I've grown up with pets, and of course cats. So when I was going to get Kato, I never concerned myself on what to feed...you feed cat food, right? And kibble is super easy and not as stinky as wet cat food. Plus you don't have to put the unused portion in the fridge. The kibble bag just sits forever in the cupboard. Easy!
Well, on the plane ride home after collecting my new kitten, I delved into the 'kitten pack' that I'd been given. Having recently studied Health Promotion (for humans), I was impressed to see some meaty articles - not just 'grey' literature, the fluffy undetailed blurb that a magazine would publish, but real articles published in Vet Journals. And this is the article that started a cat food revolution in our home: http://www.rawmeatybones.com/articles-others/Malik_feedingcats_Aug2007.pdf.
Essentially, this article gives a history of pet feeding practices in Australia, and the occurrence of cat disease. Before we had 'pet food', people fed table scraps and scraps from the butcher. Then 'pet food' was invented. And certain diseases started to be seen in larger numbers: thyroid problems, urinary health problems, different urinary health problems in response to feeding 'prescription' foods aimed at helping urinary health, food allergies triggering skin problems and inflammatory bowel disease, poor teeth, obesity, diabetes.
The article also questioned the role of pet food companies in providing vet education and funding nutrition research.
My next 'oh, yeah!' moment, was when the article examined Big Cats (lions, tigers etc) in captivity. You don't see them eating kibble, or canned cat food, do you? There are reasons for this...when they tried to feed them a 'man-made' diet, the cats got sick! And they had far more teeth problems. And they were less content - cats are designed to act a certain way; to hunt, rip, rend, chew. Not sit down nicely to a sedate bowl of tiny things or mush.
'As a result, it is recommended that “big cats” be fed predominantly “natural food” (Lindburg, 1988). There is no Science Diet for lions and tigers, and they don’t seem to need a hairball control diet either!'
I don't really think my little cat is so different to a big cat. And so I wanted to know what I could feed to make Kato as healthy and as happy as possible.
I started with a mix of commercial canned, some kibble, chicken necks (cut into pieces), and fresh chunked human-grade meat, some cheese and some cat milk (lactose free milk is cheaper and just as good for them). After two and a half years, I have done a lot more reading and now feed a Frankenprey Raw model, with some canned food. No kibble. It's in-line with what this feline specialist feeds:
“A senior veterinary representative from a multinational pet food corporation looked at me like I'd gone insane when I told her I fed my cats a 50% raw meat diet and that I didn't agree with feeding dry food to cats. On a canned/raw diet my cats can be fed ad libitum, still retain a trim figure and barely touch the water bowl - as soon as I give them dry they become insatiated, obese little monsters that are also desperate to drink out of the toilet.” - Dr Carolyn O’Brien, a registered feline specialist from the University of Melbourne
Well, on the plane ride home after collecting my new kitten, I delved into the 'kitten pack' that I'd been given. Having recently studied Health Promotion (for humans), I was impressed to see some meaty articles - not just 'grey' literature, the fluffy undetailed blurb that a magazine would publish, but real articles published in Vet Journals. And this is the article that started a cat food revolution in our home: http://www.rawmeatybones.com/articles-others/Malik_feedingcats_Aug2007.pdf.
Essentially, this article gives a history of pet feeding practices in Australia, and the occurrence of cat disease. Before we had 'pet food', people fed table scraps and scraps from the butcher. Then 'pet food' was invented. And certain diseases started to be seen in larger numbers: thyroid problems, urinary health problems, different urinary health problems in response to feeding 'prescription' foods aimed at helping urinary health, food allergies triggering skin problems and inflammatory bowel disease, poor teeth, obesity, diabetes.
The article also questioned the role of pet food companies in providing vet education and funding nutrition research.
My next 'oh, yeah!' moment, was when the article examined Big Cats (lions, tigers etc) in captivity. You don't see them eating kibble, or canned cat food, do you? There are reasons for this...when they tried to feed them a 'man-made' diet, the cats got sick! And they had far more teeth problems. And they were less content - cats are designed to act a certain way; to hunt, rip, rend, chew. Not sit down nicely to a sedate bowl of tiny things or mush.
'As a result, it is recommended that “big cats” be fed predominantly “natural food” (Lindburg, 1988). There is no Science Diet for lions and tigers, and they don’t seem to need a hairball control diet either!'
I don't really think my little cat is so different to a big cat. And so I wanted to know what I could feed to make Kato as healthy and as happy as possible.
I started with a mix of commercial canned, some kibble, chicken necks (cut into pieces), and fresh chunked human-grade meat, some cheese and some cat milk (lactose free milk is cheaper and just as good for them). After two and a half years, I have done a lot more reading and now feed a Frankenprey Raw model, with some canned food. No kibble. It's in-line with what this feline specialist feeds:
“A senior veterinary representative from a multinational pet food corporation looked at me like I'd gone insane when I told her I fed my cats a 50% raw meat diet and that I didn't agree with feeding dry food to cats. On a canned/raw diet my cats can be fed ad libitum, still retain a trim figure and barely touch the water bowl - as soon as I give them dry they become insatiated, obese little monsters that are also desperate to drink out of the toilet.” - Dr Carolyn O’Brien, a registered feline specialist from the University of Melbourne