Dry Cat Food?
by Mal Vango of
thepixiebob.co.uk
Dry foods? They're "convenient" yes, but they ain't
for cats and I wonder why there are so many people
feeding so much commercial dried foods to their
precious pussies.
Why shouldn't you feed dry foods to cats?
Well, for a start, cats are carnivores. In the wild
they eat mice, birds and insects. You won't find
them devouring fields of corn or rice ... and yet
most dried cat foods are more than 40% cereal based.
So what? Well, cereal is mainly carbohydrate in the
form of starch, which is not a feature of the cat's
natural diet. In fact, cat's can't really digest
vegetable derived carbohydrates and their natural
diet contains only 1% to 2% carbohydrate. Also,
research shows that high carbohydrate diets are the
cause of most cases of feline diabetes.
Why is it there? It's a binder (cement, if you like)
to bind all the other ingredients together when it's
extruded at the factory that makes it. It makes life
easier for the manufacturer, but it's certainly not
included for your cat's benefit.
So why do people feed their cats so much stuff that
they get no benefit from? Simple: they don't know
the facts and are drawn by the wild claims of the
producers regarding "fully balanced" nutritional
value. Oh, and it's "convenient".
Cats require and are dependant on high levels of
protein found only in meat. They evolved that way
over hundreds of thousands of years. Most of the
protein from plant sources are useless to them. Take
a look at the label on dry feeds and they state the
protein content, but do not break this figure down
into animal and plant protein, so how do you know
your cat is getting enough? Not enough meat protein
can cause fatty liver disease.
While we're on the subject of protein, your cat's
natural diet will contain 45 to 50% protein.
Contrast that to the meagre amounts you find in most
dry feeds (25% to 35%).
Another very important aspect of dry foods is the
fact that they are "dry". They usually contain only
10% water and yet a cat's natural food (remember the
mice and birds?) are 60 - 75% water, from which they
derive most of their needs. Sure, cats drink water,
but they are not "natural" water drinkers (they have
what is known as a "low-thirst drive") and usually
do not drink enough to compensate. In fact they will
not be driven to drink until they are about 5%
dehydrated and even then they will not drink enough!
This chronic dehydration may well contribute to
kidney disease, eventual renal failure and urinary
tract diseases and is definitely a major cause of
bladder disease (crystals, cystitis, FLUTD, FUS,
stones, etc.).Oh, and don't think you can
compensate for the low hydration content in your dry
food by simply adding water. Dry foods have a very
high bacterial presence and adding water assists
them in growing rapidly ... and giving you a cat
with a very poorly tummy!
If you own a Pixiebob then you paid a lot of money
for him or her. Your cat doesn't need to browse feed
all day long, so don't risk his or her health for
the sake of mis-placed convenience. Forget the "dry"
foods and start feeding your cat 100% "wet" foods.
If you're going to use canned food then buy good
quality, high protein, low carbohydrate (less than
10%) varieties.
This article is copyright ©
Mal Vango 2007
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