There are many rumors about the diet of cats. Can ready-made food really be addictive and protect dry food from tartar? 12 myths in the fact check.
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| The 12 Biggest Myths of Cat Nutrition |
Around the diet of cats there are many rumors, which influence the selection of cat food in some cat owners. We want to dispel the twelve most common myths about cat nutrition.
1. Ready-made food contains everything the cat needs
False! Unfortunately, not every ready-made food for cats keeps what the advertising promises. There is hardly any industrially produced food that is so balanced that you could feed it to a cat for a lifetime.
On the contrary: Most ready-made foods from the supermarket contain too many carbohydrates, too little protein and unbalanced trace element and mineral ratios. In addition, many additives and artificial vitamins are often contained, which the cat can digest and utilize worse or only barely.
Of course, there are also ready-made foods that have a high-quality nutrient composition and that you can therefore feed to your cat with a clear conscience. However, this does not apply to all ready-made feeds.
Therefore, a lot of research has to be done in order to be able to distinguish good from bad ready-made food. With the sole feeding of an unsuitable ready-made food to your cat, one risks a deficiency or harmful excess of vitamins and nutrients.
2. Carbohydrates are the most important source of energy for cats
False! For thousands of years, the cat's metabolism has been adapted to obtain its energy requirements mainly from animal proteins. Carbohydrates, on the other hand, can be very difficult for the cat (especially in high quantities) to digest and utilize. Nevertheless, many ready-made feeds contain a high proportion of cereals, since cereals as an additive are cheap on the one hand and increase the feed volume on the other.
3. Milk is good for cats
Yes and no. For kittens, breast milk is essential to provide them with all the important nutrients and, above all, proteins for their growth. In order to break down the milk sugar (lactose) in it, they have an enzyme called lactase. As the kittens get older and slowly weaned from the mother, lactase activity in the stomach also decreases.
If the then adult cats get milk again (usually commercial cow's milk), which naturally contains a lot of lactose, this can not be sufficiently broken down. This leads to digestive problems, flatulence and diarrheain the cat. For this reason, adult cats should not be given milk – even diluted with water.
If you still want to spoil the house tiger with milk, you can use special cat milk, which is lactose-reduced and thus easily digestible for the cat.
4. The digestion of the cat has now adapted to ready-made food
False! Domestication made it possible to change external characteristics such as coat color, coat length, physique and the nature of the cats. However, metabolism and digestion were excluded from this development.
In addition, the use of ready-made feed as we know it today has only been a phenomenon of the last 50 to 60 years. Ready-made food therefore exists too short to cause an evolutionary change in the physiology of cats.
5. Dry food cleans the teeth and protects against tartar
False! Normal dry food hardly contributes to the health of teeth and gums, as the usually food chunks are too small and are therefore swallowed by many cats simply without chewing. However, there are special treats and other products that, due to their shape and texture, are designed to clean teeth and prevent the formation of tartar.
Tip: Unlike wet food, dry food has a much lower moisture content, which leads to insufficient fluid intake of the cat through its meals. That's why you should always provide the cat with enough fresh water in addition to the dry food so that it can cover its daily fluid needs.
6. Raw meat as feed can transmit diseases
Yes and no. There is a risk that when eating raw meat, parasites, bacteria or other pathogens will be transmitted to the cat. However, cats usually have no problem with it, as their digestive tract is adapted to it: The pH value in a cat's stomach is below 1, which means that the environment in it is very acidic. Parasites and other germs thus offer the cat's stomach only little chance of survival.
Apart from this, parasites and worm eggs in particular can be effectively killed by freezing the meat, which is made for humans in the course of meat processing.
There is one exception in terms of the safety of raw meat: the so-called Aujeszky virus, which can be found in raw pork and wild boar meat. The virus leads to the death of the cat after a few days. For this reason, the above types of meat should be better avoided.
7. A day of hunger does not harm a cat
False! Cats are busy in the wild all day with prey gathering and do not know fasting days. They also eat several small meals a day, which is why their digestive tract is ideally adapted to it. If it comes to food abstinence, the cats suffer from hyperacidity, get abdominal pain, are restless, can not sleep or even vomit.
8. Feeding bones is dangerous because they splinter
Yes and no. Bones are elastic and relatively soft when raw. Only through further processing (frying, cooking, etc.) is the water removed from them and they become brittle.
For example, if you feed the bone remains of the roast chicken to your cat at lunchtime, there is a risk that the bones will splinter. However, if raw bones are fed, as is the case, for example, with barfing, the bones are harmless to the cat. Just like big cats that eat prey and their bones, domestic cats can eat raw bones safely.
9. Too much protein is unhealthy and puts a strain on the kidneys
False! Due to its physiology, the cat is adapted to consume a lot of high-quality protein and to use it. Because prey animals such as mice or other small animals are very rich in protein.
What puts a lot of strain on the cat's kidneys, on the other hand, are the low-quality proteins from some industrially produced foods. In addition, the high grain content ensures an excess of phosphorus, which is a burden on the kidney and promotes inflammation.
10. Ready-to-eat food contains narcotic drugs
False! Drugs in animal feed production are prohibited and are also far too expensive and superfluous for feed manufacturers. Because cats only eat what they like and what they are used to. So if a cat initially spurns a new food, it is not because the previous cat food contains addictive substances or attractants, but because cats are creatures of habit.
11. Cats can eat dog food just as well
Yes and no. If the cat occasionally nibble on dog food, this is usually not a problem. In the long run, however, or as a sole diet, this should be avoided at all costs, as dog food for cats contains far too high a carbohydrate and too low protein content. Apart from that, the cat also needs a large proportion of taurine, an amino acid that, unlike the dog, it cannot produce itself and which is therefore hardly or not at all contained in the dog food. With a sole diet with dog food, a cat is threatened with blindness and heart muscle weakness due to the lack of taurine.
12. Wet food contains more meat than dry food
False! There is very well wet food, which has a significantly lower meat content than some dry food. Thus, this statement cannot be generalized. The meat content depends solely on the composition of the feed and this can vary significantly in dry as well as wet food
Thanks for reading: The 12 Biggest Myths of Cat Nutrition , Sorry, my English is bad:)