Over the years our food philosophy has changed quite a bit. I remember as a child we fed our cats the generic grocery dry food and thought nothing of it. During college a worked at a pet store for a few years and was thoroughly indoctrinated by the pet food reps into the world of premium foods. They became my food of choice. When we began breeding we fed premium dry food, but have always seemed to have one trouble or another. We have switched brands and formulas many times, never finding one that seemed to agree with all our cats. We’ve had allergies, throwing up, and various other problems. A discussion on raw feeding perked my interest and I have did a lot of food research. Below I will outline food choices with their problems. We’ll start with the lowest choices and work up. As I have no intention of reinventing the wheel I will include links to sites with more information that have helped me.

Choice #1: Grocery store variety dry or wet food.
One website made the comment that these could barely be considered food and therefore shouldn’t make the list. However, I believe the majority of pet owners feed this way and they really need to be informed as to why they shouldn’t. The foods are full of fillers. Look at the ingredients and you will most likely see corn and other grains up at the top. This is not food that a cat can digest well. Cats will eat this food though, because the industry is very good at adding flavorings and such to make it taste good. Think of these as your cat eating potato chips every day, all day. Sure they taste good, but they aren’t good for you and you’re going to gain some bad weight. If you absolutely have to feed grocery brands, go with Iams. It is the best of the worst. This method is the cheapest way to feed cats, so that is why so many people choose it. But, if your cat is really your pet and friend, don’t you want to do the best you can by him?

Choice #2: Premium Dry Foods
By premium I mean brands such as Eukanuba, Science Diet, Royal Canin, Wellness, and Nutro. These are better in that they usually have less fillers and more meat. They are also more reliable in their ingredients and don’t tend to change ingredients on you. There are many problems with this diet as well. The presence of grains and fillers is one. The pet food companies tell us that cats would ingest these in the intestines of the animal they were eating, however the reality is that cats usually leave the stomach and intestines for the scavengers and even if they did eat them the amount they would get would be very small. Always remember, cats are CARNIVORES. They are designed to eat meat. There are other issues as well. Many cat problems can be linked to feeding dry food. Check out these links for more information. http://www.catinfo.org/#Common_Feline_Health_Problems_and_Their_Ties_to_Diet_ and http://www.catinfo.org/felinediabetes.htm and http://www.catinfo.org/#Cats_Need_Plenty_of_Water_With_Their_Food

Choice #3: High Quality Wet Food
This is probably the best choice for the pet owner who is not willing to make their own cat food. Recommended brands can be seen here http://www.catinfo.org/commercialcannedfoods.htm These are canned foods that are meat based, no grains. I have used Wellness (www.oldmotherhubbard.com) was very impressed that the first two ingredients were meat. Their new “core” line is what I would recommend for easily found wet foods. Most wet foods I had seen before had water as their main ingredient. Cats need to get a lot of moisture with their food, so canned foods help with this need. There is a myth that canned foods are bad for their teeth. The truth is that all commercial foods are bad for the teeth. Dry foods do not clean their teeth. Most cats swallow it whole or it crumbles at the base of the tooth. The only food that is going to help clean the teeth is chunks of meat that they have to chew through. I have found this method more expensive than making my own food.

Choice #4: Homemade Raw Diet with supplement base.
Feline Future sells a supplement so that you only have to buy one thing. (otherwise you would have to buy a bunch of individual supplements to add to your meat.) They also have a lot of good nutrition information on their site. You add their supplement to chunked meat and liver. You can use pre ground meat from the grocery store, but I would recommend getting it as fresh as possible. Make friends with the meat guy and maybe he will do it for you right there! I would also cut up some meat so the cat has some chunks to chew. This diet is easy to make and you can do a week or so at a time, freeze it and just thaw it each day. It has the cat eating raw meat, as it should and will provide it with all the nutrients it needs. I would also recommend feeding whole food once or twice a week. Chicken necks and wings work well for giving your cat some good chewing. This is what really helps get their teeth clean.

Choice #5: Completely homemade Raw Diet.
This is for the cat owner willing to buy a meat grinder and completely make their own food. This is an excellent option, but is more labor intensive. There are also the start-up costs. However, if you want to do the best you can for your cat, this is the way to go. Check out www.catnutrition.org and www.catinfo.org for lots more info. I’d also recommend getting a copy of Michelle Bernard’s book, Raising Cats Naturally. One important note with this is that you MUST follow a recipe, Their are certain nutrients a cat must have that will be left out unless you are feeding a whole animal. That is where the supplements come in. Beware of recipes that have you adding vegetables. Remember, your cat is a carnivore. Cats will not always take to this diet easily if they are used to dry kibble. There is a lot of good information on the sites I have listed above on how to make the change. The older the cat, the more stubborn they can be. Just think of them as Carb junkies that have to be weaned off!

A raw diet can also be done feeding whole, un-ground foods. Check out www.rawfedcats.org for more there. This can be a little tricky as you have to feed the proper foods in the proper amounts to create a meal. This is often referred to as “Frankenprey” by raw feeders as you have to take a little of this an d a little of that!For the MOST natural diet and for the best teeth this is the way to go. We feed a combo. Some meals the cats get a very chunky grind with nutrients and others they get whole items.
If you have any questions on this stuff, feel free to e-mail me!