General FEEDING guidelines for cats
“Feeding your cat the appropriate amount of a well-balanced diet is vital to the maintenance of overall health and well-being, just as eating a well-balanced diet is for us. In order to understand how and what to feed cats, it is necessary to understand how the nutritional requirements of the cat have developed through the process of biological evolution. From a biological evolutionary perspective, there are two important factors that influence a cat's diet. These factors are: 1) cats are obligate carnivores. 2) cats are of desert origin.
An obligate or true carnivore is an animal that requires meat in its diet. They may eat other foods offered to them, especially animal products like cheese and bone marrow or sweet sugary substances such as honey and syrup. These foods are not essential and are not consumed on a regular basis. True carnivores lack the metabolism required for the proper digestion of vegetable matter. Some carnivorous mammals eat vegetation specifically as an emetic (a substance that causes vomiting). While some cat owners may find the fact that the domestic cat is an obligate carnivore disturbing or objectionable, it is important to bear in mind the practical consequences - cats cannot be vegetarians! Through evolution, cats have become dependent on the specific forms of nutrients found only in animal tissue. Examples include certain essential fatty acids, minerals and vitamins (especially calcium, vitamin A and niacin). These nutrients are not found in plant tissue in forms that can be used by cats. Equally important, as an obligate carnivore, cats require high levels of dietary protein with the appropriate balance of amino acids (the building blocks from which proteins are made). Most mammals, including humans and cats, use the protein in food to build and maintain tissue and carry out biological reactions. However, unlike other mammals, cats have evolved in such a way as to be obliged to use protein as their primary source of daily calories. By comparison, humans and dogs have evolved to use carbohydrates as our primary energy source. The high levels of the correct types of protein that cats need can only be found in animal tissue. In fact, diets based solely on plant protein are not digested as efficiently and could be harmful or even fatal if fed as the only source of protein because they contain inappropriate levels of certain critical amino acids, especially taurine. These critical amino acids are called essential amino acids because they must be supplied in the diet; cats require a greater number of these essential amino acids than either humans or dogs.
Feeding kittens. Young kittens need to eat frequently. Although they need relatively large quantities of food because they are growing rapidly, they have limited space in their tiny stomachs. At eight weeks of age, they need to be fed about 5 meals a day. By 6 months, the need for food is decreased as kittens are about 75% of their adult size and can be fed 2 meals a day. A good quality kitten food has advantages over adult cat food since it has been specially formulated for a kitten's demanding nutritional requirements. Because of their rapid growth, any nutritional mistakes made during kittenhood will have severe, even irreversible, consequences. For most kittens, growth is almost complete by six months of age. An adult cat food can be introduced at about 8-10 months of age.
Feeding the adult cat. A high-quality commercial adult cat food should always be fed because these diets have been specially formulated to contain all the nutrients that a cat requires. Dry or wet food can be used. Care should be taken to feed the correct amount, especially when feeding canned diets since it is easy to overfeed a cat. Once a cat becomes overweight or obese, it is much harder to lose the excess weight than it is to prevent them from becoming overweight in the first place. Many owners prefer to feed small meals of moist food once or twice a day and provide dry food in between canned portions. This is fine as long as you ensure that your cat is receiving the proper number of calories and getting enough physical activity. However, many cats receive too many calories and because they do not get enough physical activity, grazing or free feeding is not recommended.” -Ryan Llera, BSc, DVM; Ernest Ward, DVM
RAW DIETS
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association: “The AVMA recognizes public interest in feeding raw diets to dogs and cats. However, the AVMA discourages feeding any raw or undercooked animal-sourced protein (e.g., meat, poultry, fish, egg, milk*) to dogs and cats because of their risk to human and animal health. The AVMA supports the production and feeding of diets that have been processed using methods that reduce or eliminate the risk of illness due to pathogenic contaminants.
Pasteurization or cooking until the product containing the animal-sourced protein reaches a safe minimum internal temperature adequate to reduce or eliminate pathogenic organisms have been the traditional methods used to reduce or eliminate pathogens in animal-sourced protein. However, the AVMA recognizes that other scientifically validated technologies can also reduce or eliminate the risk of human and animal illness due to pathogenic contaminants.
Animal-sourced proteins of concern include beef, pork, poultry, fish, and other meat from domesticated or wild animals, as well as milk* and eggs. Several studies reported in peer-reviewed scientific journals and product recalls have demonstrated that raw or undercooked animal-sourced protein may be contaminated with a variety of pathogenic organisms, including Salmonella spp, Campylobacter spp, Clostridium spp, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and Enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus. Dogs and cats may develop foodborne illness after being fed animal-sourced protein contaminated with the organisms listed above if adequate steps are not taken to reduce or eliminate pathogens. Apparently healthy dogs and cats can develop subclinical infections with these organisms and pose a risk to other animals and people, especially young, elderly, pregnant, and immunocompromised individuals. People handling contaminated raw pet foods are also at risk of becoming sick.”
association of american feed control officials
AAFCO is an independent organization that has been guiding state, federal and international feed regulators with ingredient definitions, label standards and laboratory standards. When shopping for pet food, it is important to check the ingredients label to see if the AAFCO statement is found. This statement explains whether the food contains essential nutrients, how that was determined, and which life stage the food is appropriate for. Nutritional adequacy standards established by the AAFCO must be met or exceeded for a pet food to be marketed as “complete and balanced” for a certain life stage. Any product that doesn’t meet either standard will be labeled “for intermittent or supplemental feeding only” and should not be fed as your pet’s primary diet.
RECALLS AND SAFETY ALERTS
The American Veterinary Medical Association tracks and reports any recalls or safety alerts relating to products used in veterinary medicine. Click the link below to check out their list and stay up to date: