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L'il Bite of the Day - The Three Questions About Cat Food

11/30/2013

Three questions to ask about the food you're giving your cat:

1. Is the primary protein in the food derived from animal or plant sources?

2. What is the moisture content of the food?

3. How high is the carbohydrate load?

Why these questions?

↪ Cats are carnivores that require ANIMAL-based protein to thrive.

↪ Cats have a naturally LOW thirst drive.

↪ High-carbohydrate diets contribute DIRECTLY to multiple disease processes in cats.

9 Comments

Dawn Weislo

11/30/2013 11:25:54 am

Question - so should there be more wetness in the food or less, because of the low thirst drive?

Anne link

11/30/2013 11:32:30 am

Definitely MORE wetness in the food - cats are designed to get their moisture needs met from consuming food, not from drinking water, so having wet food is really a necessity!

Dawn Weislo

12/2/2013 02:07:55 am

Thanks so much!

sally

3/17/2014 02:03:32 am

I am currently attempting to transition my cats to raw and am finding that they like it warm and sloppy (as someone said - like prey!). So I add a little warm water to it. And the water levels in my drinking bowls have never been so untouched

Emily

8/11/2014 02:58:52 am

Ditto Sally! I add a tablespoon or so of warm water each time I feed, and mix it up until it's almost soupy. I still leave fresh water out for them, but most of the time it just evaporates or gets dust in it and I have to throw it out.

Philip W. Starr

8/11/2014 08:17:14 am

We lost one kitty to kidney disease, and were on the way to another. She was having recurring uti's, bloody urine, and stained rear end. Our vet would give antibiotics, but the problems would return, and te rear end remained stained. We started researching online, and suggested they test for bladder stones. Sure enough, she had 'em, thankfully struvite, which we dissolved with a temp. diet of high-acid food. In the meantime, we began transitioning everyone to high-quality grain-free, low/no carb, human-grade meat canned food. As a result of the transition, no more uti's or stained rear end, just about everyone lost weight especially my big buddy who lost 8 pounds. He's now a healthy 15 pounds. All just by switching from dry "food" to good canned. We add water to most of their food to make a broth; some prefer it not so wet. We also saw a drop in water drinking afterwards, though we still provide the same amount. The big one still drinks a lot in addition to all that he gets in his food. His kidneys are good, we've had him checked to be sure. Get your kitties off the dry food, no matter how good it's supposed to be. To quote Dr. Lisa Pierson of CatInfo.org - "I'd rather see them have the worst canned food than the best dry food."

Anne link

8/11/2014 09:24:44 am

Hi Philip - I'm so happy to hear of your success with improving your cats' health with GREAT food. And yes, I love Dr. Pierson's quote.

Anne

Susie

8/11/2014 09:12:16 am

Anne, I for one am so thankful you are still trying to educate the masses...."obligatory cute cat video as part of my shameless effort to drive traffic to my Facebook page to lure people to learning more about cat nutrition.... This past year I have relied on your expertise while I transitioned my kitties from dry kibble to wet/raw. Unfortunately, for the next 10 days I have to care for my neighbor's 2 cats -- 24/7 dry kibble and canned Friskies. I have tried to convince her of the importance of a species appropriate diet and she even tried better quality canned food for a whole 5 weeks, but "the girls just didn't like it". She refuses to read and educate herself and It makes me sick to my stomach -- physically & mentally. I so appreciate your love & dedication for the health and well being of ALL cats. Thank you.

Anne link

8/11/2014 09:23:33 am

Hi Susie - thanks for the encouragement! It means a lot. And I can only imagine how anguishing it is to have to feed dry food to other cats. I can barely stand walking into a pet superstore these days as my blood pressure soars!

Anne

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Wee Little Digestible Factoids, Snippets,
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L'il Bite of the Day - The Three Questions About Cat Food

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L'il Bites Wee Little Digestible Factoids, Snippets, and Insights About Cat Nutrition

L'il Bite of the Day - The Three Questions About Cat Food

Leave a Reply.

L'il Bite Tags

L'il Bites
Wee Little Digestible Factoids, Snippets,
and Insights About Cat Nutrition