Hi there, I was just wondering if cats benefit from a higher fat diet (obviously in raw form) or if you can get away with lean meats?
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High Fat Diet
- Thread starter poppcorn3girlie
- Start Date
It depends on the cat and health conditions. The ideal balance of protein/fat on a dry matter basis is about 60% protein and 23% fat. On an energy basis, that's 52% from protein, and 46% from fat.
Cats do well with fat - but it's much higher calorie than protein. Fat in and of itself doesn't cause health problems in cats like it appears to do in people. But you'd have to pay attention to their weight.
The other issue is the source of those fats. If using factory farmed proteins, rather than grass fed/finished red meats, and naturally raised, pastured, organic rabbits and chickens, etc., the profile of the fat isn't ideal. In natural prey, the omega 6s (which include essential fatty acids, but are typically pro-inflammatory) are balanced with omega 3s (which have been defined as "conditionally essential" and are anti-inflammatory) at a ratio of about 2:1. In commercial food diets, the typical ratio is 17:1 or higher. That holds true for a raw diet, and if fatty meats and a lot of stuff like chicken/duck/turkey skin and fat are fed, that omega 6: omega 3 balance can run off the charts, and potentially be as high as 60:1.
So apart from the potential problem of weight gain, if you're going to feed a rather high-fat diet, it'd be rather important to include a source of omega 3s.
Cats do well with fat - but it's much higher calorie than protein. Fat in and of itself doesn't cause health problems in cats like it appears to do in people. But you'd have to pay attention to their weight.
The other issue is the source of those fats. If using factory farmed proteins, rather than grass fed/finished red meats, and naturally raised, pastured, organic rabbits and chickens, etc., the profile of the fat isn't ideal. In natural prey, the omega 6s (which include essential fatty acids, but are typically pro-inflammatory) are balanced with omega 3s (which have been defined as "conditionally essential" and are anti-inflammatory) at a ratio of about 2:1. In commercial food diets, the typical ratio is 17:1 or higher. That holds true for a raw diet, and if fatty meats and a lot of stuff like chicken/duck/turkey skin and fat are fed, that omega 6: omega 3 balance can run off the charts, and potentially be as high as 60:1.
So apart from the potential problem of weight gain, if you're going to feed a rather high-fat diet, it'd be rather important to include a source of omega 3s.
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