Cat Food Part I

This post was originally posted on another of my blogs on March 30, 2007. I have moved it here as I think this is a more appropriate place for it.

I transferred article verbatim, changing only the title...

I was horrified to hear of the deaths of dogs and cats related to eating canned pet food. I know how those pet owners must feel. My most sincere and heartfelt sympathies to those who lost a dear friend.

I have since been reading articles encouraging people to make their own pet food. I have been feeding my cats a fresh raw diet for many years now.

IMPORTANT: If you decide to make your own cat food, please do not cook the meat. Cats are obligate carnivores and as such do not produce their own taurine. The only natural source of taurine is raw meat. Without taurine, they will go blind. I highly recommend you find a good book on cat nutrition featuring fresh raw meat. There are several out there as this is a growing trend. And just in case you did not know, do not give cooked bones to dogs and cats. Raw bones are fine and in fact encouraged. Cooked bones become brittle and will splinter causing a choking hazard. Also very important is the calcium to phosphorus ratio. Too much phosphorus combined with not enough calcium cause serious bone damage.

I have been using "Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats" and Celeste Yarnall's "Natural Cat Care" for about 7-8 years. I have had much success with them both. My cats rarely get sick. When injured, they heal fairly quickly. My veterinarian has no complaints. Of course, my cats do get to go outside, and they hunt. They usually eat what they hunt. So perhaps this is also part of their success.

Yarnell uses good reasoning when explaining that we are trying to reproduce the nutrition of a mouse as this is a natural part of a cat's diet. I think her proportions of meat to other ingredients make a lot of sense. However, I'm not so sure about Yarnell's thinking on how often to feed. She recommends once or twice. I think that our domestic (small) cats are used to eating several small meals a day.

I like Dr. Pitcairn's information on natural remedies, and his recipe on healthy powder. I think he calls for too much grain in his recipes for cats, however.

YOU MUST DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH. I recently have been reading some articles that report that Dr. Pitcairn's book mentioned above does indeed call for too much grain, that this book is now obsolete. I think he even has a new book out now. I have not yet had a chance to read it. I am still researching this.

I also supplement with Precise Brand Cat food - both canned and dry. According to what I have read, I am relieved to learn that Precise Brand Pet Food is NOT affected by this recall.

I originally began buying this brand as the literature on it was impressive. It is made here in Texas. I buy mine at a local feed store. I placed a link to Precise Pet Food website in "Related Links" (to the left).

I do not know about dogs. They are omnivores much like us, but that is all I know of dog nutrition.

Of course, one meal of cooked meat in an emergency probably will do no harm. Still I encourage you to do some research.

Again, my heartfelt sympathies with those who lost a dear friend.

Comments left on this post from the other blog:

MoonStumpp of Mixed Media Jewelry said:

"Thank you for all the wonderful information!!!!!! I have 2 cats and 2 dogs that are apart of our family. This has really opened my eyes!!!"

ivychiew263 of It's Just Me Myself & I said:

"Hi Knotgypsy. Yeah, I read about such deaths of dogs & cats too but online. I may be more of a dog lover (with 5 dogs @ home) but I still find the blog quite informative. Will inform my kitty-lover friends about this blog of yours. Thanks for sharing. =) Happy weekend."

I replied:

Thank you both for leaving comments. I am happy to know I could provide some useful information. Although I do not have any dogs at this time, I do love them as well. Sorry, since I do not own any dogs, I do not know much of their nutritional needs. I do know that good information is out there. I will be posting a little more on this topic later.