by Judy Lin

Created on: May 10, 2007   Last Updated: May 16, 2007

It is far easier to dissect why one shouldn't feed certain foods, and then arrive at the optimal food choice by process of elimination.

Kibble: This is by far the worst thing you could give a cat. Kibble is loaded with carbohydrates, whereas cats are meant to process protein and fats. As a matter of fact, the ideal diet for a cat consists of something very much like the Atkins diet-meat, meat, and meat. Cat cells are very efficient at processing proteins into sugar for their own use, but not nearly so efficient at taking sugar from the bloodstream. The feeding of kibble can be correlated to the increase in feline obesity and diabetes cases.

High-quality kibbles, made from pure meat and no grains, are expensive. At the very least, they do not contain carbohydrates, but they leave the second major problem unaddressed: water. Cats generally don't drink. I haven't seen Shadow touch the water bowl (except maybe to splash at it with her paw) for almost four months. They are designed to get their water with their food, not separate from it, and their weak thirst drive means that, even if a cat on kibble drinks a lot of water, it's still not going to be enough to avoid chronic, low-level dehydration. Chronic, low-level dehydration can be blamed for kidney and bladder stones-which are fairly common in cats-and the increased urine concentration is just an open invitation to bacteria, leading to painful urinary tract infections. A cat on kibble drinks maybe half of the water it needs to avoid these problems.

Because cats on kibble drink water, that could mask the beginnings of chronic renal failure. Most owners do not measure out how much water their cat is drinking, and therefore are not able to notice any slight increases in water consumption, which is the first sign of chronic renal failure. It is far easier to notice a cat drinking water when before it wasn't, than to notice that the cat is drinking a little more than it used to be, and chronic renal failure is one of those diseases that, if caught early and managed aggressively, can prolong a cat's life by years.

The one benefit that keeps getting touted for kibble is that it cleans teeth. That is, nicely put, a lie. Kibble, being laden with carbohydrates, actually contributes to dental problems, tarter, and gingivitis. That "kitty breath"? Yeah, it's not going away if you're feeding kibble.

Canned: MUCH MUCH BETTER than kibble. Canned food, even low-quality canned food, at least contains the 75-80% water that cats

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>