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Who cares what cats eat ?
Much is talked about canine nutrition. Much is talked about equine nutrition.
Not much is talked about our feline friends.
Why, for example is kidney disease the number one killer of cats in the
western world.
Why, to do cats almost invariably get terrible teeth causing pain and leading
to systemic disease, not least of which is chronic renal failure?.
Why are bladder stones so common that most cat owners even know the vet
term for the condition ‘FLUTD’ (Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease) or
urolithiasis?. Could it be to do with what we feed our cats? I leave that one
for you to ponder.
Feeding a cat is simple. All we need to do is to look at what they choose
to eat themselves in the wild. That is : Raw whole fresh prey and water.
there I told you it was simple!
How do we emulate this in the kitchen? Here’s how:
By good quality frozen meat from your pet shop, supermarket/ butcher,
blend a 9:1 ratio with pureed (super fine blended) vegetables and fruit,
seeds and nuts and feed as necessary. Always vary the meat sauce,
always vary the vegetable etc. Feed offal, viscera once a week.
Always feed raw bones and chicken wings regularly for calcium.
That is it!
Supplements
Supplements are not necessary, in my opinion, in the healthy animal
of any age and on a varied raw diet.
Supplements are necessary in the following circumstances:
If there are any doubt as to the quality of the diet or if variation in
food stuff is impossible. Unfortunately this is becoming more of a
problem as supermarkets buy in fruit and veg when unripe and allow
it to ripen in transit, thus reducing the nutritional value the food
when it eventually arrives on the shelf.
If the animal is not healthy and requires certain extra nutrients i.e.
seaweed in hypothyroid dogs or oil supplements in cats with skin
conditions.
If for practical reasons it is not possible to feed a raw food diet
whole or in part.
The copyright to this article remains with Nick Thompson and Holistic vet and is
published with his kind permission.
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