AAFP-AAHA feline life stage guidelines

The new AAFP-AAHA feline life stage guidelines are published.

My initial thoughts, after a quick review:

I like that they recognize that the efficacy of dental treats/food is debatable.  One more “mark” against the myth that dry food benefits cats’ dental health! 

The use of dental treats and chews may be a realistic, practical alternative to daily tooth brushing, although data about their comparative efficacy is lacking.

 

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Nature’s WORST

Apparently they are giving out free samples of Hills’ “Nature’s Best” dry dog and cat food somewhere near work. Someone left a sample on the table at work yesterday and today there was a woman on the elevator holding three samples. I could NOT hold my tongue in the elevator – and simply told her “You know, that is NOT very good pet food.” She said “it’s not?” and I said “No, read the ingredients. Mostly grains, little meat. I used that exact pet food as an example of BAD pet foods in a recent talk I gave on the subject, and why reading labels is important.”

If you’ve read anything on my blog, you probably know I do NOT think feeding dry pet food is a good idea. I also DETEST Hills’ pet foods – they use horrible quality ingredients and were among the last to stop using carcinogens as preservatives… all under the guise of being “veterinarian recommended”. Recommended by vets because they give free food to vet students and fund vet courses on animal nutrition and market themselves HEAVILY to vets! NOT because they make good pet food!

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Cat still fat

Is your tabby too tubby? Is your cat extra-fluffy and not in a good way?

Omaha in 2002 - over 20 pounds

Well, if you haven’t already, start by eliminating ALL DRY FOOD. ALL OF IT. Attempting to get a cat to lose weight on dry food is a losing battle. I know, I tried it for over a year with my cat Omaha. We tried cutting portions again and again until he got only 1/8 cup dry food daily and lay by the bowl crying – and still not losing weight. “Lite” (lower calorie) dry foods DO NOT WORK, they are too high in carbohydrates. Low-carb grain-free high-protein dry foods DO NOT WORK, they are too high in calories. Your cat needs to eat only WET food – not only to achieve an ideal weight, but to avoid a lot of other serious health issues (like diabetes, urinary tract disease, etc.)

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Carnivorous cats

A couple questions were posed recently regarding diets for dogs versus cats.

Dogs are opportunistic carnivores, or omnivores, like human beings. If you can prepare healthy well-balanced meals for your human family, you can do so for your dog. Dogs might not only enjoy a homemade casserole, in fact they’d probably enjoy a side salad of greens and cottage cheese!

Cats, on the other hand, are obligate (true or strict) carnivores. Cats have been domesticated for significantly less time than dogs and even after choosing to live in proximity to humans, they retained their independent nature, and survived on rodents they hunted rather than table scraps.

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Vets and pet food

This post has actually been a work-in-progress for some time, but a phone call today pushed me to try and finish it. That phone call took place with the internal medicine specialist treating Studley. The specialist has diagnosed Studley with pancreatitis and IBD, based on an ultrasound performed Tuesday. Today he got back the results of Studley’s GI lab, and expressed some confusion that while he KNOWS Studley has IBD (based on the ultrasound results), his GI lab results (cobalamin and folate) were normal.

I do NOT generally openly disagree with most vets (to their face). I’ll express my opinions to my regular vet, who acts very open to my ideas and thoughts – but I’ve learned not to waste my time and breath on many vets who really don’t care what I think about anything. They just want me to do what I’m told. However, today for whatever reason I felt the need to tell this specialist my suspicions on why Studley’s results were normal. I told him I had worked with many cats with IBD, adopted and fostered, and I fed all my cats an “IBD friendly” diet. This diet had eliminated symptoms and normalized GI lab results for the other cats I’d worked with – and my thinking was, if Studley was fed this “IBD diet”, and it’s treated these other cats with IBD, it made sense to me that it’d also treated Studley, without my knowing he even had IBD.

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Canned cat food – which one?

Another of the “frequently asked questions” I get is *which* canned food to feed. Well, in general the answer is simple – look for one with little-to-no grains, fruits, or vegetables. You want something as close to “mouse in a can” as possible. Poultry and/or rabbit is best – as these are closest to a cat’s natural prey. (Cats don’t naturally hunt, kill, and eat cows, sheep, fish, or swine – they do consume birds and rodents.)

Generally, there are compromises to be made.  Canned foods that contain higher-quality ingredients generally also contain higher amounts of vegetables and fruit, and are also generally higher in fat than the canned foods that use more byproducts and “meat” of undefined origin.  Personally, I don’t object too strongly to byproducts and lower-grade meat.  Cats would consume the entire carcass of their prey – they wouldn’t spit out the kidney, for example.  However, I do want SOME muscle meat in their food, and for some cats (particularly some with severe IBD), “meat” of undefined origin isn’t an option.  “Meat”, when the source isn’t identified, is most often beef or pork – and some cats don’t tolerate beef or pork.

Some people want a more specific list of brands and flavors. I’m always reluctant to do that, as brands and flavors change in ingredients and availability and I’d rather people learn to look at labels and exercise judgement. However, here’s a list of my current “favorites”. These are the canned foods I almost always have at my house, for my own adopted cats and fosters:

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Studley’s Spotlight

Once again life has gotten in the way of my writing. Seems I’ve been doing a LOT of writing about Studley lately – and apparently Studley likes having the spotlight shown upon him as yet again he’s “inspired” a post.

It started on Saturday, pretty innocuously.  Studley didn’t eat breakfast.  At the time, I thought little of it.  I’d walked toward him to give him his pill, and he ran away.  When he didn’t come back and eat, I figured he was just nervous about pilling, and it wouldn’t hurt him to skip a meal.  (I did get him later, napping, for the medication.)

However, he seemed fairly lethargic throughout the day.  Around 4:00 p.m. he vomited.  By evening, he wasn’t interested in dinner and was drinking a lot of water (highly unusual, especially for a cat on an all-wet diet).  In fact, at one point, he just lay by the water dish with his head over it – and that was enough to convince me a visit to the emergency vet was warranted.

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Recommended reading

People often ask me how I’ve managed to accumulate so much information on feline health and nutrition.  The answer is relatively simple – I READ, a LOT.  I read a lot of information on the internet, studies in journals, books, etc.  So, after sifting through countless websites and books and magazines, I’ve definitely got a few favorites.

My absolute favorite informational websites are listed among the “widgets” in the column to the right on the home page… particularly, FelineOutreach.org, CatInfo.org, CatNutrition.org, YourDiabeticCat.com, and FelineDiabetes.com.  (A majority of the resources/references in the Feline Outreach educational section has been collected by me, over time.)

But, if you are interested in real hard copy books made out of paper – I recommend:

• Your Cat: Simple New Secrets to a Longer Stronger Life, by Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins
• Whole Health for Happy Cats, by Sandy Arora
• How to Get Your Cat to do what You Want, by Warren Eckstein and Fay Eckstein
• Raising Cats Naturally, by Michelle Bernard
• Not Fit for a Dog, by Drs. Michael Fox, Elizabeth Hodgkins, and Marion Smart

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Raw done right

I feed my cats a homemade raw diet.  I think raw diets are the “gold standard” in feline diet.  However, I will state loudly and adamantly up front – I THINK CANNED FOODS ARE A PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE CHOICE!  However, there is NO DRY (KIBBLE) FOOD I deem acceptable.  I will occasionally use a freeze-dried food, freeze-dried treat, or dehydrated treat as a TREAT, but not a meal… and you have to be CERTAIN they are truly freeze-dried, air-dried, or dehydrated, not processed – as many food labels are deceptive.  Even if these items were ideal in every other way (low in carbohydrates, little-to-no veggies, fruit, grains, etc.) they are LACKING IN MOISTURE and that moisture is imperative to proper kidney and urinary tract health.

Doing it “right” does not mean it has to be difficult!  Personally, I buy a pre-ground meat/bone/organ product (Hare Today) and add a few supplements.  It is SIMPLE.   See the video below!

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Fat cat, skinny cat – what ya gonna do?

Obesity seems a rather fitting post-Thanksgiving subject, doesn’t it? However, in this case I’m talking about feline obesity.

Not coincidentally, recent research shows the most effective method of “normalizing” a cat’s weight is feeding a low-carbohydrate WET diet (canned or raw). Normalizing a cat’s weight means inducing weight loss or weight gain in order to achieve an ideal weight. So, this diet not only works best for those chubby kitties that need to lose weight – but also those skinny kitties that need to put on some weight (particularly muscle)!

I witnessed this myself first-hand with my cats, Omaha and Afer. When I adopted Omaha in 2003, he was morbidly obese at over 20 pounds (estimated ideal weight of 8 pounds).

Omaha at the shelter - over 20 pounds

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