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CHOW TIME: UNDERSTANDING FELINE DIETS
By Don Vaughan
Choosing the best diet for your cat can be a real challenge as manufacturers pack store
shelves with foods formulated for specific life stages as well as the management of various feline
health issues. What’s a concerned cat owner to do?
Consult your veterinarian, advise feline nutrition experts.
“People ask me all the time what the best cat diet is, and really the answer is not with
regard to the diet but with regard to the animal,” explains Andrea Fascetti VMD, PhD., a faculty
member in the Department of Molecular Biosciences and Chief of Nutrition Support Services at
the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of California-Davis School of Veterinary
Medicine.
“Every cat has unique energy requirements due to its environment. Some cats are strictly
couch potatoes while others work catching mice on a farm, and their needs are going to be very
different. So the best thing you can do is talk to your veterinarian regarding the most appropriate
diet for your pet. No one understands your cat’s nutritional needs better.”
But before consulting your veterinarian, it’s helpful to have a working knowledge of
feline nutritional needs and how manufacturers try to satisfy them.
A Quick Primer
Cats are strict carnivores and require high amounts of protein, nitrogen, amino acids such
as taurine and other nutrients to ensure good health. Dogs, by comparison, are omnivores,
meaning they can safely consume both vegetables and meat. Because of this important
difference, cats should never be fed dog food, Dr. Fascetti warns.
As with humans, a cat’s nutritional requirements change as it ages. A kitten, for example,
requires more minerals for strong bones, more protein for proper growth and more calories for
energy than an adult cat, notes feline specialist Alice Johns, DVM, owner of The Cat Doctor in
Indianapolis, Indiana.
“As they mature, most adult cats are still fairly active and require some calories, but when
they get into their senior years they may require fewer calories,” Dr. Johns explains. “Older cats
tend to put on weight because they aren’t as active as they once were. But as they grow older still
and become geriatric (typically around age 10 to 12), they tend to lose weight so owners may
need to increase calories again. You also have to watch their protein intake because some
geriatric cats develop decreased kidney function.”
Because of their potential for rapidly changing nutritional needs, Dr. Johns suggests that
geriatric cats be examined by a veterinarian at least twice a year. “Think of it this way: if one year
is equivalent to five years for a cat, how many people go five years without a checkup?” she
notes. “Things can change very quickly in that age group.”
A nutritionally balanced diet can play an important role in preventing age-related disease
and adding healthy years to your pet’s life, adds Carol Osborne, DVM, author of Naturally
Healthy Cats (Marshall Editions Ltd, 2000), founder of the American Pet Institute and owner of
the Pet Anti-Aging Wellness Center in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.
“Nutrition is the critical key when it comes to health and longevity,” Dr. Osborne states.
“The adage ‘you are what you eat’ applies to cats as well as humans. If cats eat a nutritious base
diet from day one, they can enjoy very good health well into their senior years.”
Dietary Advances
Research and development is ongoing among the top cat-food manufacturers, and new
discoveries are being made every year. “As we gain more information with regard to the cat’s
unique nutritional requirements manufacturers are changing diet compositions to meet those
needs,” says Dr. Fascetti. “But this is a constant evolution and you would be surprised at how
much we still don’t know.”
One of the biggest advances in cat food is the growing number of diets designed to
prevent or manage common feline health problems. “Senior diets are becoming more popular,
even though there is great variability in them,” observes feline specialist Drew Weigner, DVM,
owner of The Cat Doctor in Atlanta, Georgia. “We’re also starting to see things like dental diets,
weight management diets and hairball diets – special formulations that address health issues that,
in many cases, were given little thought just five years ago.”
The array of prescription-only feline diets is even more impressive, adds Dr. Johns. They
include formulations for cats with food sensitivities, liver disease, kidney disease, diabetes and
other chronic health problems.
But for the owner of a healthy adult cat, trying to figure out which commercial feline diet
is best remains a challenge, especially since the information on the packaging often reads like a
foreign language.
“According to manufacturers, they all make the best diets in the world,” says Dr.
Weigner. “But the biggest issues with feline diets, if comparing apples and apples, are the
research that goes into formulating a diet and digestibility, which is how available a nutrient is in
a diet. I would advise looking for a notice on the label that the food meets guidelines established
by the Association of American Feed Control Officials. AAFCO provides recommendations
relating not only to what’s in the food but how the manufacturer goes about proving that the diet
does what the label says it does.”
Another indicator of a balanced and nutritious commercial diet is a notice of feeding trials
to establish nutrition and efficacy. “However, manufacturers don’t have to use feeding trials –
they can use a computer program that stimulates that,” notes Dr. Weigner. “And just because a
manufacturer doesn’t mention feeding trials on the label doesn’t mean they haven’t been done.”
If you have questions regarding the ingredients or appropriateness of a specific diet, don’t
hesitate to call the manufacturer’s toll-free number on the packaging. “Most companies are more
than happy to provide information about their products,” Dr. Johns notes. Your veterinarian can
also help decipher information you don’t understand.
Dry or Canned?
Another issue facing cat lovers is whether dry food or canned is best for their pets. There
is little difference between them in regard to nutrition, reports Dr. Weigner, so it really depends
to your preference – and that of your pet.
“Most people find dry food more convenient because it doesn’t spoil and it has no odor,”
Dr. Weigner says. “But there are some times when you want to feed your cat canned food, such
as when it’s a kitten. Kittens don’t have big teeth, so it’s sometimes difficult for them to eat dry
food. If you wish, you can transition from canned food to dry food at around 6 months of age.”
Canned food also provides an additional source of liquid for cats that may not be drinking
as much water as they should – especially older cats, notes Dr. Johns. “I like to mix and match,”
she adds, “because if I have to give a cat medication, I can’t hide it in dry food.”
When it comes to dietary quality and diversity, these are exciting times to be a cat. And
the future looks even brighter, say experts.
“Based on my attendance at meetings and talking with colleagues, there is strong interest
in what we refer to as preventive nutrition,” notes Dr. Fascetti. “There are a lot of therapeutic
diets on the market that are designed to treat an animal once it has a disease process, such as
kidney or liver disease, but there are few diets that benefit a cat by preventing or delaying the
onset of disease. Preventive nutrition is one of the areas where I see a lot of potential. I think
most cat owners would welcome the opportunity to feed their cats a diet that would help them
live longer, healthier, happier lives.”