People sometimes ask me if I can recommend a good dry cat food, but I cannot. Dry food — kibble — is the worst possible food you can feed to your cat. It is a moneymaking venture of pet food manufacturers that is leading to horrible chronic disease in cats. It is marketed as a product that is 100 percent nutritionally complete for all stages of your cat´s life. That couldn´t be further from the truth.

Grains are typically classified as carbohydrates and are composed primarily of starch. Pet food manufacturers lead the consumer to believe grains provide energy, protein, fat, fiber, minerals and vitamins to cats. The cat is a member of order Carnivora. Cats and other members of the superfamily Feloidea are considered obligate carnivores as they have strict requirements for certain nutrients that can only be found in animal tissues. Cats cannot synthesize taurine or arginine, amino acids found only in meat. They lack the ability to convert linoleic acid (contain in plants) to arachidonic acid (contained in animal fat). They cannot convert beta-carotene to vitamin A. Cats cannot decrease activity of hepatic enzymes when fed low-protein foods — they must consume a high protein diet. Cats must eat meat to survive.

The principal function of carbohydrates in the process of manufacturing dry pet foods is to provide structural integrity to kibble. The starch works like a "cement" that holds kibble together, preventing crumbling throughout the manufacturing process. It is unusual for a dry pet food to be formulated with less than 40 percent carbohydrate ingredients because of the minimum requirement for extrusion.1 Starch works like a "cement" to hold kibble together! Does that make you wonder what the long-term effect of cement is on your cat´s digestive system?

I have used the textbook, Small Animal Clinical Nutrition, 4th ed. published by the Mark Morris Institute a/k/a Hill´s Science Diet to do a lot of my research. This book, used by many veterinarian schools as a part of their nutrition curriculum, is a very large book packed with information on small animal nutrition. In the chapter on feeding normal cats, the author states, cats have evolved to a carnivorous diet that is high in protein and low in carbohydrates. Because they evolved as obligate carnivores, cats have difficulty digesting carbohydrates. In omnivores, both hexokinase and glucokinase is responsible for processing of carbohydrates into glucose. The feline liver exhibits normal hexokinase activity but glucokinase activity is virtually absent.

Fatty Liver Disease

Protein metabolism is unique in cats with their unusually high maintenance requirement for protein. Cats do not have a high requirement for any particular amino acid; their high protein requirement is caused by high activity of liver enzymes that process amino acids into energy. Unlike omnivores, cats cannot decrease liver enzyme activity when fed a low protein diet. This is probably why hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver disease) is common in cats fed a dry food diet, especially those that are obese. It is not unnatural or unusual for a cat in the wild to fast. Even though they are successful hunters, they are not perfect and may go days without food. My own cats will sometimes go off their food for a day or more. A potential cause of fatty liver disease in cats is protein deficiency.3 While the label on dry cat food will show what looks like sufficient protein, a good amount of that protein is coming from grains. I do not believe grains are a high quality source of protein for carnivores or that they are as able to utilize protein from non-meat sources. Cats fed a raw meat diet should not be prone to fatty liver disease, therefore, although I am concerned when one of my cats goes off his food, I do not expect to ever have to deal with fatty liver disease in any of my cats.

There are many factors attributable to onset of fatty liver disease. Carnitine is an amino-group containing, vitamin-like substance found in high concentrations in mammalian heart and skeletal muscle. This amino acid is not considered to be essential by the AAFCO. Cats can synthesize carnitine from lysine and methionine (both found in meat). Methionine is added to most dry cat food brands and lysine is added to the higher end brands. As with most nutrients found in raw meat, I believe it is best to feed the real thing rather than supplementing with synthetic nutrients. In humans, a carnitine deficiency causes hepatic lipid accumulation and liver dysfunction. A similar connection is being investigated in cats. Also, carnitine increases lean muscle mass and enhances weight loss in obese cats. Many cats with idiopathic fatty liver disease are obese and often the disease is discovered after a fast, be it due to a stressful event, illness or even abandonment. Perhaps these dry-food-fed cats are just barely getting by with the amount and quality of protein available in dry food. It is not uncommon for a cat fed dry food to become obese. A fast simply tips their digestive process over the edge. As mentioned above, protein deficiency is thought to be one cause of fatty liver disease, as is excessive lipogenesis (the process of converting carbohydrate or protein to fat). Very little is known about the causes of feline fatty liver disease.

Renal Failure and Urinary Tract Disease

Cats evolved as desert creatures and are well adapted (still!) to survive in a dry climate, if fed their natural food. Cats are not thirst driven like dogs and are able to survive on less water than dogs. They compensate for reduced water intake by concentrating their urine. When fed a dry food diet (which has less than 10 percent moisture), unless they drink a lot of water, which most cats do not, they are in a constant state of dehydration. Moreover, although a cat consuming a dry food diet does drink more water than a cat consuming a canned food diet, in the end, when water from all sources is added together — what´s in their diet plus what they drink — the cat consumes approximately HALF the amount of water compared with a cat eating canned foods.6 On a dry food diet, a cat´s urine becomes overly concentrated which leads to feline lower urinary tract disease. Consumption of dry food is associated with lower urinary tract disease as is increased frequency of feeding (a.k.a "free feeding" which is how most people feed dry food), no matter what type of food is fed and obesity.

Fat, dry-food-fed cats are prone to all sorts of diseases!!

The current trend towards dry food with urine acidifiers (for urinary tract health according to pet food manufacturers) can cause metabolic acidosis, resulting in impaired kidney function and mineral imbalance that includes potassium depletion. Urine that is too acidic provides a good environment for oxalate crystals to form that can cause urinary obstruction. Struvite crystals, associated with an alkaline urinary pH were once the common form of urinary tract disorder, now calcium oxalate crystals, associated with a more acidic urinary pH, are more common.

The first signs of early stage kidney failure are increased water consumption and urination. The cat loses its ability to concentrate urine, something it has naturally evolved to do. The grain proteins contained in dry food release more nitrogenous wastes with digestion. These are converted to ammonia and are expelled by the kidneys, taxing them unnecessarily.

Water, the most important nutrient for all living beings, is missing from dry cat food. It cannot be replaced or substituted.

Mycotoxins

Before you start moistening your cat´s dry food to try to replace the missing moisture, you should know about mycotoxins, another potential side effect of the use of grains in cat food. Mycotoxins are naturally occurring fungal by-products that can cause disease and death in dogs and cats. When grains are improperly stored, mycotoxins can develop. Two common forms, both of which have been found in pet food (more commonly in dog food) are aflatoxin and vomitoxin. Although mycotoxins are found worldwide they only become toxic in temperatures above 82 degrees and over 80 percent humidity at which point they interfere with cellular function, and are extremely carcinogenic and immuno-suppressive.

Aflatoxin B1 is the most toxic of the aflatoxins and is the most potent liver carcinogen known. Substantial evidence exists to indicate that low-level exposure to aflatoxin may cause suppression of the immune system and increase susceptibility to disease. Young and pregnant animals of all species are extremely sensitive to aflatoxins. Aflatoxin is also excreted in milk of dams and may contribute to reproductive failure. Exposure during pregnancy has resulted in transplacental transfer of aflatoxin to and immune dysfunction in offspring.
The elimination of mycotoxins in food is extremely expensive. Pet food manufacturers are not known for using the highest quality grains available; they would not be able to keep up their high profit margins if they did. The grains most pet food manufacturers use are those that are not fit for human consumption or are by-products from other processes.

Carnivore Digestion

The digestive system of a carnivore is very simple. Unlike herbivores and omnivores, cats lack salivary amylase used to initiate digestion of dietary starches. Their jaws have limited side-to-side motion (necessary to grind food) and they have no flat or grinding teeth in their mouths. Their teeth are designed for grasping, cutting, tearing and biting.

The domestic cat´s stomach, which is quite small, has two purposes. It holds the food and it is not necessary to hold a lot of food because the natural food of the cat is nutrient dense. Small wild cats hunt more frequently than their larger cousins because their prey is smaller. While lions and tigers may gorge after a kill, small cats, if they are successful hunters, eat more frequently. The second function is the great acid break down. Hydrochloric acid dissolves and liquifies the food. Foods that cannot be digested — raw vegetable matter, cellulose, feathers, teeth and so forth — pass through the animal unchanged. As an experiment, feed your cat some whole corn or peas and watch it come back out the way it went in.

The dissolved food, called "chyme" leaves the stomach at scheduled intervals and enters the small intestine. The length of a cat´s small intestine compared to body length is even shorter than a dog´s: 4:1 for the cat and 6:1 for the dog. It is from the small intestine the food is digested and enters the blood stream. The pancreas and liver supply the enzymes necessary to break down the fats and proteins into fatty acids and amino acids. As there is limited enzyme activity capable of digesting carbohydrates, little or no digestion of carbohydrates can take place.

If the capacity of the small intestine to digest carbohydrate is exceeded, the undigested carbohydrates reach the large intestine. Because the cat has a nonfunctioning cecum and short colon, it has a limited capability to use poorly digestible starches and fiber by microbial fermentation. The small intestine does not join the large intestine in a straight line, but at a right angle. At this point is a small appendage, two or three inches in length, called the cecum. While this has no functional use in a carnivore, it should be noted because it is one of the major differences between a carnivore and an herbivore. In herbivores and to some extent, omnivores, microbial fermentation occurs in the large intestine, especially in the cecum. In a carnivore, the colon has limited functions, to extract excess water and compact the waste material and expel it.

It would not be safe for a carnivore to have a long digestive tract or for the food to stick around for any length of time for risk of bacterial contamination. You certainly would not want protein fermenting in your cat´s colon. Carbohydrates and plant matter take longer to digest and it is necessary that the creature consuming carbohydrates or plant matter to have a long, slow digestive tract so that the food matter may be digested as completely as possible. An animal consuming large amounts of carbohydrates or plant material will produce a lot of stool. The stool of a carnivore consuming its natural food is minimal.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Highly digestible food yields more available nutrients for passive or active transport in intestinal absorption. Undigested residue (carbohydrates) alters pH and increases the liquidity of the chyme which means decreased stool quality and diarrhea. This condition may eventually lead to inflammatory bowel disease ("IBD"). The severity of the disorder depends on the amount of carbohydrates escaping digestion in the small intestine. Small amounts of sugars or decomposed starch, for example, can have more dramatic effects than large amounts of raw starch of low digestibility. Pet food manufacturers cook and process the carbohydrates they use in their foods in order to increase digestibility. Because of all the carbohydrates, cats consuming dry food are prone to IBD. Most cats exhibiting IBD symptoms (diarrhea and vomiting) experience a complete reversal of symptoms when switched to a grain-free diet. The best results are seen when the cat is put on a grain- and carbohydrate

are you a vet? wow!

are you a vet? wow!

No not a vet just have had alot of kittys and I read alot and want to take good care of my fur babies.... knowledge is power as they say

This applies to all brands of kibbles? even the supposedly good and expensive ones such as Royal Canin? what do u feed ur cats?

I just give Oliver a spoonful of biscuits or so every day, I read that they will help clean the teeth of the cats... I wonder if there is any truth to this though... would it be better or more effective to give him those cat tooth paste?

I will go by what my vet tells me I think. I have had cats for years and most of them have been healthy cats and lived to a ripe old age with no ailments and I have always fed them dry cat food in the mornings and meat at night. Constantine prefers his biscuits to wet food and if I suddenly took it away from him, I think there would be hell to pay! My vet told me my cats had perfectly healthy teeth the last time they had a checkup and said he could tell that they had crunchy food to eat which he said was good for their teeth. I only buy good quality dry food for them (never the home brand stuff) and I will continue to do what my vet recommends.

Honestly I have no idea what to do and I have had my cats for 9 years in May. They tend to gain weight on all brands of dry cat food and have been buying in the past Medical and Science Diet, including reducing formula and light. I just weighed them and they have all gained from approx. 6 mos ago. In the past two weeks I have not kept their common feeder topped up. I only put the amount recommended and when it is gone that´s it until the next day so some may be getting more than others. I know that I will not see a reduction in their weight for some time but people don´t be fooled by the words "for indoor cats age 7+". I noted that it has a minumum of 7% more fat than light cat food. I was fooled by the wording and the cats loved it. Their coats improved and became shiny and their dandruff disappeared. However they gained weight. Take a look at their pictures. Tuffy is now 19 lbs, where he was 8 lbs a few months ago. Cinderalla has gained 3 lbs and is now 16 lbs ( I can´t believe that and weighed her 2 times!) and little Angelica is 14 lbs a 1 lb gain. She by her statue is the heaviest of them all. I have cut out their treats completely. I don´t know what the answer is. Canned cat food everyday??? Someone must know. My vet that was monitoring their weight left the clinic and lives too far away for me to take them. The other vets still maintain light cat food. Needless to say, I am frustrated in Canada!

saucykats, I had to put Lucky Brooke on a diet as she was getting so fat. I simply cut down on her intake and I used to just fill her bowl and Constantine´s in the morning and walk away. Constantine never eats all of his, as he likes to graze on his quote throughout the day. Lucky Brooke, however, will wait until he walks off and starts to eat the rest of his biscuits! Now, I only put a couple of tablespoons of biscuits in her dish and put her out on the decking to eat hers. When Constantine walks away, I put his bowl up on a shelf until he comes for more. Lucky Brooke was throwing up every day because she overate and since I have restricted her, she has been much better and lost weight. She used to have dandruff too but it has now disappeared. Her coat is shiny and sleek and she has got more energy.
LiandOllie, another good food to give your cats to help clean their teeth is raw rabbit! I chop a whole fresh rabbit into bite size pieces and freeze in little bags, just enough to feed two. Then once a week, I give them some of the rabbit to chew on and watch them using their side teeth to really gnaw and crunch up the bones! If you cant get rabbit, then raw chicken wings will do or necks. My cats don´t like chicken necks though. (gourmet cats!). I have started to buy the pouches of wet food now but I always read the label and make sure there are no artificial preservatives or colouring in them. I feed them ONLY pouches with fish or chicken now. Never beef, pork or lamb. They seem to be enjoying their new diet and are looking healthier than ever!

Kempton, thanks so much for responding! Hmmm Tuffydoes throw up and his food is not all digested so maybe it is from overeating. I have noticed since I have changed their cat food that he hasn´t upchucked lately. The change in the cat food was when I put less in the common bowl too. Since the beginning I have had one large self feeder so to feed them separately would be difficult and one would eat the others anyway.

Raw rabbit, I think that is quite popular overseas but here in Canada not so much. In fact I wouldn´t even know where to get it plus I use to have a pet bunny. I will look for the pouches without articicial preservatives as Tuffy has to have a pill everyday so I have to give him wet cat food and consequently all the cats get a tablespoon. He only likes salmon. Finicky cat...LOL

Yes, Lucky Brooke would would throw up a lot because she had just eaten all her food so fast without crunching and it would come up undigested. It´s just not good for them to do that. Similar to bulimia I guess! Is there any way you could monitor the feeding? I have to do that now for Lucky Brooke´s health. She is now 12 years old, so I am worried about diabetes. I only put about 2 tablespoons out for her in the morning and her bowl stays empty until lunchtime. She lets me know if she is hungry and then I put only another tablespoonful down for her. This way, she gets small amounts at intervals instead of all at once! It´s the only way for her really, as she is just a guts!!

Another possibility for over eating is worms. Cats that walk outside and hunt tend to pick up worms. If my cats overeat until they throw up, that is usually the problem. A normal dose of worm medicine solves the problem. I feed my cats everymorning and night, but no food during the day. If I see them begging for food out of their normal feeding time, I usually give them a dose of Salmon oil and then follow that up with worm medicine.

elizeb, I regularly worm my cats EVERY 3 months religiously. Lucky Brooke and Constantine have been wormed just last month.

Kempton, my 1 cat, Monster, is also a old one sometimes it seems that she cannot get enough. I then supplement her diet with a bowl of milk mixed with a raw egg. Once of twice a day and then she will go back to her normal feeding habits. I feed them all Iams but maybe it does not have all the vitamins she needs for her age. Natan got feline aids so it is important for me to watch their habits and how they eat is a nice indicator as to vitamin intake. Is your new regime working for Lucky Brooke? Did she stop throwing up?

Lucky Brooke only throws up if she has over eaten. It seems she has to eat ALL the cat food which is there until the bowls are empty! She is such a guts! Lol!
I NEVER feed the cats milk as it just causes diarrhoea. Only water is necessary for cats. If you want to feed them milk, then it must be cat milk which has no lactose. Cows milk irritates their intestines. The new diet is working for her and she is now down to the medium weight category. I am so proud of her! She is my baby!!

Kempton, monitoring their food intake would be the ideal solution but I have 3 cats and as you know cats like to nibble, leave then go back. My husband thinks that I can train them to know when it is time to eat as with their wet cat food treat all I use to have to do is bang the bowl with a spoon and that alerts them. I would need to feed them twice a day and only let them have their food for perhaps 1/2 and hour then take it up and not refeed them until later in the day with the same pattern. My husband thnks that they would get use to it and know that is their feeding time. I don´t know....can you teach 2 9 year old cats and a 7 year old cat to learn to adapt to different method of feeding and different times?

Yes, i agree with your husband. my cats is all trained like that. they will wake me at the same time every morning and will call every afternoon the same time for food. you can set your watch at them. even my oldest cat adapted to it as i have too many cats now, my own and visitors, to feed them all the time. even the visitor cats will be at the door when it is time for food. during the day they do not usually bother me for food. still chase me for love and company though!!

Thanks elizeb, my husband will be happy to hear that you agree with him. Perhaps when I am on vacation at the end of the month I will try it. Guess it can´t hurt and only help them with their weight reduction.

Yes, it also help with the food budget!

Saucycats, thats exactly what I have trained my cats to do! They eat their breakfast and when there is no food left, they have to wait until teatime! They have got used to this and they are parading every evening now at 6pm on the dot for their evening meal! It´s uncanny, you can set your watch by them! Constantine likes to graze and keeps going back to his dish throughout the day when I am home. When I am at work, they are outside and I do not leave any food outside, just a big container of water on the decking. Yes, you can train older cats to a strict feeding regieme and they will get used to it in time. I really think it´s the best way to keep your cats lean and healthy.

some of my cats love to drink apple and grape juices, is that alright??

Thanks Kempton, I will give it a whirl.

Chili, I have never heard of apple or grape juice for cats. I wonder if the acidity is good for them however.