Kidney disease is probably the Number One cause of mortality in cats. It is troubling to think about the role that chronic dehydration plays in feline kidney failure. Cats are chronically dehydrated when they are on a diet of predominantly dry food. Cats need plenty of water with their food. Water is an extremely important nutrient with respect to overall health. It is very important for a cat to ingest water with its food, since cats do not have a very strong thirst drive. This is a critical point. This lack of a strong thirst drive leads to low-level, chronic dehydration when dry food makes up the bulk of their diet. Cats are designed to obtain most of their water with their diet since their normal prey contains ~70% water. Dry foods only contain ~10% water whereas canned foods contain ~78% water. Canned foods therefore more closely approximates the natural cat's diet and are better suited to meet a cat's water needs.
Dental Disease: Long-standing claims that cats have less dental disease when they are fed dry food versus canned food are grossly overrated, inaccurate, and are not supported by recent studies. First, dry food is hard, but brittle, and merely shatters with little to no abrasive effect on the teeth. Second, the high carbohydrate level in dry foods has been shown to cause dental decay. Third, many cats swallow the majority of their dry food whole and thus receive minimal benefit from chewing motion. Finally, a meat-based diet results in an acidic oral environment which may actually prevent some forms of dental disease.
Learn how to read a Pet Food Ingredients Label. The words “natural” or “premium” are not necessarily indicative of high quality! Look for meat as the first ingredient. This will be listed as “chicken”, “turkey”, etc. NOT “chicken meal”, or “chicken by-product meal” or “chicken by-products”, or “chicken broth”. The term “meal” denotes that it has been rendered (cooked for a long time at very high temperatures) and is lower quality than meat that has not been as heavily processed. By-products can include feet, intestines, feathers, egg shells, etc. and are less nutritious than meat.
Grains should be absent or, at least, minimal in amount. This means if they are present, they should not be among the first three ingredients. Corn and wheat are thought to be common allergens when compared to other grains such as rice, oats or barley so it is best to choose a food that does not contain corn or wheat.
BHT, BHA, and ethoxyquin: These are chemical preservatives which are very effective at preserving dry cat food, but are suspected to be potentially cancer-causing agents. In recent years, many pet food manufacturers have moved toward using more "natural" preservatives, such as Vitamins C and E.
Meat By-Products: The AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officers) defines meat by-products as " The non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hooves." Besides the fact that you don't know what species of animal the "meat" comes from, by-products as a rule are considered an inferior form of the protein which cats need.
Meat Meal, Meat By-Product Meal: "Meal" is generally produced by rendering, a process which raises a red flag to cat enthusiasts. I would definitely recommend avoiding cat foods containing these ingredients.
>>>>> Continued >>>>>
Our statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration or the AAFCO. The Persian Kittens® Diet© is not intended to diagnose or prevent diseases.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|