Re: healthy diet for a cat?

October 19, 2009

Find a copy of Pottenger's Cats - fascinating book along the same lines as

Price's book!

A vet told me that carbs are terrible for cats - their digestive systems are

built for eating meat and that's just about all. On the commercial diets that

just about all contain corn, soy, etc. they eventually get diabetes and before

that suffer health problems from the strain on their systems of eating too many

carbs. Being outdoors is much healtier than being stuck indoors for them - they

can eat grass (cats do need some greens), their fur makes a vitamin in the

sunlight that they ingest when they lick their fur, and they can supplement

their diet with fresh (whole) food - i.e. mice. There are healthy nutrients in

the skin and joints, not to mention the " variety meats " .

An outdoor cat is more likely to get worms, tho, especially roundworms and

tapeworms. The kind of dewormer often sold for cats in pet stores gets rid of

the worms by paralyzing them so they are passed out when the cat has a BM - that

kind is supposed to be very safe. Adding iodine to the cat's drinking water can

help as well. Our indoor/outdoor cat got a tapeworm from eating a mouse, so

that is something to look out for as well.

>

> Okay, I know this is a group that discusses healthy diets for humans,

> but I am wanting to know what is a good diet for a cat. He is no longer

> a kitten...nearly full-grown. We just inherited him from our son. He

> stays in our garage, and lounges on our front porch. I'm very allergic

> to cats, so he will not be an indoor cat. He does catch mice, which is

> very nice. :-)

>

> Please share any info. You can email me privately, if you wish.

>

> Thanks!

>

> --

> Betty Pearson, Lehi UT,

> Betty@...

> --

>

October 19, 2009

Are you interested in a recipe for homemade food based on raw chicken legs

and thighs? I have a recipe if you are interested. There is a commercial

food, RadCat, that is based on raw chicken legs and thighs. But it is

outrageously expensive at $12 for a 24 ounce container. The recipe I have

uses the same ingredients. I can post if interested.

Kathy

From:

[mailto: ] On Behalf Of Betty Pearson

Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 1:22 AM

Subject: healthy diet for a cat?

Okay, I know this is a group that discusses healthy diets for humans,

but I am wanting to know what is a good diet for a cat. He is no longer

a kitten...nearly full-grown. We just inherited him from our son. He

stays in our garage, and lounges on our front porch. I'm very allergic

to cats, so he will not be an indoor cat. He does catch mice, which is

very nice. :-)

Please share any info. You can email me privately, if you wish.

Thanks!

--

Betty Pearson, Lehi UT,

Betty@... <mailto:Betty%40ourldsfamily.com>

October 19, 2009

There is a good cat nutrition and behavior groups list:

cats-healthandbehavior/

One of the women on it has two blogs dedicated to cat nutrition, which might

be helpful:

http://felinenutritionalnotes.blogspot.com/

http://petfoodpitfalls.blogspot.com/

Cranberries, avocado, many of the vegetables in premium cat foods these days

are not good for the cat. The ingredient in cranberries that helps humans

fight bladder infections is actually an irritant to the cat's system. So

they've got cranberries in cat food so people will think it helps prevent

inappropriate elimination, and actually it irritates the cat's urinary

system. Learning what ingredients are not desirable and then reading labels

is best, and expensive isn't always better. Some of the cheaper cat foods

have decent ingredients, and some of the high end cat foods are full of

ingredients designed to appeal to the humans who are reading the labels.

We feed our cats Innova EVO/ancestral diet, which isn't perfect but is

better than most. We feed some raw and are moving to a fully raw diet. For

some of the people, even feeding raw or even a frozen mouse isn't good

enough because the blood has pooled. The folks who want to most closely

provide the cat's native diet buy feeder mice and let the cats eat them.

Still there is usually a need to supplement since in the wild the cat would

eat a varied diet.

--

www.kirkwoodrentals.com

www.midnightmoondreams.blogspot.com

twitter: moonrisefm

October 19, 2009

Radcat also has fiber in it and I think that's a dangerous irritant to the

cat's GI tract.

It's much better to get mOrigins and pay to have it shipped to you! It would

be cheaper too even with an expensive shipping tacked onto it.

http://www.mOrigins.com I hope to distribute it here in Texas if we have

enough interest but I know she will ship it to you though she usually makes

you go pick it up at the airline. I am not sure why she doesn't ship door

to door like others. Also there is a lesser quality but still very good pet

food (also grassfed beef) from http://www.TexasGrassfedBeef.com My

Anatolian Shepherd was raised on this from a young pup and did very well.

He also gets choice

I have a recipe for raw diet, ground, with appropriate supplements on my

website though it is always a work in progress. I do not believe feeding

chicken parts as a staple food is a good idea though pastured chicken is

loads better than what most " BARF " ers are getting. I did this with my Great

Dane and she was always starving and stressed. The same amount pound for

pound of a food like mOrigins settled her down and put more weight on her.

Some of my kitten buyers use my recipe, others feed grain free dry foods

that I recommend and I try always to keep the diet as little dry food as

possible as that causes chronic dehydration. Cats aren't meant to eat dry

food. I have a few kitten buyers who use feeder mice but they feed it raw.

I do not advocate giving a cat a live mouse to eat. It is possible they

could get injured and also they are not humane in their treatment of the

mouse and it can be quite horrifying what they do to it. Some cats are more

efficient killers but I am sure that comes after long years of practice.