Feel Indulgent for Giving Your Cat
Canned Food? DON'T!
by Dr. Rachel Addleman, DVM, DiplABVP, CVA
Veterinarian and Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist, Dr. Addleman has advanced training and Board Certification in
feline medicine. She practices in Houston, Texas and can be found at
AnimalFixer.com
Cats
are desert creatures and are true carnivores. In nature, they require
mice, birds, reptiles, or bugs as sources to build a healthy diet. Dogs
and people are omnivores, meat and plant eaters. Carnivores are unable
to properly digest carbohydrates and thus a high carbohydrate diet lends
itself to obesity and health problems.
A young healthy cat should be eating a diet similar to his wild cousins
– one that is high in protein, high in fats, and low in carbohydrate. A
mouse is composed of about 40-45% protein, 40-45% fat, and only 3-5 %
carbohydrates.
Being a desert creature, they derive a large portion of their water from
the food that they eat. Dry food obviously has little water content.
Even cats who are encouraged to drink with the use of fresh daily water,
kitty fountains, or running water taps may not drink enough to properly
dilute their urine. Urinary crystals (microscopic stones) or sloughing
mucus from the bladder wall mucosa is less dangerous in a diluted urine.
This concentrated urine over a period of time can cause urinary
problems, especially in the male cat with his narrower and longer
urethra.
Most dry kibble has incredibly high carbohydrate levels due to the grain
that is required to form the product. Carbohydrates cause overproduction
of insulin, increased hunger, and weight gain. There are health concerns
related to this weight gain, not the least of which is diabetes. A cat
with a high carbohydrate diet often has a flakey coat (some owners think
this is dandruff), or some may be greasy. Overweight cats often are not
able to groom as well, sometimes culminating in poor bathroom grooming
behaviors. Weight can affect your cat’s joints causing them to forgo
jumping, or they may be less willing to play.
It is not uncommon to have an obese cat newly diagnosed with diabetes
who can be converted to a non-diabetic state just by altering the diet.
The key is to significantly decrease the carbohydrate content in their
diet and begin slow weight loss program.
Cat owners were once told that dry food is better for their cat’s teeth.
Not true! The research suggesting that dry food is better for oral
health was done on dogs, not cats. There is little evidence to suggest
dry food in the cat plays a significant role in maintaining oral health.
A cat’s jaw does not go side-to-side as a person’s would, so there can
be no true chewing. Cats use their teeth in the wild to catch and tear
their food and in the process mechanically clean their teeth. The pieces
are then swallowed whole. Commercial dry kibble is throat sized, so our
domestic cats have little opportunity to rip and tear into their food.
By now you’ve probably guessed the alternative to a high carbohydrate,
dry kibble diet. Canned foods have much lower levels of carbohydrates
because they lack the grain needed to process the dry kibble. There are
many good commercial brands available. The higher water content in the
canned food is an added bonus.
During your cat’s physical exam, pre-existing medical conditions, sex,
breed, and age are evaluated to allow us to make specific diet
recommendations for your cat.