Between 1932 and 1942, Dr. F.M. Pottenger, Jr. carried out research involving 900 cats over four generations. The cats were divided into two main groups, one group fed on raw meat, and the second group being fed cooked meat. His studies have shown that the group fed raw meat stayed firm and healthy throughout the ten-year-trial period. These cats were resistant to fleas and other parasites and also to infections. The group fed a regular diet of cooked or canned meat had a lot of problems in health, breeding, behaviour and premature mortality. To read more about his research, CLICK HERE. Leading animal nutritionists and veterinarians will tell you that many of our pets problems can be helped, maybe solved, and may even be prevented if we feed wholesome food to our pets. The time has come that we can no longer overlook what we are feeding to our pets. Far too many pets are suffering from malnutrition.

The cat is a true carnivore. The cat is not just a carnivore, but has an extraordinarily high protein requirement, compared to herbivores and omnivores (like people, dogs, pigs, etc.). The cat does something no other animal does... it uses protein (more specifically the amino acids in those proteins) to make its own glucose from protein (in the liver) rather than just extracting glucose from the carbohydrates in its diet. A high percentage of protein is used for glucogenesis. An increase in concentration of high quality protein in the diet provides the cat's essential amino acid requirements and a substrate for glucose production. With glucose production from dietary amino acids, the carbohydrate content of the diet may be dramatically reduced. Glucose derived from hepatic gluconeogenesis is delivered to the bloodstream at a slower rate compared to the release of glucose from digestion of dietary carbohydrate. The result is a more consistent, steady release of glucose and the potential for reduced, or even elimination of, insulin requirements.

Most adult cat foods are marginal, or even deficient, in protein for the normal adult cat. This becomes even more serious when a cat is fed diets high in fiber where what protein there is, is less digestible. The long term effects of chronic protein deficiency in the adult cat have not been studied, but I believe many of the old-age diseases of cats, including diabetes and CRF, are related to this chronic low-grade protein defiency.

Corn has the highest glycemic index of all carbohydrate sources in human and animal diets. I believe it should be avoided in cats. There is no data that so-called "high" protein (greater than 30%) is harmful to the healthy. Logic tells us that it is harmful to deprive healthy cats of the amount of protein they actually need to maintain their health and body function.

Cats have no need for the carbohydrates in grains. All feline species are so successful as predators, they never needed to develop the ability to metabolize and synthesize nutrients from plant matter. This makes them carnivores that CANNOT survive without the ingestion of meat.

Cats consume small prey whole. Larger prey is only partially eaten, leaving the digestive tract, skin, hair, larger bones or feathers. Larger prey may be eaten over several days. Most importantly, the food is consumed as is - RAW - an important fact when considering that heat processing, even at low temperatures, will destroy or alter most essential nutrients and food components like enzymes, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. Raw meat also helps to stimulate the cats highly acidic digestive system..a highly acidic system that is designed to kill unfriendly bacteria. Another reason for eating the meat raw is the fact that chewing of the meat cleans the teeth much like brushing them. You rarely find tartar or filfth on the teeth of cats in the wild. Many of our pet's disease and suffering can be prevented or cured with nutrition. Processed foods have seriously depleted the natural vitality and immune systems of our pets. For a return to health, pets require a diet that strengthens the immune system and most closely resembles that which they would get in the wild. The truth is most dry commercial cat foods are anything but healthy for cats. First and foremost, the nutritional composition of most commercial dry foods does not compare to the cat's natural diet. The natural prey diet of the cat contains between 65%-75% water. The cat has adapted to quench its water requirements entirely on the moisture content in its prey. Commercial dry cat food contains no more than 10% moisture.

Cereals create the base of most dry commercial foods and make up over half of the food's weight. Cereals frequently used in commercial dry cat foods like corn, rice and wheat, give the food bulk and structure and represent a cheap source of calories. Cereals are primarily made up of carbohydrates, a nutrient nearly absent in the cat's natural pery diet. The liver and other organs store small amounts of carbohydrates and the cat may receive additional minute amounts of this nutrient through the stomach and intestines of its prey; however, this would never amount to more than 1-2% carbohydrates compared to the total weight of the prey. Most commercial foods contain as much as 45% carbohydrates. A diet high in carbohydrates will result in obesity, because excessive amounts of this nutrient are converted by the liver to body fat. Since a cat metabolizes primarily fat and protein for energy, most of the carbohydrates in the diet are then stored as body fat. Is it any surprise that diabetes often occurs in overweight and obese cats?

Dogs and cats were never intended to eat anything from can or a bag filled with over-cooked, dead foods that are waste products from the human food industry. Now we have the knowledge that these very same commercial foods we feed our own pets may contain the remains of euthanized cats and dogs recovered from the pound or shelters and many rendered with their flea collars still attached!! To read more about what is really in your pet food, CLICK HERE. What you discover may shock you. Then there are the preservatives used in the preparation of our pet food. BHA, BHT and Ethoxyquin (more on this later) to name a few. I believe the best alternative to a truly natural diet of whole prey is a raw meat based diet.

You may ask "Is it safe?" A cats stomach is much more acidic than ours, which is why they can tolerate eating raw meat (as in the wild). Parasites and bacteria generally can't survive in their stomachs. Dogs and cats have very different digestive juices than ours. The phobia of raw meat and home preparation of meals for pets appears to be an American characteristic because it is a common practice in European countries, especially Germany, where it receives full veterinary approval.

Never feed pork. Clean litter boxes promptly and thoroughly, especially if you have more than one cat.

Ethoxyquin is used as a preservative in many pet foods and human foods. Even if the label doesn't list ethoxyquin (a carcinogen), it could still be in that food. If the food you buy has ethoxyquin in the fat, it doesn't have to be listed on the label, because the food manufacturer didn't actually put it in. For instance, if it was added to oils, grease and fats recovered from restuarants to keep them from going rancid, it does not have to be listed on the label. Many pet food companies coat the kibble with these oils and fats to make it more palatable to our pets. The use of ethoxyquin is implicated with thyroid problems, hair loss and reproductive disorders and more.

Ethoxyquin is made by Monsanto, the same company that makes the lawn pesticide "Roundup", the "Bovine Growth Hormone" and chemicals sprayed onto new carpets. It was originally created as a rubber hardener and has also been used as a pesticide and at one point was deemed "harmful and deleterious", but in 1958, Monsanto had its lobbyists influence politicians. The result was Monsanto had the laws changed. Monsanto warns that it may cause allergic skin reactions, irritation to the eyes and skin. They advise that workers must wear eye and respiratory protection. The container has a very prominent skull and crossbones with POISON written in capital letters. It is listed and identified as a hazardous chemical under the criteria of the Osha Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910, 1220).