The cat food recall in 2007 sent many cat owners scouring the net in search of homemade cat diets. However, it is important to check the nutritional content of this so-called homemade cat diet because of the nutritional needs of the cat. For one, a cat needs more protein than a dog. Such facts should be kept in mind while preparing cat food at home.
One of the popular homemade cat diets is the Catkins diet which is based on the equally popular Atkins diet for humans. The Catkins diet is based on the amount of macronutrients absorbed by the cat’s body. These macronutrients are carbohydrates, proteins and fats. A cat’s diet should contain the right amounts of all three.
Let’s look at it this way. In the wild, a cat likes to eat a mouse. So, what is the nutritional content of a rat? It contains 3 percent carbohydrate, 40 percent protein and 50 percent fat. By eating this prey for some time, the cat has been able to maintain its healthy body from ancient times to the present day. But many commercial foods for cats available in pet stores do not take into account a cat’s nutritional needs. Many of the diseases that cats suffer from today are actually a result of the diet that we feed them.
This Catkins diet is actually based on the nutritional needs of the cat as it is in the wild. So if a nutritional food pyramid for a cat could be made it would have three components. The base that represents the amount of food that should be eaten more will be full of fat. The middle part will be filled with protein rich food like meat. And the upper part will eat food rich in carbohydrates. This means that our cat will have to eat fewer carbohydrates than proteins and fats.
Having said that, imagine what would happen if a cat were fed a lot of carbohydrates? This results in cats that are prone to obesity. It is now common to find cats that are too fat for their health. It is known that 35-40 percent of the general popular population of domestic cats are obese cats. An obese cat has a four times higher risk of developing diabetes mellitus than a non-obese cat. They also become lazy to move because of their size. In addition, they develop non-allergic skin diseases as they have difficulty in cleaning their bodies due to their heavy weight.
But if a cat has a low intake of carbs, what does it use for energy?
It should be kept in mind that a cat has the ability to develop glucose from protein while it cannot process carbs. So it gets its energy from glucose produced from proteins. Finally, unlike other diets for preventing plaque in cat teeth, a diet based on the Catkins diet prefers a wet diet over a dry type. Since a cat’s teeth naturally break through the flesh, its teeth should not eat dry food as a way to end up between dry and hard teeth.
Source by Melinda Smith
