food/numbers/variety

[msserena]

Does anyone follow Dr Pierson's recommendation for cat food? High protein, low carbs, medium fat & low phosphorous? I have a spreadsheet of different cat food brands & log what the numbers are. So far Weruva is the only brand that checks all the boxes. Since most of their products have fish in them, there is only a handful I would consider. There are so many new brands out there, it just seems like a never ending game that is never won!

 

[Alldara]

Nope. I used to stress the heck out over cat food all the time. My cats wouldn't eat what I wanted them to, it was always a fight. The more expensive food didn't stop them becoming ill.

And then I learned cat food research is still ongoing for longitudinal studies on healthy cats with no medical issues. What's in My Cat's Food?: Designer Diets, Grain Free Diets | VCA | VCA Canada Animal Hospitals
So I gave up the headache and my stress and the cats's stress is lower since I'm not fighting them to eat all the time for something that doesn't even have evidence of working.

 

[msserena]

My take on cat food is logical. What do cats eat in the wild? Meat, organs, bones, etc. I think a raw diet is the best but not all cats will eat that. Fruits, vegetables, grains, gums & starches have no place in a cat's food but the majority of companies use them. I guess you just can't win.

 

[Alldara]

Logical in a way yes, but they also haven't been wild in around 10,000 years. That's a lot of generations and adaptation in that time.

I feel like the 'in the wild they eat X', is the same justification people use to say paleo diet is best for all humans. We've evolved since then and so have cats since their wild ancestors. They've had years of eating human scraps, even feral lines.

Even raw foods, it's not usually mice, rats, voles, moles, birds and bugs...it's chicken, beef, venison, etc. Large game. Cats didn't hunt that kind of prey. Even rabbit may have been too big for most cats.

They would still eat some grasses and plants in the wild as well. Not as a main diet, and not the typical grass we have now. My cats quite happily munch on plantain weed, dandelion leaves, fresh catnip and other cat safe things without vomiting.


I'm not trying to say that cats have lost all instincts either. A human baby's grasping reflex is left over from evolution. Some things stay if they are still beneficial.

Cats, however have evolved alongside humans, eating our vermin and scraps. So those that can live long lives off those things had more offspring. Passed on the ability to eat those things.

 

[arr]

I used to stress too but I realized there is only so much I can do within reason. I found that a lot of the more expensive brands of wet food have fruit, vegetables, etc. and very often my cats didn’t even like them. Now I feed basic grocery store wet food, the pate versions, because they are mostly meat and by products. So that’s Fancy Feast Classics, Sheba, Friskies, Special Kitty, Heart to Tail, Paws and Claws, Tiny Tiger. I also feed dry food for one midday snack, Purina One. I realize it’s not perfect and they should be eating mice, birds, and bugs, but this is what I can do and this is the food they will eat.