Better Food for Cats

BETTER FOOD FOR CATS All cats are true carnivores, obligate carnivores period. This means they must eat meat to survive. Cats cannot be omnivores or vegetarians. Because they evolved to fill one of the top predator positions, their bodies are specifically geared for processing a prey-based diet. This is as true for a panther as it is for your home roaming tabby. Specie specific whole food or raw food feeding is a way to feed cats a more natural diet. This type of diet fits their true nutritional present day requirements. The benefits to all cats who eat this type of diet are enormous. And it isn't hard to create, or purchase at all. Whole food diets can be readily purchased in the frozen section of the more enlightened grocery stores and pet boutiques, online and delivered to your door. A Specie Appropriate Cat Diet Why should you pay attention to what a cat would eat in the wild? The reason is that your cat really is not truly a domesticated pet. They haven't changed much over the last 200 years at all. We haven't altered their basic form and much like the terrier breeds we value them for their wild hunting, rodents, abilities. It is only since the mid to late 1960’s that we have tried to feed cats a processed, carbohydrate filled diet. There is no coincidence that in this same period there has been a dramatic increase in disease and obesity in the pet cats population. The same has happened to our domesticated canines. In the wild, felines eat whole, raw prey. Their diet includes mice, rats, any other small rodents, birds, rabbits, insects and amphibians. They usually eat the whole animal, meat, organs, bones and fur. Their systems are uniquely set up to metabolize this diet which is high in moisture, high in protein and very low in carbohydrates. This is the diet they have relied upon for thousands of years and they do not have the ability to process carbohydrates very well. Cats get most of their energy requirements from

glucose their livers process from protein. Not only are carbohydrates hard for your cat's system to handle, they are also detrimental to your cat's health. Many of the nutrients cats need come from raw animal sources. Arachidonic acid is an essential fatty acid that is only found in meat. Cats must consume vitamin A from animal sources because they do not have the ability to make it from plant derived beta carotene. Taurine is essential for cats and is only found in meat sources, not plants. Taurine is found in high levels in insects. Are There Dangers Associated with Raw Meat? By their very nature cats are very resistant to bacteria such as salmonella. They are an animal that has evolved to exclusively eat raw meat and their stomachs are much more acidic than ours. They have very short digestive tracts, shorter than any other comparably sized mammal. Food normally passes through their systems in about 10 to 12 hours. This doesn't give bacteria enough time to proliferate and make the cat sick. Compare that to humans, where food takes 36-48 hours to pass through, and you can see why humans are much more susceptible to bacterial pathogens. (Parasites are killed by freezing the food). Almost all recalls due to salmonella or other contamination in pet food involved canned or dry foods. A recall in 2007 that sickened about 78 people with salmonella was traced to dry pet food. Interestingly, none of the animals that ate it got sick. From Your Cat: Simple New Secrets to a Longer, Stronger Life by Elizabeth Hodgkins, DVM: "If there can be no fundamental objection to the mere idea of raw meat as a diet for the cat, what legitimate objections might there be about the practical aspect of feeding raw meat to felines? The first objection would be the possibility of food poisoning from bacterial contamination of the meat. While this is certainly a possibility, just as food poisoning of humans who eat raw meat (my girl friend is teaching me to

love sushi and sashimi!) is always at least a possibility, the reality is highly controllable and overstated, in my opinion and the opinion of many others. Human-grade ground and whole raw meats for pets are available today because of the growing popularity of the practice of among pet owners, such as Pet Nutrition Systems. These meats are handled carefully by the chef and food preparers, and then frozen immediately after processing. The Healthiest Alternative to Processed Food There is over whelming evidence that feeding dry food causes many of the diseases that cats are suffering from in larger numbers. If you are reading this you know that diet plays a huge role in the health of your animals, so choosing a diet that reflects what a cat would eat in the wild makes a lot of sense. Feeding a balanced raw diet with natural anti oxidants and healing oils to combat environmental toxins is best. Cats' systems are perfected to handle just this kind of meals. Raw diets, whether catered, commercial made or homemade, usually consist of ground meat, bone and organs, along with eggs, under 8% fruit(natural antioxidants benefits) and rice . Ideally, your cat should also get some raw meat with bones given in whole form. (chicken wing or a piece of whole fish) Some commercial raw diets include vegetable matter, but this is usually a very small amount of around 1-5%. Grain has no place in a cat's diet. Dry food and low quality canned food are mostly grain. The goal is to get as close as we can to a prey model based diet. Meat Many different kinds of meat can be used in raw whole food diet. In fact, you should vary the kinds of meat you feed, not only for variety, but also to be sure your cat gets a balanced diet plan. The important difference between some raw food companies and Pet Nutrition Systems is that we give the option of free range or organic human-grade meat that is not processed or mixed with other fillers. Several Raw food companies use

any rendered ingredients or meat meals, mechanically separated meat and/or advanced meat recovery, which is commonly used in many frozen pet food products. Chicken, turkey, rabbit and fish are favorable. You can also find quail, duck, pheasant, Cornish game and hen. Most people try to feed meat that is close to what cats would naturally be eating, so meat such as beef (which can cause allergic reactions in some cats), lamb and pork are used less often. Clean farm raise or fresh water Fish should be used to avoid heavy metal contamination. Bone Raw bone, unlike what many people think, is highly digestible and provides calcium, minerals and enzymes. The marrow is nutrient rich. It is only cooked bone that is dangerous; cooking makes bone sharp, brittle and almost impossible to digest. In addition to including the bone in ground food, small cuts of meat with bones such as chicken wings or Cornish hens can be given to cats. Once they catch on to the idea, they will eat the whole thing, bone and all. It's great for their teeth and jaws, besides being nutritious. Raw diets and prey molding diets try to balance the meat to bone ratio to match that of a wild diet, usually mouse or rabbit. This balances the calcium to phosphorus ratio. Cats cannot live on just meat, and their calcium source is ideally from bone, not a supplement, as bone provides other minerals such as copper and zinc, along with collagen. Organ Meat Organ meats, such as kidney and liver, contain ingredients your cat needs: B vitamins, vitamin A, amino acids and essential fatty acids. Heart is a particularly good source of taurine, a vital amino acid. Both commercially made and homemade raw diets usually add taurine as a supplement, even when fresh heart is included, to be sure of providing enough of this

essential amino acid. PNS does not add any human made supplements. Egg Eggs provide valuable protein and are a source of vitamin A, and essential amino acids such as taurine and arginine. Water Water is added because a cats' natural prey is 65-75% water. Cats evolved in dry climates and depended on the prey they ate as a primary source of water, so their thirst drive is not strong. Cats need to have water in their food to stay properly hydrated. The reason cat have such a high rate of kidney, liver disease and renial failure is due to dehydration from eating dry food. Supplements The use of manmade supplements goes against our idea of an organic or natural diet. Other companies add supplements to make up for the fact that their formulations are not complete, and the use of vegetables, fruits and oils seem, to them, as being unnatural for a cat to eat. They use supplements such as taurine, B vitamins, vitamin E and essential fatty acids. These nutrients are found in the head of the animal, specifically in brains and eyes, and the head is not always included in the mix. We also must be aware of the fact that our cats are dealing with toxin such as weed killers, fertilizers, air pollution and cleaning solutions. They need and steady amount of anti oxidants in their diet to combat these environment evils. We prefer to steam and crush 5 - 7% of tomato, blueberry, cranberry, raspberry and salmon or flaxseed oil to help cleanse their body. Why Raw Instead of Cooked? So why not just cook it? Cooking degrades nutrients in meat, causing losses of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Cooking also transforms

nutrients, changing their chemical composition and making them less bioavailable to your cat. Cooking bone locks the minerals in place. This makes the minerals unavailable and may cause bones to splinter easily, which is very dangerous. Canned cat food manufacturers add these vitamins and minerals back in tail end of their process after the product is cooked to make up for this loss. This supplementation is not exact, and there are nutrient losses that aren't recognizable or replaceable. Feeding the food raw is the best way to be sure your cat is getting the most from his food and your money. Know What’s in Your Pet’s Food Feeding a whole food diet allows you to know what you are feeding your cat. You will feel more confident knowing that your cat is getting everything Mother Nature intended for him/her. No more worrying about some vague or misleading description on a label or misleading ad saying that the kibble is veterinary approved. You don't want your cat to eat food that is not fit for human consumption, or some mystery meat meal from a rendering plant. Look at the ingredient list on a package of the food you are feeding. You should see meat first on the list, then the other whole ingredients. No supplements. No preservatives, by-products or fillers. No list of chemicals that you cannot pronounce. Cats are predators. They evolved eating a prey based diet, and more importantly, eating that diet raw, unprocessed and uncooked. Cooking degrades nutrients in meat, causing losses of vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Meat used in highly processed pet food is cooked at high temperatures and the nutrients lost must then be added back in. This supplementation is not exact, and there are nutrient losses that are not always replaced. Cats in the wild eat the bones of their prey, as raw bone is highly digestible and is their primary source of calcium.

Providing your cats with a diet that is modeled on what they would eat in the wild has many benefits, for you and your cat. * Improved digestion * Greatly reduced stool odor and volume * Healthy coat, less shedding, fewer hairballs * Increased energy * Weight loss, if overweight * Better dental health * Better urinary health Improved Digestion Cats digestive systems are adapted specifically for a meat based diet. A cat's digestive tract is short and acidic, and processes a species-appropriate raw diet highly efficiently in about 10 to 12 hours. This gives very little time for bacteria to proliferate, so cats are naturally resistant to food poisoning. Cats have no requirement for carbohydrates and limited ability to digest them. For cats, a raw meat diet is more digestible than a diet of plant based foods. They evolved eating a diet with almost no carbohydrates, they have only one enzyme system capable of handling them. This is quite different from humans and dogs who have multiple enzyme systems that digest carbohydrates. Greatly Reduced Stool Odor and Volume Cats that are fed a proper diet, have bodies that use most of their food, so there is much less stool volume. Stool production can be cut in half. They also eliminate less often, sometimes once a day or even less. Their stools are often dry, a little crumbly and hardly smell at all. In the wild, this makes sense for a predator that is small enough to also have to worry about being preyed upon itself.

When cats are fed a diet with a large amount of carbohydrates, their systems will struggle to digest the excess carbs. Since much of what they eat isn't being efficiently processed by their systems, the amount of waste is much greater than it should be. Those big, gloppy, smelly puddles in the litter box are not normal. Healthy Coat, Less Shedding, Fewer Hairballs After 4 – 6 weeks on a whole food diet, you will notice that you cat's coat has gotten softer and silkier. Cats require unsaturated fatty acids, omega-6 and omega-3, in their diets. These need to be from animal sources, (raw meat, fish and fish oil) as cats have a limited ability to make these acids from plant derived precursors. These essential fatty acids contribute to healthy skin and coats, reducing shedding and thus the incidence of hairballs. Increased Energy After using a whole food diet, you will notice how much more alive and full of energy your cats is. Feeding a species-specific whole food diet, cats are getting more readily available energy from their food. Cats are uniquely adapted to utilize protein for their energy needs. Cats burn protein, turning it into energy in their liver in a process called gluconeogenesis. Animals such as dogs also burn protein in this way, but turn it on and off depending on how much protein is available. Cats can't do this; their "burn rate" is always on high, this is why cats require an high quality and amount of protein.

Nutritional Information on Selected Foods (per 100 grams)

FOOD PROTEIN FAT CARBS KCAL

Ground Beef (20% fat) 17.2 20.0 0.0 254 62

Ground Beef (10% fat) 20.0 10.0 0.0 176 105

Ground Turkey 17.5 8.3 0.0 149 105

Chicken, Dark Meat and Skin 16.7 18.3 0.0 237 57

Chicken Breast (skinless) 23.1 1.2 0.0 110 178

Ground Pork 16.9 21.2 0.0 263 67

Ground Lamb 16.6 23.4 0.0 282 56

Beef Heart 17.7 3.9 0.1 107 198

Chicken Liver 16.9 4.8 0.7 119 250

Beef Liver 20.4 3.6 3.9 135 287

Beef Kidney 17.4 3.1 0.3 99 260

Braunschweiger (liver sausage) 14.5 28.5 3.1 327 51

Liverwurst 14.1 28.5 2.2 326 71

Abady Beef Kidney (canned, cooked) 9.6 8.0 2.2 116 135

Jack Mackerel (canned, drained) 23.2 6.3 0.0 156 193

Pink Salmon (canned, not drained) 19.8 6.1 0.0 139 237

Sardines (canned in tomato sauce) 20.9 10.5 0.7 186 196

Whole Milk Yogurt 3.5 3.3 4.7 61 156

Whole Milk Kefir 3.3 3.5 2.2 61 164

Cottage Cheese (creamed) 12.5 4.5 2.7 103 128

Ricotta Cheese (whole milk) 11.3 13.0 3.0 174 91

Cream Cheese 7.6 34.9 2.7 349 30

Mozzarella Cheese (whole milk) 22.2 22.4 2.2 300 118

Cheddar Cheese 24.9 33.1 1.3 403 127

Butter 0.9 81.1 0.1 717 24

Heavy Whipping Cream 2.1 37.0 2.8 345 18

Eggs (2 large=100 grams) 12.6 9.9 0.8 147 130

Egg Yolks (2 large=34 grams) 5.4 9.0 1.2 110 122

Egg Whites (2 large=66 grams) 7.2 0.1 0.5 34 29

Chicken Necks (with skin): 25% meat, 36% bone, 39% skin and separable fat

12.7 16.7 267 242

Chicken Necks (w/o skin): 41% meat, 59% bone 15.6 11.1 152 630

Chicken Backs (with skin): 29% meat, 44% bone, 10% skin, 17% sep fat

15.4 15.8 208 349

Chicken Backs (w/o skin): 40% meat, 60% bone 16.1 7.2 (137) (613)

Chicken Wings (with skin): 32% meat, 46% bone, 22% skin and sep fat

17.5 15.3 244 223

Chicken Legs (with skin): 57% meat, 27% bone, 11% skin, 5% separable fat

17.2 11.4 (187) (329)

Whole Chicken: 48-51% meat, 28-32% bone, 12-14% skin, 7-8% separable fat

13.8 12.3 192 237

Turkey Necks: 58% meat, 42% bone 17.0 7.9 116 888

Rabbit (whole, skinless) 17.8 5.8 0 125 424

Sweet Potatoes (boiled) 1.4 0.1 17.7 76 42

Yams (boiled or baked) 1.5 0.1 27.6 116 42

Potatoes (boiled) 1.7 0.1 20.0 86 47

Winter Squash (Acorn, Butternut, etc) 0.9 0.4 8.9 37 51

Farina (Cream of Wheat)** 1.4 0.1 10.5 48 25

Cream of Rice Cereal 0.9 0.1 11.4 52 33

Malt-O-Meal Cereal (Original)*** 1.4 0.2 8.7 42 60

Glutinous (Sticky, Sushi) Rice** 2.0 0.2 21.1 97 8

White Rice** (short grain) 2.4 0.2 28.7 130 25

White Rice** (medium grain) 2.4 0.2 28.6 130 28

White Rice** (long grain) 2.7 0.3 28.2 130 33

Brown Rice** (medium grain) 2.3 0.8 23.5 112 69

Weight Loss/Maintaining Optimal Weight If your cats are overweight, they will start to lose weight on a whole food diet. Cats normally overeat trying to make up for the nutritional deficiencies in the food. It will be easier to stop them from overeating when feeding them a species-specific whole food as they will not feel hungry all the time. The increase in energy they have will also help them burn off more calories. Better Dental Health Dental health in cats partly depends on genetics. Cats in the wild usually don't have gum disease or tooth loss due to periodontal disease. The reason why is chewing on raw bones, meat, connective tissue, skin and fur helps keep the teeth clean. Carbohydrates create a starchy film that promotes plaque buildup and encourages gum disease. The myth said that feeding kibble clean your pet’s teeth is an out right lie. Carbohydrate and kibble based food will not help control tartar. Reducing or eliminating carbohydrates in your cats diet will help keep dental disease at bay, and providing whole food meat & meaty bones to chew on is nature's way of cleaning your cats teeth. This is important as the bacteria from dental infections can spread to other parts of the body. Better Urinary Health PNS whole food diets have a high moisture content of about 65 to 70% that mimics that of natural prey; a mouse is 65-75% moisture. Carbohydrate laden, low moisture foods, specifically dry food, cause alkaline urine which may lead to kidney stones, kidney failure and/or urinary infections. Cats in the wild don't often have urinary tract problems due to the high moisture content of the natural food source.

Science Not Advertised Fiction Much of the scientific literature and research about raw diets, prey molding diets and whole food diet planning relates to the more than 32 species of cats and focuses on the large cats such as tigers, lions, jaguars and leopards. We commonly accept that raw meat is what a big cat should be eating, but disconnect from that understanding when thinking about our smaller companion cats, felis silvestris catus. PNS is trying to get people to connect the dots between the science of large and small cats. If veterinary science establishes that a raw whole food diet is best and most natural for a cougar, it should follow that it is also best for a tabby or calico. Cats are cats, with fundamentally the same bio-design, scaling up or down based upon their particular ecological, environmental The market didn't start feeding dry food and bad canned food because they made a choice based upon science. They chose it because the farm industry needed a market for their waste corn, wheat and meat that could not be sold to humans or used for farm animal feed. They said it was okay. Then your vet sold it to you saying it was better than table scraps. Now, in order to change that behavior, we must have the hard, direct, scientific evidence that there is good reason to change – evidence that the status quo never had to present to get people to make their initial choice to embrace grain-based food. We in the Society have to work a lot harder in order to change made-up minds.

Knowing You Are Doing What is Best The best benefit of feeding a whole food diet is the peace of mind it can give you knowing that you are giving your pet what they need. Realizing that cats evolved to eat a diet that is about as unprocessed as it can get, many people have become concerned about the highly processed pet food they feed their pets. Whole food diets are different. They are not about glossy ads, half truths or out right deception. The ingredients are simple and identifiable, processing is minimal and it's either fresh or fresh frozen. You know what you are feeding your pet. Your Cat's Nutritional Needs All the essential nutrients have been studied individually in a clinical setting, they're examined more individually than in the food they came from. This is unfortunate because it's important to remember that the essential building blocks of health aren't isolated in nature. Whole foods contain a complex blend of synergistic compounds that work together to support optimal well-being. While that may sound complicated, it really isn't — if you simply use species-appropriate real food as the foundation for health. One of the great things about feeding your cat a well-prepared whole food diet of real fresh food is that it's full of all the nutrients we know are important to feline health. We also include natural nutrients that have yet to be isolated, synthesized, added to the cans and bags of processed pet food and presented as a natural meal. It's more complicated for pet-food manufacturers who formulate products with isolated ingredients to make an appropriate substance that mimics real food in supporting a lifetime of great health. Taurine is an amino acid that pet-food manufacturers didn't consider essential until cats began to suffer and die from eating processed products deficient in it, Now it's an isolated chemical added to most cat foods, but if

you're considering feeding your cat real food, I have great news: The first food group we'll discuss is a fantastic source of natural taurine! Protein supplies essential amino acids and is needed for the production of antibodies, enzymes, hormones, and tissues and for proper pH balance. It provides energy for cats and is essential for growth and development. Complete proteins contain ample amounts of essential amino acids and are found in foods such as meat, fish, poultry and eggs. Incomplete proteins do not provide all essential amino acids and are found in process foods, including legumes, grains, and vegetables. These plant proteins don't supply the essential amino acids that a cat needs, which come from animal protein. The manufacturer states that the protein is present in their food but it can not be processed by your cat’s body. Cats need whole /raw animal sources of this nutrient, as the amino acids from vegetable sources aren't well utilized. How much each animal may need can vary slightly due to a variety of factors, including physiological state, age, activity, and the digestibility of the protein source being fed. Overall, cats have a very high requirement for protein. Fat. This concentrated source of energy also provides essential fatty acids and aids in nutrient utilization and transportation. It's involved in cell integrity and metabolic regulation as well. Saturated fat is found primarily in animal sources, while polyunsaturated fat comes mostly from plants. Fats and oils are composed of fatty acids, sometimes referred to as vitamin F. The following are the fatty acids most involved in feline health: omega-3 fatty acids, which include alpha-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid; and omega-6 fatty acids, including linoleic acid, gamma-linolenic acid, arachidonic acid, and conjugated linoleic acid. Linoleic and arachidonic acids have long been considered to be essential fatty acids for cats. More recently, DHA has been added due to its important contribution to feline vision, reproductive health, and the immune system. EPA may also be of benefit.

Essential fatty acids are very important for your cat's health, and they must be obtained from whole food sources. Unlike some animals, felines don't efficiently convert plant sources of EFAs to the needed derivatives. Cats must eat meat to obtain arachidonic acid. They don't convert LA to GLA and studies show that GLA benefit the health of feline skin and coat. We can theorize that in nature, the cat would eat another animal whose body had already made the conversion, offering some of this useful fatty acid. The cat would also consume omega-3s and CLA when eating its natural herbivorous prey. Minerals are essential to the cat and are involved in almost all physiological reactions. They contribute to enzyme formation, pH balance, nutrient utilization, and oxygen transportation and are stored in bone and muscle tissue. Biological availability may vary widely depending on the source of the nutrient. Elemental minerals are generally taken from the earth or water; chelated minerals are those that are bound with other organic substances, often making them easier for the body to absorb. Minerals include calcium, chloride, chromium, cobalt, copper, fluorine, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, silicon, sodium, sulfur, and zinc. There are others that cats require at trace concentrations. Minerals, like vitamins, work synergistically, with a cooperative action between them. Vitamins are essential for metabolism regulation and normal growth and function. They are found in whole /raw food, some are synthesized within the animal's body. They're classified as either fat or water soluble. Fat-soluble vitamins include A, D, E, and K. The water-soluble group includes C and the B complex. Generally, fat-soluble vitamins are stored in the body, while water-soluble ones pass through more quickly. Cats utilize animal sources of nutrients more readily than plant sources. Felines can't convert beta-carotene from plants into vitamin A (as some animals do), so they need preformed vitamin A from an animal source.

Water needs for feline is fulfilled most by eating fresh raw or whole food, they naturally have a low thirst drive. Eating kibble can lead to health issues by robbing the body of moisture used to break down the kibble in the digestive tract. One of the problems is that even though they become dehydrated eating the kibble, their natural "programming" may not encourage them to drink more water making their urine can become too concentrated. Even a healthy cat doesn't drink much water, so you should always have clean drinking water available. The water should be of good quality. Just turning on the faucet may be out, especially if your community puts fluoride in the water supply. If you have a well, get it tested annually for contaminants. There are a number of other substances that contribute to good health, some of which come from food sources and some of which are created within the body. These include antioxidants comprising vitamins, minerals, and enzymes which help protect the body from damaging free radicals. Free radicals actually cause cell-damaging atoms. Free radicals are formed internally by exposure to cigarette smoke, pollution, radiation, and other damaging substances. With your cat being surrounded with more environmental toxins than ever before, antioxidants are important factors for good health. Enzymes are protein molecules that are essential for most optimum bodily functions. They're in the making of energy, tissue, organ and cellular repair and much more. They're also needed for digestion, and different species of animals need different levels of enzymes from particular types of food. Cats have enzyme needs to properly break down the foods found in their natural diets and tend to be deficient in those that are needed to work on process foods.

Enzymes are manufactured by the body and can also be found in food, although temperatures of 118 degrees (F) or above destroy them. Those in raw ingredients help prevent depletion of the body's internal supply of enzymes. There are many other nutrients yet to be discovered and what function they provide. One of the great things about feeding fresh whole food is that those undiscovered, yet important, substances are already present. Good Nutrition is a Team Effort All the components we discussed don't work alone in nature; foods don't contain single nutrients. For example, we've probably all heard that oranges are a good source of vitamin C, but that piece of fruit contains many other cofactor nutrients that actually aid in the absorption and utilization of the vitamin. Even if farmers created a "Super-orange" that contained only mega amounts of vitamin C, it wouldn't be as effective without the other components, such as bioflavoniod and minerals that aid in vitamin C's function. Vitamin E isn't just the d-alphatocopherol that you will find in a pill at the GNC store. It's actually a family of at least eight different molecules that work better when taken together the way they're found in fresh food. (rather than alone in supplemental form) Many studies have shown that natural nutrients from food are more beneficial than isolated synthetic supplements. Oranges aren't a species-appropriate source of vitamin C for cats, but raw liver is. I was using the orange to show how different components of nutrients work together to perform a function only.

How to Transition Your Cat to a Whole Food Diet The key to transitioning a cat is patience. The transition can be fast or very slow. The transitioning tips below use the slow, gradual method. It usually works. Some cats find change to be more than they can bare. Give these methods a go and give the transition the time needed. (do not give up to quickly) Using hunger to help transition your cat is a strong motivating factor that you can employ. Other than the normal mealtime hunger of 12 to 24 hours or so, you can pick up the food in 20 -30 and wait till the next feeding. Or if you normally feed twice a day feed once a day till you have made the transition. If your cat is a healthy adult you can wait longer if he/she refuses to eat the new whole food. I wouldn't go longer than 48 hours. This has worked for some people. Be aware that any cat, especially an overweight cat, is at risk for hepatic lipidosis if they don't eat every day. Whatever your cat eats at present, it's always worth a try to mix up the new food with their current food 50/50. They may surprise you. See if they will eat some cut up raw salmon, chicken or beef by itself.

From Dry Food to Raw/Whole Food Cats get addicted to dry food, so this may be the hardest step, especially if your cat doesn't also eat canned food. For cats that will only eat dry food: Stop free feeding dry food. Your cat does not need to have food available at all times. Eating two meals a day is fine. You want your cat to associate food with a person you not a place. Start bringing out their food at regular mealtimes. Cats will learn the new routine very quickly. Leave it out for 30 minutes. Once your cat gets used to the whole idea of mealtimes. Put out one bowl for each cat, in separate rooms if necessary, so each cat feels relaxed about their meal. Once they are used to mealtimes and are coming to you for their meals, start offering our new raw food. Try putting their dry food on top of the new raw food. The goal at this point is to get them eating the raw/whole food a little at a time. They may ignore it completely, but it will get them to start associating the smell with dinner. Give this a least 2 weeks or so. Being a little hungry makes them more likely to try something new. They may just pick the dry food off that's okay. They will be getting just a taste of the raw food with it. Try different meats; Beef, chicken, fish and turkey your cat may like one more than another. If it looks like your cat is nibbling at the whole raw meat a bit, try putting out just that meat next time and see what happens. Some cats can be tempted by the gravy on some whole food, and lick all that off. That's a step forward for a confirmed dry food addict. You can try putting a piece of meat on your finger, and putting a little in your cat's mouth. Only do this if it won't stress out or frighten your cat, as you don't want them to have bad associations with the new food or be afraid of you.

Keep offering raw whole food, plain, with gravy or with a bribe of the old food on top. Don't give up, no matter how long it takes. Keep going even if it takes several months. The health and nutritional change is that important to your cat. Eventually, they will figure out that this really is good food. Keep any dry food you have closed up as much as possible. Put it in an over-sized Ziploc®, or a large Tupperware® type container and then in a room the cats can't get into. When they get hungry, they will try to get to it. Once your cats are eating canned food, get rid of the dry food completely. Out of the house. Cats have an excellent sense of smell; if it's in the house, they'll know. Do not get discouraged if your cat turns up their nose at something they liked the day before. This isn't that unusual. Cats got their reputation for being finicky by acting in this manner. Just try it again next time. Also, it isn't unusual for a cat to act very hunger one day and not interested in eating the next. Don't worry about it if it happens from time to time. Once your cats are eating raw, be sure to introduce chunked meat into their meals, if you haven't already. For their dental health and for their jaw muscles, cats need to chew, using the sides of their jaws. Cats who have only ever eaten canned haven't had to do much chewing, so you may have to start them gradually. I suggest adding chunks, usually chicken, to all my clients cat diet plan. (in addition to ground meat) It's more time consuming, but your cats are worth it. This will forestall expensive dental problems down the road. I add small pieces about ! inch pieces or a chicken wing. At first some of cats will eat around it, but shortly they were all chewing away. Start small, and gradually increase the size up to the biggest your cat will eat. The lack of chunks is probably my only complaint with many of the commercial raw foods plans.

The Pottenger's Cats Study This ten-year feeding study of cats conducted by Dr. Pottenger 69 years ago in California. It showed that feeding cats raw food had a dramatic and positive impact on their health and wellness when compared to cats fed cooked meat. Between 1932 and 1942, Francis M. Pottenger, Jr., M.D. researched the use of adrenal hormones in respiratory complaints such as asthma. Because cats cannot live without their adrenal glands they were used as laboratory animals to standardize the extracts. Pottenger maintained his cats on what was considered to be a high quality, nutritionally complete feline diet. The cats were fed cooked meat scraps, consisting of liver, tripe, sweetbreads, brains, heart and muscle, raw milk and cod liver oil. Commercial cat food did not appear on the markets until the early1960's. In the 1930’s & 1940’s domestic cats either hunted for their food or were fed table scraps. The cats used in this study lived in large outdoor pens overlooking the San Gabriel Valley. Their living area was covered with chicken wire for adequate sun exposure and safety. They had an outdoor box filled with clean sand for a litter box. In the rear of the pens was a sheltered that contained a wooden floor and bedding. Even though the cats received such great care, Doctor Pottenger could not understand why the cats were such poor operative condition. Many cats died in surgery or had very slow recovery from their surgeries. When the cats being studied outnumbered the food available Dr. Pottenger would place an order at a local meat packing plant for raw meat scraps which would include some organ meat, muscle and bone. Pottenger fed the raw meat scraps (including raw milk and cod liver oil) to a segregated group of cats, keeping the remainder of his cats on the cooked meat diet. Within a few months the differences between the cats fed raw meat and those fed cooked meat became evident. The raw meat fed cats

and kittens were more vigorous and survived surgery better than the cooked meat fed cats. The difference between the health of the two groups of cats prompted Pottenger to conduct a ten year study involving over 900 cats including at least four generations to discover why cats fed raw food were healthier than those fed cooked food. The cats in Pottenger's study were used to study the effects of heat-processed food to benefit human nutrition. The latest and most rigorous scientific standards were applied for these experiments with their protocol consistently observed. Each cat's clinical chart included notes for its entire life. At the end of ten years, 600 of 900 the cats studied had complete, recorded health histories. The raw meat fed cats were uniform in size and skeletal development from generation to generation. Over their life spans, they were resistant to infections, fleas and various other parasites and had no signs of allergies. In general, they were gregarious, friendly and predictable in their behavior patterns. They reproduced one homogeneous generation after another with the average weight of the kittens at birth being 119 grams (4.20 ounces). Miscarriages were rare and litters averaged five kittens with the mother cat nursing her young without difficulty. The cats fed the cooked meat diet reproduced a heterogeneous strain of offspring, each kitten in a litter different in size and skeletal pattern. Health problems ranged from allergies to infections of the kidney, liver, bones and reproductive organs. By the time the third deficient generation was born, the cats were so "physiologically bankrupt" that none survived beyond sixth months, thus terminating the strain. Cooked meat fed cats showed much more irritability. Some females were dangerous to handle. The males, on the other hand, were docile, often unassertive and lacked sex drive or were perverted.

Pregnant females aborted, about 25 percent in the first deficient generation to about 70 percent in the second generation. Deliveries were generally difficult with many females dying in labor. Kittens' mortality rate was also high because they were either stillborn or too frail to nurse. Many females had pregnancy and infertility problems. The average weight of the kittens born of cooked meat fed mothers was 100 grams (3.4 ounces), 19 grams less than the raw meat nurtured kittens. Raw-meat fed males of proven virility were used for breeding, therefore, the experimental results primarily reflected the condition of the mother cat. Most deficient cats died from infections of the kidneys, lungs and bones. If modern-day antibiotics had been applied, these infections would possibly have been eliminated as a cause of death. The use of antibiotics to treat infections would have allowed the cats to reveal their ultimate degenerative fates. Many of the deficiencies experienced by the cats fed the cooked meat diet were due to inadequate taurine. Cooking meat makes taurine less available to cats. Pottenger's study demonstrates that cats thrived and reproduced for years on a very simple raw food diet. With the advent of commercial cat food, scientists employed by pet food manufacturers conducted feed trials to determine the minimum daily requirements for the domestic cat. Laboratory cats, kept in small stainless steel cages, are fed a purified diet with different nutrients withheld until a deficiency emerges. With the Pottenger Cat Study records available, pet food manufacturers did not need to conduct their own feed trials. Pottenger's raw meat fed cats survived for years without the need for veterinary care. Why would there be a need to feed a cat any differently? Where did the public lose its way in feeding cats?

The goal at Pet Nutrition Systems is to help educate people and to feed their cats a healthier species specific diet. We have researched the best studies available to accomplish this goal. The key is knowledge. Knowing what questions to ask, finding the answers and making the knowledge available are all necessary. It is very important to remove all kibble and most processed canned food from your cat's diet. This one change alone is a big step towards the improvement of your cat's health. Dry food, be it premium, prescription or "natural," harms your cat's health. If you have any questions or would like a consultations regarding what, how and where to get the best food for your cat, contact us at: www.petnutritionsystems.com