powerfully loving soul and he was an elegant and very patient mentor for me on cat nutrition. And he remains one of my finest teachers about the art of love.
Thank you Dukie-boy.
The impact that a proper diet can have on a cat is probably most conspicuous and immediate for a cat suffering from digestive problems, but I've learned along the way that all kinds of serious health disorders can be reversed or dramatically improved if we feed these magnificent creatures properly. What is involved, quite simply, is sticking as close to Mother Nature as you can manage. Good common sense.
My experience with Duke opened my eyes in a big way to how many well-meaning, overworked, and overwhelmed vets are often overlooking the most obvious answer when it comes to dealing with feline illness, especially--but certainly not exclusively--digestive problems. By design or default, many busy vets are permitting the pet food industry to act as their proxy when it comes to nutritional decision-making for their clients.
The results, sadly, are disastrous for far too many cats. Buoyed by Duke's miraculous turnaround, in early 2003, with the assistance and endorsement of Lisa Pierson, DVM, I assembled an open letter veterinary professionals that laid out what I had learned and snail-mailed it out all US veterinary schools. I included a list of recommended reading and resources. Throwing all humility overboard, I even put together a sample client handout that vets might consider using. Finally, I included more detailed discussion of my personal experience helping Duke to help distraught caregivers whose cats suffered from the same problem but could be easily helped using a home-prepared diet.
This site is my way of getting the word out to a broader audience online. I'm hopeful that some of my lay insights into treating one terrible malady and the many lessons I've learned along the way about feline nutrition might be instructive to the veterinary community and to lay people like me who were desperate for answers.
If you're a vet, I respectfully ask that you take a few minutes to read my open letter and consider it. If you're a lay person, please feel free to pass this letter along to your own vet.
So? Welcome to catnutrition.org. I really am glad that you found your way here and hope you find something here that's helpful to a cat in your life.
So surf around. Take your time. Be leisurely about it. Read what this site has to offer, and see if there's something you find useful. This is not the only website out there with (hopefully) useful information on how to successfully feed a cat. It's just the one that I've managed to come up with. I highly recommend, too, Dr. Lisa Pierson's own website on cats.
This site and all the work involved in maintaining and updating is dedicated lovingly to a cat named Duke, whose handsome picture graces the top of every page on this website and who was my first and most influential teacher on cat nutrition. Duke moved on to his next adventure in February 2010 and his furry spirit hovers near me whenever I work on this site, or answer a question about cat nutrition, or round a corner in my house and spy a bird or a squirrel out the window that would have captured his attention. He is a powerfully loving soul and he was an elegant and very patient mentor for me on cat nutrition. And he remains one of my finest teachers about the art of love.
Thank you Dukie-boy.
French translation of this web page courtesy of Virginie Francois Ross
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