Pet The World

What should you feed your cat to make sure he or she will have the necessary nutrition? What is the ideal mix of food to help your cat live to the limit of it’s life span?

To answer these questions, one should look at the diet of a feline in it’s natural habitat. In the wild, a cat eats almost exclusively animal tissue. However, they would normally eat the entire body of the animal,
including it’s stomach contents, which has many nutrients that are simply lacking in an animals muscle tissue.

Another question some cat owners have is: Is fresh meat the best possible food for cats? Not necessarily. Fresh meat will not provide a balanced diet for a cat, as they are extremely protein dense while being very low in vital nutrients such as calcium.

Conversely, some cat owners have asked, “Is it alright to feed my cat a completely vegetarian diet?” The answer to that question is a clear cut no. Cats cannot produce the nutrients it needs from an exclusively vegetarian diet in the same way that humans can.

Being a very specialized hunter, it has actually lost that ability during the course of it’s evolution. Certain skin problems are sometimes the result of a deficiency in certain essential fatty acids which can be found in animal flesh alone. Another problem is that a deficiency of the amino acid taurine, a major building block for proteins of the body, which can cause both blindness and heart failure. Cats are simply born carnivores.

Is it o.k. to give a cat only dry food? According to petshub, the answer is yes, providing that you ensure that fresh water is available at all times.

Dry food is generally more convenient, hygienic, and affordable than canned or fresh food. It also exercises the teeth and reduces the buildup of tartar, which can grow into a severe problem in cats that are fed a soft and mushy diet.

A.M Wilmont is a writer and researcher. For more information you can visit http://www.premium-cat-food.com/

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It’s not just humans that benefit from antioxidants in their diet, animals do too. Like humans, your pet can suffer from the damaging effects of free radicals so notoriously linked to aging and disease. Antioxidants neutralize these hazardous molecules, and as such serve as potent protectors of the body. Food is an essential source of these key players in our defense system with numerous vitamins, minerals and enzymes having antioxidant properties. Common examples include vitamins A, C and E, selenium and zinc, carotenoids, flavonoids and coenzyme Q10.

Sadly, processed commercial pet foods can be deficient in these active compounds, as well as devoid of live enzymes which also greatly serve the health of your pet. Homemade, raw food diets can provide a healthy dose of antioxidants for your dog and cat. If embarking on a homemade raw food diet, thoroughly research the area first as nutritional balance is essential.

Vegetables and some fruit in your dog’s diet and a small quantity of such in your cat’s diet can provide many of these active compounds. Dogs can eat up to around 30% plant foods in their daily meal and are not obligatory carnivores like felines. Cats require only a very small proportion of plant foods in their diet, around 5-10%. With both dogs and cats, be sure to blend veggies well as they do not readily digest cellulose, and in the wild would have consumed the partially broken down plant foods in the guts of their prey.

Vegetables and fruits particularly high in antioxidants include broccoli, spinach, avocado, peas, blueberries and apples. Other veggie options for your pet’s diet include chard, kale, squash, watercress, carrots, cabbage, celery, beetroots, green beans, sweet potato, cauliflower and asparagus. Use a range of vegetables and always include something green. Seeds provide antioxidant minerals such as selenium (particularly high in Braxil nuts) and zinc (high in pumpkin and sesame seeds for example). They are also rich in healthy oils and vitamin E. One nut or a few seeds a day is adequate for larger dogs, one every few days or so for cats and smaller dogs.

As a note, raw onions are not friendly on your pet’s digestive system so are best avoided. I also avoid tomatoes, peppers, cucumber and potato. Garlic is not good for cats, though small amounts occasionally in your dog’s diet may serve as a natural flea repellent.

Vitamin E is a potent antioxidant and valuable addition to both your dog and cats diet (always research dosage amounts before using supplements), with powerful anti-aging and disease-preventive properties. Vitamin C, however, is questionable for use as a supplement. Where many agree it is not appropriate for a cat’s diet (since they manufacture vitamin C from glucose in their small intestine), there is still debate around whether it is beneficial as a dietary supplement for dogs. Many argue it is health-promoting, where others claim dogs can synthesize vitamin C in their liver and any extra can lead to kidney and liver damage.

Dogs can convert the beta-carotene in vegetables into vitamin A, another immune boosting antioxidant. Cats, however, cannot synthesize vitamin A from plant foods and must acquire this vitamin from animal sources in their diet such as liver.

Recent evidence for the importance of antioxidants in your pet’s diet comes from a study on dogs at the University of Toronto by Dr. Dwight Tapp and colleagues (2005) who found that ‘old dogs that were on an antioxidant diet performed better on a variety of cognitive tests than dogs that were not on the diet. In fact, the dogs eating antioxidant-fortified foods performed as well as young animals’.

Other research by Dr. Rabinovitch and his team studying aging at the University of Washington, Seattle (published in the International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 2004), found that mice engineered to produce high levels of an antioxidant enzyme (catalase) lived 20 per cent longer and had less heart and other age-related diseases than controls. In light of the role antioxidants play in combating aging and disease, it is important to ensure your pet’s diet includes a healthy dose of these protective agents.

Copyright 2006 Sylvia Riley

The Natural Nutrition Guide for Dogs and Cats:
http://www.natural-nutrition-guide.com
Ultimate Superfoods for Health, Beauty and Longevity:
http://www.miracle-superfoods.com

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Vegetables in your dog’s diet, and minor amounts in your cat’s diet, can enhance their health and provide a rich and diverse supply of nutrients, enzymes, healthy fibre and antioxidants. In the wild, dogs and cats would have acquired plant foods through the semi-digested remnants in the stomachs of their prey; vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds.

Canines possess a greater ability to break down plant matter and synthesize relevant nutrients therein. Because of this, although classified as carnivores, they are in fact omnivorous and are not solely reliant on animal meat for sustenance. Wolves can be observed eating fallen fruit and berries, and first consume the stomach and intestines of their prey where plant foods can be found.

Felines on the other hand are obligate carnivores and are unable to manufacture essential nutrients from plant matter. These include the amino acids taurine and arginine, and the fatty acid arachidonic acid. Unlike omnivores cats also cannot convert vitamin A from beta-carotene in plants and need animal-derived sources of vitamin A such as liver. Accept for smaller prey which cats eat whole, in the wild the stomach and intestines tend to be avoided, yet organs such as heart, liver and lungs are enjoyed.

Cats require a lot more protein in their diet than dogs and are in no way adapted to digesting carbohydrates. In the wild vegetable matter in their diet is minimal and in a semi-digested state in the guts of their prey. Cats can rely pretty much entirely on protein and fat for energy conversion, both being converted into glucose by the liver, and other essential nutrients can be gained through meat, soft tissue and bones.

Thankfully pet owners are beginning to move away from toxic, poor grade and species-inappropriate commercial pet food. Natural, holistic, homemade and raw diets are being favored, which can include healthy plant-based ingredients (not grains however, which are used as cheap fillers in commercial products and ill-suited the physiology of cats and dogs). The beauty with homemade meals is that you can ensure fresh quality ingredients and easily incorporate vegetables and fruit.

Where dogs can eat around 30% plant foods in their daily diet, cats only require around 5-10%. With both, ensure veggies are blended well as they do not easily digest cellulose. This also makes it easy to mix the vegetables with the rest of the homemade meal. As cats only require a very small proportion of veggies in their meal, you can blend veggies and freeze the mix in an ice-cube tray, defrosting one cube a day for their meals.

Include a range of vegetables and always aim to include something green. Green vegetables contain chlorophyll which is cleansing and detoxifying. Chlorophyll is a great liver ally, assisting in the removal of toxins and heavy metals from the body and also shows anti-carcinogenic potential. Human studies in China have found that chlorophyll may help delay the onset of symptoms of liver cancer caused by mycotoxic grains as are sometimes found in commercial pet foods.

You can use throw away vegetable parts such as outer leaves, ends and stems or left over cooked vegetables that you don’t consume. Raw is always preferable however as nutrient and enzyme content is maximum.

You can supplement your dog or cat’s diet with superfoods such as kelp or alfalfa (the latter more suited for dogs) and algae such as chlorella and spirulina. These are very alkalizing however and as dogs and cats in particular require an acidic diet, only very small amounts are advisable. Always research dosage amounts before giving any kind of supplements.

Vegetable Choices

You can experiment with most vegetables. Try any of the following: carrots, celery, chard, spinach, avocados, kale, squash, watercress, cabbage, turnips, broccoli, peas, green beans, cauliflower and asparagus.

Some below-ground vegetables such as carrots and sweet potatoes are included here. These are higher in sugar content however and as such should be used in smaller proportion to any above-ground vegetable choices. You can add some occasional fruit also such as blueberries, bananas, apples, papaya or pear.

As a note, raw onions are not friendly on your pet’s digestive system and can be dangerous to their health so should be avoided. Garlic is also a health risk for cats, though minor amounts occasionally in your dog’s diet may serve as a natural flea repellent, be sparing however as the sulphides in garlic can be detrimental to the blood cells of animals. I also avoid tomatoes, peppers, cucumber and potato.

Nuts and seeds can also be a valuable addition to your pet’s diet, containing healthy oils (walnuts and flaxseeds are particularly high in omega-3 oils), as well as vitamin E and minerals such as selenium (a powerful antioxidant particularly high in Brazil nuts).

You can grind your nuts and seeds before adding to your pet’s meal. Only small amounts are needed; for larger dogs aim for one nut or a few seeds a day, smaller dogs and cats every few days.

If you would like to change your pet’s diet to a healthy, holistic, species-appropriate diet or are embarking on a natural homemade or raw food diet research the area first as nutritional balance is essenital.

Copyright 2006 Sylvia Riley

NATURAL NUTRITION GUIDE FOR DOGS AND CATS:
http://www.pet-nutrition-guide.com
MIRACLE SUPERFOODS:
http://www.miracle-superfoods.com

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